Across Jamaica, strata owners are being asked—no, required—to hand over thousands each year to the Real Estate Board & Commission of Strata Corporations. 

The question many of us are now boldly asking is simple: For what?

These annual strata commission fees are collected with rigid enforcement, yet there is little transparency about how the funds are used or what direct service is provided in return. In our case, despite repeated invitations, the commission has never attended a meeting at our complex. There has been no engagement, no meaningful oversight support, no advisory intervention—nothing that justifies the financial burden imposed on owners.

Strata corporations are not profit-making enterprises. They are communities of working Jamaicans—retirees, young professionals, small business operators—pooling limited resources to maintain roofs, elevators, water systems, security, and basic infrastructure. 

Every dollar diverted unnecessarily is a dollar taken from essential maintenance and safety.

When thousands of dollars leave our accounts annually without accountability, that is not regulation—it begins to feel like extraction.

The spirit of the Registration (Strata Titles) Act was to ensure orderly management of multi-unit developments, protect property rights, and provide a framework for dispute resolution and governance. Regulation should strengthen strata corporations, not weaken them financially.

Oversight bodies must be transparent, responsive, and accountable to the people who fund them.

If fees are being collected, there must be clear reporting:

• How much is collected annually from strata corporations across Jamaica?
• How are these funds allocated?
• What measurable services are delivered to strata communities?
• How many disputes have been resolved?
• How many inspections or advisory interventions have been conducted?

These are not unreasonable questions. They are the minimum standard in a democracy.

It is time for all registered strata corporations across Jamaica to come together and form a unified association—an independent body that can advocate for reform, demand audited financial reporting, and ensure that regulatory structures serve owners rather than burden them.

Regulation without accountability breeds resentment. Regulation without service breeds distrust.

Strata owners are not an ATM for the state.

We are citizens. We are property owners. We are communities.

And we deserve transparency.

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