Two weeks ago, Neos Kosmos contacted the nephew of Sydney elderly Greek Australian couple, Nitsa and Spiro Tzavellas, that came to the brink of homelessness after their body corporate voted for an upgrade to their building windows they could not afford to pay for.
The elderly couple came close to losing their apartment in Earlwood for the past 50 years, having been caught up in the strata saga in 2019.
The pensioners aged 78 and 81, were asked to pay a special levy for the upgrade amounting to $18,234.17, an impossible amount for them to cover.
Read more: Owners corporation “pushes” Greek elderly couple to the brink of homelessness
From their joint pension of $1,488.80 a fortnight, they paid $660 a fortnight, in instalments for most of 2020 and 2021, but stopped paying when they received legal advice from a lawyer acting pro bono, who promised to fix it.
Though the lawyer started proceedings in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal he abandoned the case, which simply added to legal costs they now have to pay to the other side.
The owners corporation took the couple to the Local Court in October 2021 seeking $24,004.06 for strata levies, administrative charges and expenses, 10 per cent interest, and legal costs.
Their nephew, Anthony, started a fundraiser on Gofundme to help them save their home as well as raise awareness to an injustice – ironically, despite the debt they are asked to pay, their apartment windows are the only ones in the building that have not been upgraded!
When he spoke to Neos Kosmos he was hoping the community would help them pay off part of the debt. In an overwhelming response, the campaign has since raised close to $63,000, with donations now closed.
The majority of donations were from the Earlwood community, while another smaller fundraised at the local Coles supermarket organised by locals Samantha and Lenya contributed significantly.
Nitsa and Spiro have expressed their gratitude through their nephew, Anthony, who said that the money will go towards getting everything paid off including the strata and legal fees and hopefully get the the windows fixed.
