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Our 11-lot strata plan is in NSW and is only 2 years old.
One of the owners is continuously parking in driveway in front of his villa with 2-3 vehicles parked simultaneously of no. of occasions. Despite sending numerous reminders and a Notice to Comply, the owner is ignorant of the rules, unresponsive and rather picking fights with owners onsite and threatening over emails and messages. Now, as the scheme is new the strata committee members does not seem to have much knowledge on handling such issues as and needs a resolution ASAP from the strata manager.
Our strata manager has advised that he cannot proceed further or issue fines to offenders as this can only be done via applying through Tribunal and if the Tribunal is satisfied that there is a breach. However, this has been going on for almost 1.5 years with committee not willing to take it further and expecting results.
Thus, SM has proposed to register a by-law for our scheme which allows SM/OC to keep a record of all vehicles that may belong to or under control of all residents at our building and charging an administration fee every time a report is received from owners/residents onsite regarding breach of their by-law. i.e., when vehicles are spotted parked in visitor’s or common property.
I would like to know how effective this can be and whether it is legal (lets say this is specially resolved at a GM to register such by-law). Even if OC is successful in registering such by-law, I feel this will make the matter worse and the offender may simply ignore this and may not pay the administration fee decided under this by-law.
Some owners have already expressed their negative reviews on this as this will mean they will also not be able to park in visitor’s and in front of their townhouse/villa which they have been doing intermittently.
Can such administration cost be recovered in a similar way as recovering unpaid levy contribution? With offenders always ready to question the integrity of proof (photos of vehicles) regarding breach, how far can OC go with this resolution?
Some expert advise will be much appreciated.
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@jd2127 said:
Our strata manager has advised that he cannot proceed further or issue fines to offenders as this can only be done via applying through Tribunal and if the Tribunal is satisfied that there is a breach. However, this has been going on for almost 1.5 years with committee not willing to take it further and expecting results.The strata manager is right. It’s not up to them to pursue this – it’s up to the committee and if they are too timid or ignorant to proceed, nothing will change.
Thus, SM has proposed to register a by-law for our scheme which allows SM/OC to keep a record of all vehicles that may belong to or under control of all residents at our building and charging an administration fee every time a report is received from owners/residents onsite regarding breach of their by-law. i.e., when vehicles are spotted parked in visitor’s or common property.
I would like to know how effective this can be and whether it is legal (lets say this is specially resolved at a GM to register such by-law). Even if OC is successful in registering such by-law, I feel this will make the matter worse and the offender may simply ignore this and may not pay the administration fee decided under this by-law.
Your fears are well-founded. A by-law that imposes what is essentially a fine, trying to by-pass the Tribunal system, is deeply flawed and if I were the rogue parker, I would just ignore it. This kind of by-law is increasingly used to scare people into behaving – but it’s illegal.
Can such administration cost be recovered in a similar way as recovering unpaid levy contribution? With offenders always ready to question the integrity of proof (photos of vehicles) regarding breach, how far can OC go with this resolution?
Garnisheeing levies to pay for dubious “admin” charges is illegal. I think I may know the legal firm that’s advising this and I would advise them to stop. The end may justify the means but a dodgy by-law is bad for everyone.
Issue notices to comply and follow up with applications for penalties at NCAT. That’s what it’s there for. If your committee isn’t prepared to use the systems that exist, they should resign and let someone with some backbone do the job.
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