I had a very similar problem with a housing client who occupied a unit in a scheme where my wife and I then owned a holiday unit, that for the record we didn’t rent.
I was secretary of the executive committee at the time, and so on every occasion that we visited our unit I was immediately hit with tales of this person’s shenanigans, and with pleas from other residents to do something about it.
As is my way, like you I tried to reason with this person without success, so in the end the other members of the committee and myself formally met, and devised and minuted an approach based on the criteria that:
- The tenant of the unit in question was Housing NSW
- While Housing NSW has some exemptions from the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act, none apply to the provisions of the Strata Schemes Management Act (SSMA)
- Sect 5 of the SSMA states that “this act binds the crown”, which reinforces the fact that Housing NSW is bound by all of its provisions.
So based upon all the above, the executive committee resolved to issue Housing NSW with a “Notice to Comply” relative to each specific By-Law that its client had breached and about which they’d been made aware by members of the committee, including for creating a disturbance, parking vehicles on common property, obstructing common property, poor behaviour, and for using balcony railing as a clothesline.
Each Notice to Comply (5 in total) was sent to the Regional Manager of Housing, who within a few days contacted me by phone to express his indignation, and to claim that his Department was not required to comply with the SSMA because it effectively absolved itself of its responsibility to do so in the Agreement that it has with its clients.
I politely explained what had been going on with his client and the three (3) criteria that we’d adopted, whereupon the Regional Manager advised that he’d be seeking legal advice, and that he’d make contact afterwards.
In a surprising short time (a few days as I remember) I was contacted by an ex-London “bobby” who then held the position of the “Anti-antisocial Behaviour Officer” with Housing NSW (only a Govt. could create such a job title!), who arranged to meet the committee over a coffee (he paid) to discuss their client’s shenanigans and our discussions with her which we’d documented, whereupon he advised that the Department held the lease over an Office in town to enable him to have “meaningful discussions” with problem clients, and that he’d arrange to meet with our problem.
We weren’t advised of any details of what was discussed, but I did receive a phone call to advise that Housing NSW’s client in our scheme would be relocated; no doubt so that other strata dwellers in town could be annoyed and harassed by her.
After a lot of finger pointing, and threats to stay put by this woman and her male friends, she and her possessions were quietly moved out at the expense of NSW Taxpayers!
The best outcome of all was a very polite letter from Housing NSW’s Regional Manager to confirm in general terms what had happened, to advise who we should instead contact if any further problems arose, and specifically to undertake that any future clients that were considered to occupy any unit in our scheme where NSW Housing held the Head Lease would be from a list of existing clients with whom the Department had “history”, and who it believed would be worthy of / be grateful for a beach-front unit with a wonderful view.
So in addition to following Jimmy’s sound advice to start at the end, I’d strongly recommend the concurrent implementation of our start at the beginning approach; just make sure that everything’s documented in terms of the client’s disruptive behaviour, dates/ times of discussions with them, and with the convening / decisions / minutes of committee meetings.
PS – I forgot to mention that in 2012 we did Register the Special By-Law mentioned in post #22, and have since been able to use the notice of intention that it provides to dissuade some (but not all) owners from sub-letting to Housing NSW and to similar community groups that they fund without considering anything other than the long-term and secure rental income that such arrangements provide. That’s proven difficult though when representatives of some social justice leaning community housing providers work directly with local property managers who like the easy commission/s and ongoing fees for managing nothing! (1515hrs 24/07)