The question of the week this time around comes from a Flatchatter who finds himself in a situation where a miscreant in his building seems to be beyond the reach by-laws and notices to comply.
In short, a distant relative of an owner has moved into their apartment without his permission, isn’t paying rent and isn’t on the strata roll. So, in strata terms, he’s a ghost – he doesn’t exist.
And to make matters worse, this person is noisy, disruptive, destructive and very aggressive, to the point where other tenants are moving out of this hitherto placid block.
The owner says they’re doing everything in their power to compel the strata squatter to leave but that may be complicated by their family relationship, regardless of how distant.
According to the relevant Legal Aid website, trespass is usually a civil issue. If the trespasser is asked to leave and refuses to do so and has no valid reason for being there without permission, they are trespassing.
Unless there are more serious issues, like threats of violence or evidence of property damage, which might make it a criminal offence, the property owner then has to go to the Supreme Court to get an injunction to prevent the trespasser from entering the property.
That means time, effort and legal fees because they will definitely need a lawyer, but if the court issues an injunction and the squatter ignores it, that is a serious offence.
Okay, that’s the unit owner’s problem. But what do the strata committee and other owners do when tenants are fleeing the building to get away from this nuisance. We have a few thoughts, most of which are legal, and they’re HERE.
Elsewhere on the Forum
- What happened to the Netstrata court case? That’s HERE.
- Compulsory training will make it harder to fill strata committee seats. That’s HERE.
- Can we approve a ‘just in case’ special levy? That’s HERE.
- Owner nominated himself and a non-owner for election to strata committee. Now the non-owner is chair. That’s HERE.
- Victoria publishes a guide to installing EV charging in strata schemes. That’s HERE.
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