A complaint from tenants that  their phone lines weren’t working has revealed that their rented flat was being used as an office  and they had been promised there would be two or three separate phone lines available.

“A tradesman who the OC had to call out told us it contains  desks and a bank of about 10 computers,” say Oystercove.   “Can the unit be used for this commercial purpose without the Owners Corp’s approval?

“Also, the tenants are now saying the extra phone lines are not working and they are demanding this be fixed urgently,” says Oystercove .

“Our strata manager says unless we can prove that there was only  one line when the property was built  the OC will be responsible for “fixing” this at a cost of several thousand dollars.  Is that right?”

Firstly, there’s a change of use of the unit which has to be approved by the local council.  Secondly, the owners should have informed the Owners Corp for insurance purposes.  And finally the OC is only liable to replace common property phone lines if they were there before and have been removed.

But seriously, the simple answer is to tell them and the landlord to take their trade elsewhere. Read the whole story here on the Flat Chat Forum.

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