Parking Mad
Flatchat has been in touch with the Office of fair Trading this week, following up some of the suggestions made and questions asked by readers late last year in our…
Past Posts
These posts go all the way back to the raw versions of my Flat Chat columns for the Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain section over th e past 15 years. Some of the issues are specific to New South Wales, some are universal. There will almost certainly be differences in strata law between NSW and other states and countries and the laws have changed over that timespan too.
If you have a serious problem, contact the agencies (in Australia) listed in our contacts sections. Or contact a properly qualified and experienced strata lawyer. These columns should not be regarded as a substitute for professional legal advice.
New Laws
Having only this past week been involved in an arm-wrestle with the Office of Fair Trading’s Education and Information department over the content of a new book I’m writing (out…
A Digital Message for Foxtel
As an avid TV watcher and recent convert to digital free-to-air, I can understand the frustrations of a number of big apartment buildings who’ve contacted me about their eagerness to…
Petulance avoided
Pets are becoming a much more acceptable part of apartment life but how can you let them in without turning the building into a menagerie? Q: We live in a…
Outvoted but not outsmarted
I think it was Winston Churchill who said democracy was the worst system of government … apart from all the others. In strata land, democracy has an anachronistic twist –…
Model by-law for pets
Apartment buildings are becoming more pet-friendly but some owners are concerned that it’s getting out of hand with no controls over pets. The Office of Fair Trading’s model by-laws say…
Land Grab
Just when you think you’ve read or heard everything, along comes another new twist on neighbours behaving badly. This time it’s the strata equivalent of a land grab and our…
Debt dodgers beware
The unpaid levies scandal has taken a comic turn around one well-known Eastern Suburbs building with an apartment owner who owes nearly $15,000 to his Owners Corporation scuttling in the…
Wheelchair access
Sometimes in this job you need the wisdom of Solomon – but mostly you only need to know when to the pass the buck. This week’s curly question is one…
Value of votes
There is a basic and fairly pragmatic principle that guides the running of strata plans and that is “user pays”. At the heart of this concept are your unit entitlements,…
Same Strokes for Different Folks
Another New Year and, it seems, the same old problems out there in Strataland. But you learn something new every day. My strata building has a number of tenants and…
Good Guys, Bad Guys
I’ve been taken to task by a couple of readers who challenge two of my assertions: that short-term rentals are a bad thing; and that investor owners are generally worse…