Size matters for a great dog
We got a message the other day from a reader who has been given permission by her landlord to have a dog and the apartment block she’s renting in has…
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Bad landlord and a broken family
You don’t hear about squatters much these days but this lengthy saga involves free-range occupants of a unit and the problems caused when a landlord won’t get involved. It concerns…
Who does the rental agent work for?
QUESTION: I have a concern with the property agent where I rent. Whilst a nice enough chap, he is terribly unprofessional and it seems like he is only interested in…
Picture this – rogue parkers in the frame
Can cars be camera shy? A question of parking paparazzi comes this week comes from a Flat Chat regular who wonders if he’s been breaking the law in his long-running…
Paying the price for peace and quiet
Here’s a story where I can’t decide whether the outcome is good or bad. It started when a colleague’s mother’s upstairs neighbours lifted their carpet and polished their floorboards. Mum…
Landlord from Hell roasted
The recent report on the ‘landlord from hell’ sparked a lively debate on the Fairfax Interweb pages. Basically it was a list of 31 do’s and mostly don’ts handed to…
Hot-wired for hot-bunking
On the subject of over-crowding and hot-bunking, how do all these people get into the buildings when Executive Committees start restricting the number of electronic keys available? OK, when there’s…
Where will the tenants go?
Where will tenants go when we kick them out? The proposed changes to strata law due to hit parliament later this year are apparently going to allow us to control…
Big stink over varnish fumes
No sooner has the lingering aroma of Christmas dinners evaporated than we are off and running with a dispute over smells that has neighbours fuming. Ambrosis wrote to the Flat…
No stars for un-Green landlords
Here’s a conundrum for both tenants and landlords – would you pay more to have energy efficient appliances in your rented apartment? The answer for tenants is easy. Energy efficient…
Big Brother deters dumpers
QUESTION: We have a recurring problem of residents (including departing tenants) leaving rubbish on the street verge and on common property rather than putting it in the bins. We really…
Have yourself a very strata Christmas
It’s party time again – deck the (lift) halls with boughs of holly, call the cops when next door gets too jolly. But seriously you can and should have a…