Tenants driven out by building work
If work on common property means reduction or loss of rent in a tenanted property, should the Owners Corporation – that’s all the other owners – compensate the landlord? The…
Forum
Ask a question, get an answer or just voice an opinion.
Give and take on direct debits
QUESTION: I received a letter from my letting agent telling me I must give them permission to Direct Debit my account to pay the rent. I do not use Direct…
Tenant dogged by the power of one
A couple of weeks ago we brought you the tale of the tenant who had it written into her lease that she could have her dog in her home, only…
Heavy levies Vs the loan arrangers
Stories of unit blocks having no money in the bank when they need repairs are legion. There has long been a culture in strata of leaving repairs to “the next…
Confusion reigns in scramble parking
Should parking be less of a scramble for owners than tenants? A Flat Chat reader has written to us about his unit block where he parks his car in an…
Grouse over spouses on EC
‘Can a husband and wife both be on the executive committee,’ writes Kenuppa on the Forum. The simple answer is yes in NSW, but no in Victoria and Queensland. However,…
Short term pain, long term gain
Our recent story about how the Building Appeals Board in Victoria had decreed that short-term rentals in residential apartment blocks are in contravention of the building codes and are therefore…
By-laws not optional for tenants
Do tenants in NSW really have to obey by-laws, wonders Flat Chat website regular KiwiPaul. “In NSW the tenancy agreement only states that tenants have to be given a copy…
Split bills too hard to swallow
“Let’s just divvy it up,” is the civilised way for friends to pay for a meal. But it doesn’t work so well when it comes to covering the running costs…
Two routes for disputes
If you want to read an editorial piece explaining the ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ ways to pursue complaints and by-law breaches and resolve disputes in strata in NSW. That piece now…
Pet by-laws around Australia
First of all, let’s be clear on this – while there are ‘model’ by-laws that govern all sorts of things, including pets, they differ from state to state and even…
Forgetful residents fined for over use of lifts
Is this energy conservation gone mad? A high-rise building in Sydney has just announced what amounts to fines for residents who forget things in their flats and then have to…