StrataChair, you suggest hiring a lawyer, but that is not always affordable or if affordable, often exceeds the damages sought. Take my case: at NCAT, self representing, I won orders for the OC to repair common property by a certain date. They failed to do so. To compel them, I needed to return to NCAT, pay to file again and if I decided to hire a lawyer, then I would be up for $$$$. There was no guarantee that I would even be awarded my filing costs (back from the other side), let alone the legal bill.
Why should an owner be forced to pay fees way out of line with the cost of the required repairs, which are obligatory for the OC to maintain?