Dealing with a resident like this is a massive headache, especially since he owns the place and you can’t just evict him. However, being an owner doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to break the rules.
Here is how the Strata Committee can finally crack down on this guy and make his life difficult until he behaves:
- Match His Actions to the Rules
Look up your building’s by-laws. You need to pin him down on specific rule breaks:
- The yelling and aggression: Breaks the basic rule against causing a nuisance or ruining the peace for others.
- The speakerphone calls: Clear breach of the noise by-laws.
- The balcony “bonking”: Public indecency and offensive behaviour.
- The non-stop smoking: Under NSW strata law, smoke drift that ruins a neighbour’s air is considered a legal nuisance. You can fight this even if the building allows smoking.
- Gather the Proof
You can’t just tell a court “he’s annoying.” You need hard evidence. Tell the neighbours to start tracking him for the next few weeks:
- Keep a log: Write down the exact dates, times, and what he did.
- Take recordings: Get video or audio from inside nearby apartments showing how loud his phone or balcony antics are.
- Call the cops: Every single time he gets aggressive, call the police and ask for the Event Number .
- Hit Him With Official Warning Letters
The committee needs to hold a quick meeting and vote to send him an official Notice to Comply with a By-Law
- Don’t just send one generic letter. Send a separate, official NSW Fair Trading form for each thing he’s doing wrong (one for noise, one for smoking, one for bad behaviour).
- Take Him to the Tribunal (NCAT)
If he ignores the warning letters (which he probably will), the committee can escalate things to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT):
- Fines: NCAT can slap him with a $1,100 fine for ignoring the warning notice. If he keeps doing it, the fine doubles to $2,200 .
- Orders: The tribunal can issue a legal order forcing him to stop smoking on the balcony or using his speakerphone. If he breaks a tribunal order, the fine jumps up to $5,500 .