valakos – you’re right to comply with the Law, but maybe give those married retiree owners a bit of a break. By all means ignore their irrelevant demands, but maybe consider that there may have been past problems with matters such as the use of visitors carspaces (by regular occupants) and with people using balcony railings as clotheslines, and that just maybe these owners think that they’re doing the right thing – albeit sometimes in the wrong way.
Scotty said…. I don’t think any Tribunal would fine someone for not providing the commencement date of a lease!
I agree, because on the basis of Millie‘s post (#6) it seems that it won’t even apply the explicit provisions of the Legislation that it’s charged to enforce!
With reference to Millie‘s post, there have been two occasions at our Plan where the absence of a S119 Notification caused problems.
The first was with an overflowing dishwasher in an unattended Unit of an overseas owner where the Executive Committee (E/C) had no clue about which Agent to contact about access, and the second was with the need to issue a tenant with a Notice to Comply (NTC) when the E/C had no knowledge of their real names.
The first resulted in considerable water damage to the Unit and moderate water damage to the Units adjacent and below, and the second gave rise to problems in the Tribunal because the NTC was incorrectly by necessarily referenced to “the occupants Lot xx”. The matter was heading towards a decision in our favour until the tenants claimed that they were unaware of the By-Laws because the Property Manager omitted to provide those with their Tenancy Agreement; another matter raised by Millie.
I haven’t yet experienced the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) but as it’s just the same old jockeys riding a different horse I strongly doubt that anything will change, and that’s why our E/C relies on local mediation, will do everything possible to avoid the NCAT, and instead seeks the services of a real Court of Law as a solution of last resort.
Again, on the specific matter of S119 Notifications, there have also been two (2) instances where our owners and more specifically their Agents (Property Managers) have refused to provide those, and on both occasions I (as Secretary) have contacted the NSW Department of Fair Trading and insisted that its minions do their job by enforcing the Rules of Conduct under the provisions of the NSW Property Stock and Business Agents’ Act, that amongst other things requires the Licensees of Real Estate Agencies to conduct their business in an legal, fair, and competent manner.
That approach was successful on both occasions, albeit that on one of those about which I’ve previously posted details, with what I allege was with the knowledge of a DFT Officer, a Licensee backdated a S119 Notification to avoid the imposition of a fine – but as it was the Notification that was the issue and not a penalty, we succeeded!
So in summary there’s more than one way to skin-a-cat, and if one of those is via the NCAT, success depends not so much on the Law but moreso on the individual Member and how well the parties do their homework and present their case.
In my opinion, where Mediation is unsuccessful Owners Corporations and more generally consumers need something much better than the NCAT!