I am a new member of this forum and this is my first post, so please excuse any faux pas or guacherie, but I have a query about this article, which I have also raised with JT.
In the answer section of the column it is stated that 'They (EC) can take action against the owner for failing to manage their tenant properly'.
My question is, can an owner be held responsible for the behaviour of a tenant, and if this is so, there must be some legislative reference for this. I cannot find any such reference in the Act or the Regs and I was wondering if anybody knows the reference.
A problem arises where an OC decides to take an owner to the CTTT, for the behaviour of their tenant. It seems to me that such an owner would be in position to say to the CTTT that he was not the one to breach the by-laws, and therefore cannot be held responsible.
I am aware that tenants can be held responsible for their breaches of the by-laws, and can be taken to the CTTT with due process, but what happens in the circumstance where there is a tenant's name on the lease, and that tenant is rotating other residents through the property (I guess subletting without any contract) on a short term basis, for example weekly or fortnightly, and any or all of those residents breach. Tenants should also be signing lease agreements which include a clause about compliance with the by-laws, but I am also sure that doesn't always happen either.
Any comments?