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We have a resident who basically lives on his balcony, which is on the third (top) floor of our complex. Over the years, due to his abuse of alcohol, the police have been called as a result of his language, aggression, etc,. He also has a reputation for “bonking” on the balcony in full earshot of other residents. On top of all of that, he constantly speaks on his telephone with the speaker on and smokes all day, which is very annoying. Nothing has been done by previous and current Strata Committees to curb this disgusting persons actions.
This man is also an owner.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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[Barnaby]

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.<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

Here is how the Strata Committee can finally crack down on this guy and make his life difficult until he behaves:<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

1. Match His Actions to the Rules<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

Look up your building’s by-laws. You need to pin him down on specific rule breaks:<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

• • The yelling and aggression:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Breaks the basic rule against causing a nuisance or ruining the peace for others.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>
  • The speakerphone calls:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Clear breach of the noise by-laws.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>
  • The balcony “bonking”:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Public indecency and offensive behaviour.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>
  • The non-stop smoking:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> 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.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>

 

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[Jimmy-T]

The above very helpful message from Barnaby had a whole page of coded text, as above which I have now cleaned up and reposted below (because that’s the kind of guy I am).  Just left it there as a warning to others to make sure your message comes in “clean” from whatever device you are using (I’m guessing) to copy and paste.

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[Barnaby]

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:

1. 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.

2. 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 .

3. 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).

4. 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 .

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Poniro

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