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I’m wondering where I stand. The strata by-law for my building in NSW states that “an owner or occupier of a lot must not, without the approval in writing of the owners’ corporation, keep any animal on the lot or the common property.”
I foster cats/kittens supported by a local rescue. Each cat/kitten pair stays indoors only for about a month or so before they are rehomed permanently, dependent on interest. I make no money; in fact, I spend my own money for food and equipment. Sometimes there is the added stress of a sick cat who has medical needs.
When I moved in last year, I applied to keep my cat but had to pay a $100 fee for them to call an extraordinary meeting outside the AGM. In my application, I mentioned I’m also a foster carer to max 2 cats. The Strata Manager just forwarded my application to all owners for approval. The owners approved my cat with no mention or question about foster caring. Not sure what to do, I continued to foster while keeping them out of sight.
I asked various people including Fair Trading twice with various advice. All gave different opinion and advice i.e. leave it, hide it, challenge it, forget it etc. Other foster carers say that they don’t ask for permission due to the flux of animals.
At $100 an application (in one year that could equate to approx. $600) and a one-week approval turnaround for rescues, this is too long (for example a recent pair that were left abandoned outside needed immediate care). $600 is a lot more than it would cost me to fund the care of these animals and would help the rescue pay for the medical costs for a very sick one. Rescues are often trying to recruit more foster carers to support the large intake of animals and when they can’t, they say no to abandoned animals.
I’m happy to give them an update for each pet in and out if that’s what they want but since even the Strata Manager said nothing, I have kept a low profile and already had a run-in last year when they tried to stop my renovations from proceeding by adding a condition after approval. A neighbour hinted about the by-law recently. They may have seen the carrier for vet visits or someone saw the kittens running around.
If they confront me, I’m not sure what my options are.
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These days, your strata committee can’t unreasonably refuse you the right to have a pet (or pets). If your foster cats are confined to your property and not bothering anyone else, then I think it would be unreasonable to expect you to pay $100 for each and every foster pet.
You asked. You paid. They didn’t refuse. If they decide to take you the Tribunal I think you’d have good arguments for saying you thought their response implied permission. But in the first instance they would have to send you a Notice to Comply – which refers to compliance with a by-law that is no longer strictly legal. So if it were me, I’d be taking care of those foster cats and not applying every time. You already applied.
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Agreed. This is one of those cases where doing nothing is the best way forward. Even if they send you a notice to comply, they have to take action at NCAT to enforce it and at some point, someone will point out that their by-law is not enforceable, for the reasons Uberowner outlined.
Apartments are the best places for cats – they don’t get to monster wildlife. And where else will we get the kitten videos to brighten our days?
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The fee to call an extraordinary general meeting should be in the strata management contract. You need to take a look at this document. If it is in the contract, it is legal.
The strata management contract lists how much they charge for their services to the owners corporation. Somewhere in one of the “schedules” at the end of the document, it shows that they charge a certain amount for holding an extraordinary general meeting.
You can get around this. If you have several owners, whose unit entitlements add up to 25% of the total unit entitlements in the strata plan, they can call a meeting. I did it. I called a meeting without involving the strata manager so that we could vote on a few things. The strata manager cannot charge me for something I initiated. However, you have to read the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and know something about running a meeting because there are rules about issuing a notice of agenda, voting minutes etc.
What I cannot understand is why the resolution passed in the original meeting did not allow you have ongoing care of different animals. The wording of the motion should have said you can keep zz number of animals for a maximum xx days and include whatever conditions they see fit.
It would be even better to create a by-law to formulate rules around foster care. In that case you might need a lawyer to draft the rules and you would have to pay for another extraordinary general meeting and registration of the by-law.
I knew there was something dodgy about all this. Section 105A says owners corporations can’t charge fees for considering pet applications. The OP should ask for her money back, citing the the Strata Schemes Management Act, Section105A (below). There is no need for a new by-law to allow pet fostering, but the committee might refuse to allow an excessive number of cats if they can show they would prove a nuisance. And, by the way, there are other parts of the legislation that cover animals that have been approved but later prove to be a nuisance.
105A Bonds or fees relating to keeping of animals not payableAn owners corporation must not require an owner or occupier of a lot to—
(a) pay a bond or fee relating to the keeping of an animal on the lot, or
(b) obtain insurance for an animal kept on the lot.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.