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Topic
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I’m a position holder on our executive committee for my small block and have a disruptive owner.
Is it permitted for EC or their representatives to remove their property from a common area after we’ve asked them to move it? Storage of any item in common area is not permitted as part of the standard by-laws for this building.
And, if I wish to move to issuing notices of non compliance can I claim for legal/administration costs above the amount of the non compliance notice?
Percy
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Replies
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Strictly speaking, you need to obtain NCAT orders before you can touch someone else’s property – for instance, cars parked illegally on common property.
And if you don’t have a by-law in place that says owners will be charged for the removal of private property, then it’s hard to impose a charge retrospectively.
But look at this the other way. What would happen if you gave the owner a final warning and then just moved the stuff. Would you be breaking the law? Possibly. If so, what would the lot owner’s recourse be? They would have to jump through all the legal hoops with no guarantee that they would get any more than an acknowledgement that they were right and you were wrong.
If I were on your committee, I would be suggesting that you send a letter saying that the private property left on common property represents a fire risk and therefor must be removed immediately otherwise you will remove it and charge them for its removal and storage.
In the meantime, prepare a by-law for your next general meeting that effectively gives the EC permission to remove private property from common property following, say, one or two written warnings, at the lot owner’s expense.
Getting back to this problem, strictly speaking you should seek mediation and then orders at NCAT to compel the owner to move their property. But that is allowing them to make you do all the work.
Sometimes the “wrong” action is the right answer.
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