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I am a tenant in an apartment owned by a close friend in Western Australia. Our building comprises 30 apartments and is part of a larger complex of six similar buildings.
Over the past three years, I have received more than 30 breach notices from our strata management—most of which I believe to be unfounded and issued without supporting evidence. These notices followed my efforts to raise concerns about the strata’s failure to address persistent flooding in the storerooms. (Pictures below) Each notice has carried an $88 charge, referred to as a “fine” in email correspondence from the strata manager, totalling $2,640 to date.Examples of Breaches:
Breached and fined for foul language in an emailOne breach involved a fine for “using foul language in a common area.” This was based on an email I sent responding to another breach notice, in which I told the manager to “piss off.” I would like to understand: Can a private email be considered a breach in a “common area” under strata by-laws?
Items in Car Bay:Fourteen of the breaches (totalling $1,232) relate to having items in my car bay, which is adjacent to my flooding storeroom. These items were placed there only to prevent them from being further damaged by water and mould.Strata was first informed of the flooding issue in 2020 and has been repeatedly asked to either provide an alternative storage solution or show leniency regarding the by-laws. However, the continued issuance of fines suggests no such consideration has been made.
My Key Concerns:
Can the strata company issue breach notices without providing evidence? Atleast 20 of my 30 breaches have no evidence attached whatsoever.
Are they legally allowed to charge $88 per breach?I understand they may invoice for administrative time, but their correspondence explicitly refers to these charges as “fines.”
Where can I challenge or overturn these fines?I’m unsure of the proper avenue to formally dispute them.
Lack of Access to the Council of Owners (COO):Despite repeated attempts—including handwritten letters delivered to their mailboxes—I have received no response from the COO. The strata company has also refused to facilitate contact. This is concerning, especially as my grievances involve the strata manager directly.I’m worried that if I proceed to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), they may question whether I’ve tried to resolve the matter with the COO—something I have been actively prevented from doing.
Additional Major Concern:
I have been charged $2,200 for a replacement motor for a security gate. The strata alleges this was due to a bike lock I supposedly placed on the gate, which they claim caused the motor to burn out. No evidence was provided.I have a video-recorded conversation with the gate technician confirming that the motor failed due to remote control issues—not obstruction. Ironically, in that same recording, the technician actually suggests placing an object in front of the gate’s sensor to hold it open—a practice I have since been fined for (4 breaches, totalling $352).Final Thoughts:
I now face over $4,000 in fines and charges that I believe are baseless. The situation has caused ongoing stress and tension in my household, and I feel targeted and harassed in my own home.
I am seeking guidance on the following:Who can I contact to formally present evidence and dispute these fines?
What are my legal options for having these charges reviewed and potentially overturned?
Any assistance or direction would be greatly appreciated, as I no longer know where to turn.
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Have you reached out to Circle Green Community Legal? It’s a non profit that helps tenants.
Have a look at the third page of this document: living-in-a-scheme-by-laws-and-other-responsibilities-fact-sheet.pdf
It specifically says that only the State Administrative Tribunal can impose fines for by-law breaches – strata companies can’t. By the way, thanks to one of the idiosyncrasies (idiocies?) of WA strata law, the owners corporation or body corporate is called the “strata company”. How unhelpful is that?
And that partly addresses one of your questions – can strata managers or the committee impose charges for doing their job? Not in NSW or Vic, but who knows in the wild west?
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.
I am a tenant in an apartment owned by a close friend in Western Australia.
Maybe you could ask your friend to tell the strata company to pull their collective head in or risk being dragged to SAT for breaching the Act.
And they might ask what’s being done about these defects that are causing flooding. Sounds like someone is aiding and abetting the developer in shirking their duties to repair defects (if it’s under warranty) or helping the body corporate to avoid fulfilling duty to maintain and repair common property.
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.
I have contacted Circle Green who advised they don’t provide assistance with owner vs strata management disputes.
You wrote in the initial post that you are a tenant. Which are you?
Also, have you paid the fines? And what does your friend, the owner, say?
Have a close read of this factsheet as it explains in detail how to resolve a strata dispute in WA.
Finally, you must have hit “send” three times because your last post ended up here three times. Patience! This is not a computerised bot service.
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.
Bushdoof, you wrote that green circle doesn’t help with strata mgt disputes. Do you mean a dispute against a strata mgr or strata disputes generally? If it’s the former then I suggest you make clear to green circle that you are in a dispute with the owners corp. The strata mgr is just their puppet. His so called fining of you is him doing as he is told by the strata committee
His so called fining of you is him doing as he is told by the strata committee
And it’s illegal.
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.
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