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We have quite a vexatious AirBnB host who on her website refers to herself as a ‘rule-breaker’ and ‘disruptor’. The ‘disruptor’ attached the AirBnB key safe to her washing machine in the common laundry which has to be accessed with a security key. Residents began to disrupt the disruptor by making sure that the laundry door was always locked which meant that her AirBnB customers were not able to access the key. The ‘disruptor’ made a complaint to the police that the secured common laundry door was being locked! She now has attached the key safe to her letterbox. My understanding is that letterboxes are common property: if the letterboxes are located within a brick wall which is located on the common property and clearly outside of a lot, then they subject to the owners corporation’s by-laws. So, my question is: can the AirBnB host modify common property (i.e. by attaching a key safe)?
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In all likelihood, the mailboxes will be common property. I’d send the “disruptor” a note telling her the lock should be removed within 24 hours or it will be removed by whatever means necessary and she will be charged for any damage to the common property as a result.
I assume your block has a by-law forbidding Airbnb rentals. If not, time to get one. If so, time to start pinging the disruptor with Notices to Comply and breaches of Section 258, which come with a maximum fine of $550 per offence.
Oh, and before you do anything else, take some screen shots of her Airbnb page describing herself as “the disruptor” and “rule-breaker”. They will go down really well at NCAT.
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We had a similar problem in our block recently.
When we confiscated the key safe from its common property “hide-away”, the tenants in question superglued the building door locks open. We subsequently tracked the “visitors” to a number of units.
We put up notices stating that anyone entering the building without a security key, unless admitted via the security intercom, would be reported to the police and charged with trespass. This reduced the turnover until we could get the offending tenants evicted.