[jliv]

Whale – no probs. Really appreciate everyone’s time here on the forum.

Just a quick update on the above.

As per the strata manager’s request, I spent a whole weekend writing a 3 page formal complaints letter which was forwarded on by our real estate agent. The letter outlined a number of instances which I felt that security have acted inappropriately to myself and my girlfriend and I had provided dates, times and the events which had occurred. Essentially the letter was an expanded version of my original post. I received a formal reply back on Thursday, which were along the lines of:

• They were unable to investigate as we didn’t provide them with enough details.
• Some generic paragraph about how how they were trying to address overcrowding in the building. 
• Contrary to the 3 pages of examples I had provided, all security personnel are professional and courteous and are God’s gift to earth.

On the plus side, for the past week, I haven’t seen a security personnel ask anyone for IDs.

Two questions for all:

1. If I would like to escalate this further, what options do I have? Would somewhere like NCAT be able to mediate this?
2. Is there someway to find out why security is backing off on the ID checking? 

Thanks and regards.

[jliv]

Hi, I would like to thank everyone for taking the time out and providing some feedback and thoughts. Apologies for not replying sooner, I’ve been busy with work and have only managed to get some spare time today to reply to everyone’s posts below and I will endeavour to respond more quickly in the future.

One general comment from most of the posters here has been that building management are doing what they are doing because they are trying to address overcrowding. I strongly agree with this in principle, but I have been very dissatisfied with the implementation for the reasons below.

• I’ve lived in other high rise buildings in the Sydney CBD before where BM have taken a more active, discrete and targeted approach, I’m frustrated by the way these security personnel effectively treats everyone as guilty until proven innocent. 
• I will use today to highlight security’s incompetence and inconsistent application of their responsibilities. When I was waiting for the lift, there must have been at least 8 individuals who came after me. It is highly probable that 4 of these individuals lived in the same apartment as a person stepped out of the lift and took them all upstairs. The security personnel just stood there and did nothing. 
• The lack of recourse against building managers is frustrating. I am sure most look to do their best but there are no minimum professional standards and there are no other formal way to make complaints.  

Whale – thanks for your advice and I will contact Tenant NSW for their view. My pushback against your point is that when we had rented the apartment, security was run by a different organisation and the rules were more lax. Knowing what I know now, I would have selected a different apartment. I am not opposed to the idea of having security in the building, but I expect them to conduct their business in a proper, professional and courteous manner and not act like bullies and threaten tenants. I would conclude by saying that being ID’ed several times a week and living under a qusai police state is an extremely frustrating experience, as other posters like lime2 can attest to.

JimmyT – thanks for your advice also. Yes that is correct, it seemed like we have moved into a ‘problem building’, mostly due to the lax approach taken by the previous building management. Although moving out is an option, we would only do so as a last resort, especially since moving will cost us a few thousand dollars. 

JimmyT – in response to your second post dated the 5th of April – my pushback is that a lot of overcrowded apartments are rented out by greedy owners also. Most renter’ apartments should be inspected on an annual basis (like we have) and any overcrowding should have been identified and addressed. With your point about building better communities, I would like to hear your thoughts about how this could be achieved and how this would address the overcrowding issue.

Lime2 – thanks for your post and your point by point reply. Sorry to hear about the problems you’ve been having with your building management and your situation actually sounds a bit worse than mine. I will also PM you to have a quick chat if you don’t mind. 

After living here for more than a year I can definitely understand why most people in Sydney choose to buy instead of rent, despite the expensive valuations. From my perspective, the relative lack of tenant rights compared to countries like the UK or Germany makes renting a frustrating experience indeed. Furthermore, the low standards which some building managers operate to and the lack of recourse on the part adds to the frustration.

Thanks to everyone who have posted and regards.

[Author]

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