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This from a good friend of Flat Chat:
Picked my sister up from her apartment at The Horizon on Saturday, at noon, and guess what? An adult in her pink jammies and ugboots checking out a car space or something on the street, then back into the lobby and up into the lift. Maybe she’d just read your column.
The Sydney Morning Herald received the following letter in reply to this column:
The SMH column “Rental Rant” 5-6 May 2012, was not doing what it could to foster good communications between landlords and tenants.
A young female tenant said that her landlord “creeps” her out, “ogles” her a lot and she had the feeling that he had been in her flat when she was out. The question was, could she change the locks to stop the landlord from just walking in, after finding the landlord in her unit fixing a light she had asked to be fixed.
The answer given was surprising. Advising that you can’t change the locks without giving the landlord a key within seven days or you would breach your lease. The answer then continued with “However, if the landlord isn’t coming round while you are out, how is he going to know that you have changed them?”
The landlords presence in her unit could have simply been a misunderstanding. He may have not realised that the tenant wanted to be home. Why not suggest that the tenant either talks to or sends a letter to the landlord thanking him for fixing the light and a request that in future could he please organise a time with her for any maintenance to be done so she could be present.
Why encourage an tenant to breach their lease as the first step, without seeking a simpler solution first? Better communications between landlords and tenants could save a lot of unnecessary upset on both sides.
1. I didn’t call the owners “liars”. I said you need to consider the source and their incentives, which is prudent no matter what the situation. and even if you infer that I think they’re lying, note that I didn’t propose you put that in a letter and send it to them.
2. I wouldn’t trust any Strata Manager to draft a letter of that nature. You need legal advice.
3. The best option here is to just deal with he parking issue and forget the agent. The owner can deal with the agent if they were mislead.
FROM FRAN:
Reminds me of the joke of the couple who downsize & move into a high rise apartment. The wife looks out the window and says “I can see everyone in the apartment opposite – we’re going to have to get curtains”
to which he replies “don’t worry dear. When they see you, THEY”LL get the curtains”But jokes aside, I find the question insulting and was surprised that you actually took the question seriously. Would they complain if the couple were a young spunky,and,sexy ?
At my gym there are a lot of us 65 -75 year old women who look fabulous in their leotards and put a lot of women half their age to shame not only with their bodies but with their fitness.
So let’s see what LD looks like in leotards! Maybe the sight is also not for the faint-hearted and it is LD who needs to “behave with more dignity””Your columns are must reading in our household so please, don’t belittle them by giving credibility to puerile questions.
Fair enough, Fran. But you open with a joke that many (not I) would find sexist and offensive. Like septuagenarians in Lycra, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. JT
@JimmyT said:
“Meanwhile, I suggest a strongly worded letter from your strata manager telling the RE agent that if they continue to mislead potential purchasers about the illegal use of common property, you will report them to Fair Trading and the Real Estate Institute with a view to having their license revoked”With respect, I would not do this.
You are proposing that someone send a letter containing thinly veiled threats to someone’s livelihood based on the verbal evidence of two individuals who both have an incentive to fabricate the truth. If you’re wrong (because the owners weren’t being entirely honest when they shifted the blame to the agent), the best case scenario is the guy gets pissed off (and it doesn’t help your parking situation) and the worse case scenario is you get sued (and it doesn’t help your parking situation).
If the previous owner (or their agent) has mislead the purchaser then that is a matter for the purchaser and the vendor (or their agent). You should proceed exactly as you would normally do so when someone is parking somewhere they shouldn’t.
renting a property is a business arrangement, not a social service. arrange viewings only on terms and times you want. Make sure you pre-arrange well in advance with the agent, set times, and ensure that you are there (I have known people lose items during viewings -if you are there you can keep an eye open). I have, before, proposed terms such as 'one hour, saturday week'. If they want more, ask whether they will reward you for the inconvenience – for example, one week rent free.
LL's should build in void periods (and indeed use the time between viewings to update/clean the property)
That said, do not obstruct unless the LL/agent have been unreasonable themselves…..
I refer to your article in the SMH April 2-4,2010 “The kids are not all right.” My partner and I had a similar issue with often supervised and unsupervised children squealing and shrieking on the common property roadway outside my townhouse in the late afternoon often till 8:30 at night. This began in 2009. I would go out and explain that my living room overlooked this area.
In March 2010 I was threatened by an owner for asking to keep the noise down and the following week he then verbally attacked my partner.The police told us to take out an A.V.O. We ended up in mediation after attending Local Court. We began recording the noise, diarising events and collected signatures from nearby residents.Late in 2010 we took our evidence to an exec committee meeting and was told it was a personal issue and we had to take it on. We kept recording and diarising events and in March 2011 we sent our submissions to the CTTT.
We took action against the main offender even though the CTTT was given paper work diarising the actions of all the offenders. This was done on the advice I believe of the managing agent. In September 2011 the offending party was issued with an order to comply with by- laws 1 and 7 of the strata schemes management act. They had refused mediation. They did not comply and we again submitted evidence and collected more signatures. We were scheduled to attend a hearing on December 7, 2011. The other party wrote that they would not attend but provided a stat. dec. about us. Due to lack of time at the hearing it was rescheduled to February 1, 2012.
We attended and so did the other party. The member listened to our cases and supported by- law 7 but told us he could not support by-law 1 of schedule 2 to the Act because referring to the by-law it related to hallways, laundries and car spaces.(?)The member also wanted to know whether other children were playing.
The noise is so bad at times it necessitates us leaving and my partner retreats to our weekender. From 2010 -Sept.2011 i have recorded 15 X 90 minute tapes of squealing, shrieking and outright havoc from inside my townhouse. We also left the tapes run in 2010 for extended periods and captured quieter moments.
Since taking this on we have had nappies thrown in our yard, torches in our windows at 11p.m., false emails sent to exec. committee members containing actions I have never done e.g. peering in windows,Our front door has been repeatedly kicked and bashed late at night, WE have one man at the Anti- Discrimination board for blowing kisses at us and taking on a boxing stance and yelling “Have a go!' as his mates and children stand around whooping and cheering, children pulling faces at us ,poking out tongues ,walking behind me yelling “let's shoot him'.
Yesterday at the hearing in Castlereagh St the other party even stated she had rung to see if I was a Pedophile. This is certainly not an exhaustive list. All this because I asked if they could move in front of their townhouse and to keep the noise down.
Please PLEASE PLEASE let the readers know what could happen if you decide to do this. We have over 60 pages of notes detailing the behaviour of children and adults. We had collected signatures and statements on 3 occasions and had over 20% signing our last statement about the safety of children and the ever present noise.
I hope you have an opportunity to read and perhaps respond but please make your readers aware of how they could be treated.
This from Michael Teys, of Teys Lawyers:
Ever since the 12-year-old kid dumped the schoolyard bully on his head and the video went viral on You Tube, social media has become the weapon of choice of the oppressed. Our forum host, Jimmy T this week suggests the same treatment for Crazy Larry, the overly opinionated but well proxied committee member on flat-chatter, JudyE’s committee.
Jimmy argues an audio of Crazy Larry’s performance posted on a Facebook page will expose him for the bully he is and bring about the end of his reign.
Oh, contraire, Jimmy T. Publicity is just what this fellow wants. His type loves a forum and you would give him just one more. Strata bullies need to be deprived of oxygen not given another canister.
Jimmy’s other suggestion is the better one: a good set of meeting rules and procedures and united support for the chair to enforce the procedural rules. When Crazy Larry rants invoke the gag – that he no longer be heard. If necessary, adjourn the meeting a send him out to cool down.
A firm but persistent and reasonable chair will beat an overbearing committee member every day of the week, at least eventually when he realizes his game is up.