[Jimmy-T]

This is going to require all your diplomatic skills but the most effective way to fix this would be to tell your neighbour you think it’s unfair and ask them what they want to do about it, offering them the option to either remove the fence completely or move it.

You might even suggest that you would be amenable to passing by-laws that clarified that each area of common property would effectively become lot property, which would make either unit much easier to sell in the future.

In short, if they were to advertise their duplex as having a yard attached, that would be misleading to potential purchasers.  If they agree to shifting the fence and having exclusive use by-laws drawn up, then the claim of ownership would be legitimate.

At the same time, ask them if there’s anything about the division of the costs and responsibilities of the scheme that they are unhappy about and that you can help with.

Ultimately, there’s the easy way or the hard way argument: reach a reasonable compromise, or fight it through the tribunal, then have to move or remove the fence anyway, and pay their costs and yours.

But that is the nuclear option and, as I said, diplomacy will be the key.

Don’t go in too hard too early – you have to live with these people, after all. Ask to have a sit-down about the block and raise the issue of the dividing fence.  The next step will depend on their personalities as much as it does the letter of the law.

This is all based on the premise that no exclusive use by-laws have been created in the past.  If there have, you are pretty much stuck with it.

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[Jimmy-T]

Perhaps the answer is to stop paying the fees and let them take you to court.  Then they would have to do the heavy lifting to prove their contract was valid.  Send them a note saying you believe their contract was not validly signed and you will be happy to discuss a new contract which is legally binding on both parties.  This is not legal advice, by the way, just a tactic you might explore.

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[Jimmy-T]

TrulEConcerned wrote:

Their claim of lawyer saying you’re liable may just be them seeking to further rattle your cage.

Good point.  Their “lawyer” might just be someone in the pub who knows someone whose brother-in-law’s mate is a conveyancer. Ask for a copy of the lawyer’s written advice so that you can give it due consideration.

However, if there  is a record of complaints about the condition of the hot wwater system (including rust particles in the water) you might be liable due to negligence, as suggested in Kaindub’s post above.  Hot water tanks can have a discreet lifespan after which the bottom can just drop out of them, but there may be signs they’re getting to the end, with particles in the water.

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[Jimmy-T]

You are absolutely right about this being a possibly illegal change of use of the parking spaces but I can’t see any council in NSW breaching a block that uses visitor spaces judiciously for EV charging.

Look at what happened with Airbnb.  Apartment blocks had DAs that specifically forbade short-term letting but councils refused to do anything about it, often using the excuse that they didn’t have the staffing to police it.

To get back to your other points,  any vehicle being charged at a fast-charging point is unlikely to be there for longer than one hour at a time.  Rules and by-laws could easily regulate this.

Current fast charging powerpoints are regulated by the providers such as Tesla and Chargefox.  They bill the car owner then pay the Owners Corp for the electricity used.  They could also easily sanction drivers who leave their cars in visitor spaces for too long, by employing recognition software to not allow them to charge up for, say, a week.

Leaving cars on charge overnight is unlikely and could easily be controlled if it became a problem.

And yes, the best solution may be for drivers to charge up overnight in their own space, on a user-pays basis.  But, as Dale Cohen explains in the original story, it’s a “chicken and egg thing.”  Install some basic infrastructure and the cars will come, when more cars come, move to the next stage of facilities provision.

The Richmont (and my block, too, coincidentally) has “backboned” the building so that owners in the future can charge up in their own spaces, overnight when power is plentiful and cheap.

It’s incremental but it has to start somewhere.  Buildings that block EV charging will eventually become fossil fuel ghettoes, full of gas-guzzlers and the people who either don’t want EVs or can’t afford them.  That’s a very interesting demographic: ten years from now, would you want to live in a block with a disproportionate number of climate deniers and financial strugglers?

The use of visitor parking for EV charging isn’t perfect, but then we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

 

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[Jimmy-T]

Just to be clear, no state government in Australia is even remotely interested in doing anything that might deter tourists, and that includes making it less lucrative for people to put their homes on Airbnb and Stayz.

Airbnb has insisted from the beginning that there is no problem with people “sharing” their homes. And to some extent that’s true, because the biggest problem is commercial enterprises where head tenants rent residential homes and sub-let them as short-term lets.

Australia has the laxest short-term letting laws in the developed world. We are Europe and America’s doss house.

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[Jimmy-T]

The Hood wrote:

The Code of Conduct is worthless window dressing and if you want to be realistic about it then you will realize it sets an impossible bar.

Previously I would have agreed with that 100 per cent but SCA NSW has only recently had its Professional Standards papers officially accepted and they include its own, government approved, code of conduct.  So you now have a benchmark by which to measure the standards of your strata managers’ behaviour. OK, it’s more of a wish-list than window dressing, for now, but it’s a start.

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[Jimmy-T]

These 5+5 year caretaker contracts are an infection that has spread from Queensland and benefit only the caretakers and and the developers who sell them in the first place.  Who reading this has an effective 10-year employment contract?  It’s time the Property Services Commissioner had a good hard look at these rorts.  Strata managers ony get three years  maximum. That’s the benchmark.

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[Jimmy-T]

One of the “myths” I didn’t mention in my AFR article was the misinformation that strata schemes can’t use capital works funds to install EV charging as that is an upgrade or an improvement, rather than a repair or maintenance.  This is not so, according to this from a Fair Trading spokesperson:

Section 79(2) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (SSMA) sets out the various aspects of capital works that an owners corporation must consider and estimate expenditure for at each annual general meeting.

This includes expected expenditure relating to renewing or replacing fixtures and fittings that are part of the common property, or replacing or repairing the common property.

Section 79(2) notes, that “expenses of a capital nature would include expenses in relation to major repairs or improvements to the common property of the owners corporation…”.

Accordingly, section 79(2) would permit the owners corporation to use their capital works fund to pay for the installation of infrastructure such as an electric vehicle charging station on common property as it states funds can be used for improvements.

The NSW Government’s reforms to the SSMA in February 2021 has made it easier for lot owners to seek approval for the installation, financing and/or changing of by-laws relating to sustainability infrastructure, such as electric vehicle charging stations.

The reforms reduced the voting threshold required for sustainability infrastructure changes to common property to a simple majority vote of the owners corporation.

So there!  Another anti-EV myth exploded. And you don’t even need to pass a special resolution. A simple majority is all that’s required for sustainability infrastructure changes.

 

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[Jimmy-T]

chesswood wrote:

they’re common property and you shouldn’t alter them …

…without permission.

 

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[Jimmy-T]

I’ll confirm that on my list of initials and acronyms.

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[Jimmy-T]

ray wrote:

the Strata approval process (CA, By-laws, etc)

What is “CA”?

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[Jimmy-T]

OK, if this is an exclusive use area established by a by-law, that by-law should state who is reponsible for repair and maintenance of what used to be common property.  Look at the document establishing exclusive use and that should tell you all you need to know.

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[Jimmy-T]

newb wrote:

I think eventually the strata roll, or enough details for owners to contact other owners, will be available on strata hub.

I hope you are right but I have my doubts.  There has already been resistance from committee office-bearers to having to post their personal phone numbers and email addresses.  Not sure if I would want my contact details and address posted on the internet where outsiders might access it.  One word: Optus.

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[Jimmy-T]

HappyNow wrote:

I’m not sure how to go about relisting it for consideration at next AGM without it being ‘out of order’?

Take it to mediation at Fair Trading with a view to resolving via a Section 237.  That should remind the chair that they are not the be-all and end-all.  Meanwhile, check with your local council to see if this will have any chance of success, hypothetically, so you can go to the next AGM fully informed and armed.

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[Jimmy-T]

TrulEConcerned wrote:

tell your agent you’re interested in contacting all owners about (mention some important matter) and for that you would like their names and email addresses to be sent to you (in no longer than say 3 days’ time). The agent cannot deny you that.

Are you sure?  I don’t recall anything in the legislation that says the agent must forward owners anything.  You are right about allowing inspection for a nominal fee.  Take your phone and photograph or scan the lists to save you photocopying fees, if you want.

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