Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
– I have been told pets are not permitted by the strata by laws but no one can produce the document for me.
Looking at this again, if no one has a copy of the by-laws then they can’t complain if you haven’t stuck by them. And anyway, there can’t be a blanket ban on pets in NSW strata.
Sections 38 and 39 of the standard residential tenancy agreement in NSW says the landlord has to a0 show you the by-laws before you sign up and b) give you a copy after you do. The tenant has to sign an acknowledgement that they have seen the Tenants’ Information Statement.
The Tenants’ Information Statement says this:
What you must be given before you sign an agreement
Before you sign an agreement or move into the property, the landlord or agent must give you:
• a copy of this Tenant information statement
• a copy of the proposed tenancy agreement, filled out in the spaces provided
• 2 hard copies, or 1 electronic copy, of the condition report for the property completed by
the landlord or agent
• a copy of the by-laws, if the property is in a strata scheme.So, all in all, you would have a very strong case for breaking your lease without penalty, should you choose to do so. Or just let the owners corp try to evict you or your pet and see what happens.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Yes it is. But the fact they weren’t doesn’t change the tenant’s requirement to abide by them. However, they can take the rental agent to task and maybe even get compensation for having to move home if they can prove they weren’t provided. However, I would say that’s highly unlikely.
A savvier renter would have asked to see the by-laws but it’s not something that’s uppermost in tenants’ minds.
This is just a mess with no simple solution and finding out who’s at fault will get no one anywhere.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
A specific by-law is probably the way to go, that way there can be no quibbling over what rights the owners corp has to manage common or lot property.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
The name of the lawyer suggested above has been deleted. Firstly, because it violates the rules of this website. You may not promote commercial enterprises except in very limited circumstances. Secondly, the firm suggested are criminal lawyers, not strata lawyers. Getting a specialist criminal lawyer to work on a strata issue is a good way of wasting time and money.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
I think for a minor renovation, as described, it’s as simple as telling the committee what you plan to do and getting a competent professional to do it (as per section 110).
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
The rental agent should be able to check whether or not there are smoke alarms in place. They may not be able to check if they are working but surely this would have been done as part of a comprehensive fire safety check of all the apartments.
I know that once a year a fire safety inspector comes to our flat and triggers the alarms with a spray. Contact your strata manager and ask if that would have been part of the fire safety check in your block. If so, tell your agent to make sure the smoke alarms are in place the next time he insects the property. I think that should be all you need to do.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Yes, I thought it was seven years too. But remember there will be some records that existed before that and which you want to retain, like the strata plan, the strata management statement (if there is one) and the original by-laws as well as records of any changes.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Can your strata manager tell you anyone who has ever got into trouble over this? Cite an NCAT ruling or a strata manager being suspended (ha ha, only joking) because they broke this law?
Maybe the strata manager is right and you have found one of the few SMs who stick rigidly to the rules. Lucky you! But I’d want to see it in writing before I shackled myself in that way.
It’s not like you’re trying to swindle anyone and remember, the SM is supposed to do what the owners want, not the other way round.
Or am I the only one who thinks that well-intentioned and totally transparent creative accounting is all that’s required here?
Maybe we should ask the Property Services Commissioner. Oops! He’s gone. Or the Fair Trading Minister. Nope, She gone too. Quick, while no one’s looking!
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Even better, borrow the money from the maintenance fund and agree to pay it back over a couple of years. That way nobody is getting hit with a large increase in the one go.
This is perfectly legal under section 76, provided the OC determines how it’s going to pay the money back, within three months.
To be clear, you just have to decide within three months how you are going to pay it back. You don’t have to pay it back within three months.
This is what Section 76 says:
The owners corporation must, not later than 3 months after the transfer or use, determine the amount to be levied as a contribution to the fund from which the transfer or use was made to reimburse the amounts paid from the fund.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Actually, a strata lawyer will be able to quote chapter and verse on any precedents where the “uniformity” rule has failed to prevent owners from changing common property.
Also, reverse-cycle aircon can be allowed to change common property under a sustainability resolution, so it only requires a simple majority (not 75 percent) to get OC approval.
Perhaps warning the strata committee (via a lawyer) that they are backing themselves into a very expensive corner might avoid litigation altogether.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
As I will be initiating this action, am I responsible and obliged to pay for the OC’s costs for lawyers and or strata representation ?
For a start, if you want to challenge this you can and, in fact, must seek mediation at Fair Trading, which is free. If the OC decides to hire lawyers for that stage, they have to justify that to other owners and if they lose at a later stage you don’t have to pay any share of the costs, even those that would flow through levies.
Simply present any references you can find in OC records to the other units having applied (or not) for permission to install air-con and how that was handled. I’d also search for any evidence that the OC had asked the other owners to remove the air-con.
In the absence of any evidence that other owners have been through this process, you could proceed on the basis that you may have a reasonable case. If you then don’t get a result at Fair Trading (e.g. the OC backs down) and take it to NCAT, the question then arises on whether or not you need legal representation. On balance, I would say you should brief an experienced strata lawyer to handle the case.
Even then, each side generally pays its own costs unless there are specific extraordinary circumstances (download this fact sheet). These include:
a) A party has conducted their case in a way that unnecessarily disadvantages another party
b) A party has been responsible for unreasonably making the case take longer
c) The relative strength of a party’s case or whether the case was hopeless
d) The nature and complexity of the case
e) A party’s case was frivolous, vexatious or misconceived
f) A party has not cooperated with the Tribunal in providing a just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues in dispute
g) A party has not followed Tribunal orders or directions
h) Any other matter the Tribunal thinks is relevant.Since you would not be seeking financial compensation, other issues relating to the size of claims would not apply.
In short, provided you play by the rules you shouldn’t have to pay the OC’s legal costs. Also, if you win, they have to cover their costs with a special levy on other owners to which you are excluded from contributing.
So that should be your only concern. If you (and your lawyer) firmly believe you are in the right, and have a high probability of winning, go for it.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Putting pot plants on balcony exterior walls or balustrades is insane. Chances are that the balcony is common property so the owners corp can (and should) pass a by-law that stops this ASAP.
Given the probability that we are all going to be suffering more and more extreme weather, including high winds in the future, this should be stopped now.
I imagine your insurers might be alarmed that your block has potentially lethal plant pots on balconies. And if you think that’s an exaggeration, think about the poor bloke who was killed by a flying gas bottle just two years ago.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Yeah, I would go straight for compulsory appointment of a strata manager. The fact that they are trying to silence you could be seen as evidence that they want to run the block to suit their business and not for the greater good of all residents.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.
Are the 70 percent owners the proprietors or owners of the commercial lots?
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.