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Talk to a lawyer now and ask them what they think your chances of success are. The fact that the Member said the by-law was valid, that it had been breached and that NCAT was able to rule on this is a pretty strong position to start with in my opinion.
But a competent, experienced strata lawyer will tell you straight off if it’s worth appealing on that basis. Call our sponsors, Sachs Gerace Broome and say you’ve come from this website and they’ll give you good advice.
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The water system is common property up to the point where the pipes emerge from the wall.
Water hammer is most often a problem with the system, not the taps. The taps may trigger the problem but they are not usually the cause.
The Owners Corp is required by law to maintain and repair common property. With that in mind, it is the OC that you should be thinking of taking to NCAT, not individual owners.
Not all plumbers will be able to identify and cure the problem – you (or more accurately, the OC) need to hire someone who understands the issue in apartment blocks and knows how to fix it. Google “water hammer fix” to see who’s around.
As stated before, this is most likely a common property issue and if the strata manager is reluctant to pursue it on the scheme’s behalf, you have to ask why you are paying them their fees.
Have a look at this page (not necessarily an endorsement of the company listed here – just a good explanation)
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I think we need a bit more context here. Why are they having individual units valued? Are they planning a collective sale?
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@Bridget said:
Fingers crossed our OC will implement by-laws to have selected, common ‘minor’ renovations (e.g., split system air conditioning installation) approved by the SC, rather than via a general meeting.You don’t need a by-law. All you need is the standard resolution at your AGM that the committee can make decisions on behalf of the Owners Corporation (apart from those decisions that require special resolutions etc).
In that regard, according to Section 110 of the Act, the committee can approve minor renovations which, in Section 28 of the Regulations (below), specifically include the installation of spit system air-conditioning.
28 Minor renovations by ownersWork for the following purposes is prescribed as minor renovations for the purposes of section 110 (3) of the Act:
(a) removing carpet or other soft floor coverings to expose underlying wooden or other hard floors,
(b) installing a rainwater tank,
(c) installing a clothesline,
(d) installing a reverse cycle split system air conditioner,
(e) installing double or triple glazed windows,
(f) installing a heat pump,
(g) installing ceiling insulation.
Note.The work prescribed by this clause is subject to the requirements set out in section 110 (7) of the Act, including requirements that it does not involve structural changes, changes to the external appearance of a lot or waterproofing.
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I don’t think technically a motion can be proposed without the proposer being identified and, unless the strata manager is an owner, they shouldn’t be proposing motions. (see extract form Schedule 1, Part 2, 4 below).
However, there’s nothing wrong with the chair putting their name to a procedural motion that has been proposed by an interested party. On the other hand, the chair could rule the motion out of order if it doesn’t have an owner’s name on it.
4 Inclusion of matters on agenda(1) Any owner, or any person entitled to vote at a general meeting of an owners corporation, may require a motion to be included in the agenda of the next general meeting of the owners corporation.
(2) The requirement is to be made by written notice given to the secretary of the owners corporation that:
(a) sets out the required motion, and
(b) states the name of the person making the requirement, and
(c) includes an explanation of the motion of not more than 300 words in length.
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You can probably make more money from renting individual rooms but then you have to manage more individuals. If you have five or more room renters, then the property comes under the Boarding Houses Act, which has even fewer protections for tenants than the Residential Tenancy Act.
Have a look at this page on the Fair Trading website, and I suggest you read it more closely than you did the many requests on this Forum for Flatchatters to make an effort to protect their anonymity.
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A couple of thoughts …
The fact that you didn’t realise so many neighbours had pets until there was a fire alarm suggests that pets are not a problem in your building – just the idea of them.
As for fake medical conditions, this is what happens when unnecessarily harsh rules cut across ordinary people’s needs and desires.
Make no mistake, if someone brought an animal into the building and it caused genuine distress and suffering to a resident, the medical diagnosis would cut the other way, regardless of whether or not the pet owner had permission.
It’s like the people who inflict a fake asthma diagnosis on their children just so they can lift their carpets and put down timber floors.
The real underlying problem is a culture of disdain and contempt for by-laws (hello, Airbnb!) married to a reluctance to look at our by-laws and see if they are relevant to the way we live today
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Call me an old cynic but if I was a landlord looking at this I would be thinking …”oh, a student, no a drop-out, working as a shelf-stacker and claiming the dole while they try to work out who the hell they are … hmmm … I might just see who else is around.”
Basically, it’s too much information that raises more negative thoughts than positive ones and is inviting me to be judgemental.
What most landlords want are tenants who will pay their rent on time, not damage their property and not cause any hassles with the neighbours.
A letter that might work for me would be one that says.
Hi,
I am looking for the right rental property because I want it to be my home for a long time. To ensure I get that stability, I promise that I will look after your property, pay rent on time (if not before) and never give you any reason to worry about your investment, including how I’m getting on with the neighbours.
I am educated to university level but taking some time out to get some life experience and earn some money so I have a solid financial base for the next stage of my education. To that end, I already have one job and I’m about to take second.
I ‘m looking for a place I can call home for now and the foreseeable future. If you want a hassle-free life as a landlord, I’m the tenant you are looking for.
Regards etc ...
OK, Flatchatters – who would you rent the flat to? Or have I missed the point here?
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@Tess McGill said:
Curly one. My response would be to aim low. Target the “tenant” on the breaches of the bylaws committed by the individuals. Amend your bylaws if necessary to impose fines for disturbances, littering etc. After a while they might get tired of constantly being “pinged”.I think part of the problem is that the tenants are transient and the corporate “landlords” don’t care. Like so many arrogant non-residents (such as commercial operators taking up visitor parking for their own use) they find a grey area and exploit it, treating residents with contempt.
So the answer is to make them care. Every time a new “visitor” takes up residence, the corporation should get a notice saying they are being pursued under section 258 of the Act (below) which says that all new leases or sub-leases must be notified to the Owners Corporation.
If they refuse, cancel their keys. If they complain, say there were strangers in the building but no one knew who they were. And take them to Fair Trading with a view to having them fined at NCAT (maximum of $550 a pop). And ping them on your no-short-term-letting laws. In other words, harrass the crap out of the company.
And if that doesn’t work, shine a torch with the shadow of a key on to a cloud and Captain GlueGun will come around …
258 Tenancy notice to be given to owners corporation of leases or subleases(1) If a lot is leased, the lessor must give notice of the lease, in accordance with this section, to the owners corporation not later than 14 days after the commencement of the lease.
Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.(2) If a lot is subleased, the sub-lessor must give notice of the sublease, in accordance with this section, to the owners corporation not later than 14 days after the commencement of the sublease.
Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.(3) If a lease or sublease of a lot is assigned, the assignor must give notice of the assignment, in accordance with this section, to the owners corporation not later than 14 days after the execution of the assignment.
Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.(4) The notice must be in writing and specify:
(a) the name of the tenant and an address for service of the tenant, and
(b) the date of commencement or assignment of the lease or sublease, as the case requires, and
(c) the name of any agent acting for the owner in respect of the lease or sublease.
Note.An address for service of notices may be an Australian postal address or other electronic address, including an email address (see section 261).
(5) This section does not apply to the lease of a lot by the lessor of a strata leasehold scheme to a lessee who is the owner of a lot.
(6) A notice under this section is to be given to the original owner if it is given during the initial period of the owners corporation for a strata scheme.
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There’s quite a lot about this on various areas of the internet, and what it comes down to is that, in the absence of any clearly defined by-law, it’s a grey area. And mostly it’s about how much it bothers your fellow owners (and how much your complaints irritate them).
The model by-laws for schemes created after 1996 and the standard by-laws for schemes created before 1996 include this: “An owner or occupier of a lot must not … use for his or her own purposes as a garden any portion of the common property.” The model by-laws add the rider “except with the prior written approval of the owners corporation.”
If you have a version of either by-law on your books, you can tell the strata manager to do something about it, unless they and the committee want to be dragged before NCAT on a section 232 complaint (requiring them to enforce by-laws).
Your next fall-back would be to claim they are obstructing common property and the most direct way to establish this would be for a delegation of disgruntled owners to go down and either sit in the chairs or try to move the pot plants and film the reaction of the owner.
But make no mistake, this is a land grab and property theft, by any other name. Let it slide and soon every other ground floor owner will be adding to their property and soon after that they’ll be claiming squatters rights.
Nip it in the bud, I say. And if your strata manager can’t see the wisdom of that, it’s because they’ve forgotten why they took on the job.
By the way, saying the law only applies if it’s a fixture is a convenient furphy. Cars aren’t fixed but you can ping them for being left on common property.
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@chesswood said:
I know that unfinancial lots can’t vote at general meetings except for matters requiring unanimity but committee meetings are different.Not so. Schedule 2, Part 3, Section 9 (4) of the Act says this:
Voting rights cannot be exercised if contributions not paid
A member of the strata committee is not entitled to vote on any motion put or proposed to be put to the strata committee if the member was, or was nominated as a member by a member who was, an unfinancial owner of a lot in the strata scheme at the date notice of the meeting was given and the amounts owed by the unfinancial owner were not paid before the meeting.
Seems pretty clear to me. Also significantly, that unfinancial member can’t be counted in terms of the quorum, either.
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I have often wondered about that myself. It can’t be just stuff that’s allowed to be left on common property – it has to be ‘vested’. Anyone out there with more of a clue?
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Add a little item to the AGM agenda along the lines of
“We have to consider a matter so serious I dare not even put the details in print. This could cost each of us thousands of dollars and is guaranteed to seriously diminish the value of our properties. Your urgent attention is required.”
And then when everyone gets there you tell them that the committee is dying because everyone else is too selfish and lazy to contribute.
They let you carry the can and offer zero assistance. So, if you don’t get at least two new members, you are going to walk and the building can fall down around their ears – and that’s where they will lose tens of thousands of dollars.
Has to be worth a try.
Or, if they don’t buy that, when it comes to the election move that there only be one member of the committee (you) and then you can just make the decisions that need to be made.
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