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Agree with all the above points. Just present a motion to your committee (or request to your strata manager) that they issue a Notice To Comply with the appropriate by-law.
If there is no by-law (unlikely) than they should warn the residents that they will be taking action under sections 106 (1) and (3) and 108 (5) regarding changes to common property without the appropriate approvals.
If the committee or SM refuse to act, you can initiate action yourself, through Fair Trading.
After which your next project might be to change the committee and sack the strata manager.
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We had a spate of complaints about this a couple of years ago and the issue was that when there was a badly behaved tenant, they sometimes took the attitude of not having to abide by owners corp by-laws as they were HC tenants.
The Housing Commission refused to take responsibility because they weren’t the owners.
The owners refused to take responsibility becasue their head tenants were theHC.
However, if I recall, this was all resolved fairly quickly when the tenants, the Housing Commission an the owners were all brought to heel by Fair Trading and/or the then CTTT who explained that they each had their own responsibilities to abide by the by-laws and strata laws and (I think) there was even an attempt to collar the individual civil servants who had been saying “not our problem”.
But that’s all by-the-by. The owner has a legally enforceable responsibility to inform the OC who is tenanting the unit. They are also required to provide the head tenants and the tenants with a copy of the by-laws.
So your secretary or strata manager should make sure everyone down that chain is made aware of their responsibilities (without assuming that there will be a problem).
That simple basic level of diligence may be enough to put all parties on their best behaviour. If not and there are consequences, they only have themselves to blame.
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The agent or landlord can only inspect four times a year for normal inspections and then they have to give seven days written notice.
If they are showing the property to prospective tenants, they must give you notice that they are ending the tenancy, and then inspections require “reasonable” warning. Have a look HERE to see what applies to you.
Even if the landlord intends to end your tenancy at the end of the lease, they have to give you 30 days written notice of that intention before the lease runs out. If they don’t do that, and the lease expires, they then have to give you 90 days notice. This factsheet explains all that in greater detail.
Tenants and landlords alike will find most of their questions answered on the Tenants Union Website.
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@gwyn said:
My question is: Is there any reason why a majority of Committee (or Owners?) should not be able to rescind that particular clause in the Model By Laws?The simple answer is that by-laws can only be created, rescinded or changed by a vote of 75 percent of those voting, as calculated by unit entitlements, at a general meeting.
It’s worth warning other readers here about the “ratchet effect” that comes into play. While it takes 75 percent of votes to pass a by-law, it only takes 25 percent to block any changes.
So if you weren’t paying attention, or just wanted to go with the flow, or hadn’t considered the consequences of passing a by-law, and now wish you hadn’t, you’ll find it can be a lot harder to undo than it was to create, especially if there’s a minority of committed people who sneaked a by-law through and then will defend it to the death.
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Having had a nightmare with NBN first of all turning up to install at the wrong apartment THREE times because they failed to correct the wrong address on their computer, then refusing to work on ours because they didn’t have the authority and then installing the service on the worst of three lines into our flat (“because it kind of works and that’s all we need”), then refusing to change it because they can only afford to visit each property once, I’d say good luck with getting them to change anything.
That said, you could tell them that they installed the connection without proper authority and insist that they come and move it to where it should be.
But bear in mind that you are dealing with a huge monopoly with a massive bureaucracy and no accountability working through sub-contractors racing against the clock to get as much work done in as little time as possible – and you have an idea of the mountain you will have to climb to get anything done.
While you are waiting for them to come back and say “not possible” for the umpteenth time, investigate the possibility of getting a private contractor to do it at your own expense
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@Lady Penelope said:
I am not of the same opinion as JT that a fence between two exclusive use areas in Qld would require a resolution without dissent. Perhaps JT is referring to NSW legislation which is possibly quite different.My mistake.
The legislation is different from NSW but I was (foolishly) going by a comment in item 12 by missfeather regarding changes to exclusive use by-laws.
A more reliable guide to this issue might be found in the website to which you have already provided a link (above).
In any case, this is descending into a lot of “what-ifs” and arcane and exotic legal arguments proposed by the original poster who really needs to engage a strata lawyer as soon as possible (which is what we have all been saying from the start).
Until then, unless anyone has an example of a case like this and can say how it was resolved, I think we should just wait until professional legal advice has been sought.
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Yes it is sickening to find yourself living next door to a bully. But, as has now been said many times, there is a fairly direct route to a solution here.
The next-door owner can’t build anything on common property without the approval of the Owners Corporation, and that requires a motion passed without dissent.
Obviously, you are going to dissent to any plans to build a new fence, so she is scuppered.
And as much as we are happy to let you vent your frustrations, you need to move forward; there’s little point in just restating your albeit valid concerns over and over.
At the very least, you should ask your committee and/or your strata manager to send her a letter telling her that she can’t construct anything on common property without Body Corporate approval and anything that is constructed without approval may be removed at her personal expense.
However, you are prepared to discuss a solution that is mutually acceptable.
If the committee and strata manager won’t so it, then get a strata lawyer to do it.
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It seems clear from Lady P’s excellent response above that you have a stalemate here. The new owners can (probably) remove the fence without anyone’s permission, but she can’t put up a new one without yours.
I would say this situation would benefit greatly from a mediation with a view to reaching a compromise that allows her to reclaim her area of exclusive use without impacting unfairly on you.
Compromise and negotiation is the only way you and she will achieve an outcome that doesn’t lead there being no fence at all. But if that would suit you, then so be it. She probably can’t ‘move’ the fence without your approval and the sooner she accepts that, the better.
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You might also ask your strata manager to explain the difference between common property and lot property, as well as “exclusive use”.
The key to this is that the owner can’t do what she wants with common property and that includes building a new fence without the permission of the owners corporation.
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Qld strata law is definitely NOT my area of expertise but you will find more about the workings of a committee HERE.
It does sound like this person is a bully and a potential pain – with that in view, don’t hesitate to assert YOUR rights, because she certainly doesn’t have any problem pushing hers. There is nothing sneaky or underhand about wanting to be on the committee and even if your neighbour gets on, the committee can’t pass by-laws or anything significant like that. Thathas to be done at a general meeting.
I would get yourself acquainted as soon as possible with Body Corporate processes (and you can start by going HERE) and I certainly wouldn’t start by having a go at the strata manager. He or she could prove your most powerful ally
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If I am reading this correctly, the new owner wants to return the property to its original state as per the plan, and that plan did not include a fence.
If that’s the case, then there’s your leverage. She can remove her fence but you will fight tooth and nail to prevent her erecting another one (until a compromise can be worked out).
Meanwhile, you want to get an interim order from NCAT to prevent any further work until this is resolved.
And you really, really need to talk to an experienced strata lawyer as soon as possible.
And get yourself elected to the committee to replace one of the others who are jumping ship.
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It seems pretty clear to me that the problem is in common property and caused by a fault in common property.
Your chairwoman may be just trying to make sure she doesn’t have to pay her share of your problem.
Write to her and tell her that you have established that this is a common property problem and that you will proceed with getting quotes for repairs which you will bill to the Body Corporate if she doesn’t respond within 14 days with a plan to fix it at the Body Corporate’s expense.
Having said that, I wouldn’t do anything further than getting quotes until you have established your rights officially.
Your plan to let the property is unfortunate as far as timing is concerned but you could always give the tenants a rent rebate while the work is being done and than charge that back to the Body Corporate too.
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This is called Brat Dumping (© JimmyT, 2017) and any loud music after 10 pm on a “school” night (midnight on weekends) should be dealt with by calling the police. You might also suggest they bring a drug dog with them because of any suspicious behaviour or appearance of this clown that you may have witnessed.
They don’t always come right away but I recall my own frustration with a neighbour resulting in this, the third call to the police.
Me: “I’d like to report an assault”
Police: “Who is the victim?”
Me: “The bloke next door.”
Police: “Do you know the assailant.”
Me: “Yes, it’s me.”
Police: “When did this happen?”
Me: “Oh, it hasn’t happened yet but I reckon you have about 15 minutes to get here …”
They arrived 30 minutes later but at least they got there and shut this moron’s party down (it was 3am and the party started after midnight)
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How about a motion of censure at your next committee meeting or, even better, AGM, listing the infractions and suggesting that it is incumbent on strata committee members to lead by example – even if it’s only observing the spirit rather than the letter of by-laws – or consider standing down?
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And another thing …
In NSW, the law requires you to inform the Owners Corp of the new residents’ names every time you change tenants. The same probably applies to “tenants” of your garage.
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