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Many owners corporations have by-laws forbidding pets from roaming unleashed on common property, for a variety of reasons such as peeing, pooing and scaring residents. If your dog thinks your apartment block is its home, it will defend it against “intruders” – like other residents.
Interestingly, there is a discussion elsewhere on this website about who is liable if a dog running free on common property injures or kills a roaming cat.
The law says, if it was in a residential backyard, the cat has entered the dog’s territory at its own risk. But if it’s a public area (like common property) the dog and, by extension, its owner, is at fault.
All dogs should be on a leash in common property (if allowed at all) for the safety and peace of mind of other residents. If owners are too lazy to walk their dogs to somewhere they can run free, then they should think about moving somewhere else.
There are more bad dog owners than there are bad dogs.
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You apply for mediation on the grounds that the meeting wasn’t properly conducted (or whatever).
They may refuse to attend or fail to respond but you have started the process within the 28 days.
The critical box on the form that requires a tick is one that asks if mediation has been attempted. It has still been attempted even if they refuse. The only person required to attend a mediation for it to be valid is the person who initiated the action (and you would, would’t you, even if you knew the other side had no intention of turning up).
Bear in mind there is a new system and new forms following the introduction of the new laws last month (December 2017).
You can download a Fair Trading mediation form here and an NCAT application form here .
You will find the NCAT information page on applying for a Tribunal hearing HERE. NB: There are no longer “paper” adjudications – after meditation, you go straight to a tribunal.
Good luck
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I have it on the personal assurance of Innovation and Better Regulation Minister Dominello that any obvious attempts to circumvent the anti-proxy harvesting laws (or any other laws) should be challenged under Section 232 (a) and (c), as well as Section 24 of the Strata Act, quoting his speech in support of the Second Reading of the Bill to show the intent of the law.
It says: “Voting methods, increased participation and dealing with proxy voting are … critical issues to strata communities” and refers to “the scourge of proxy farming.”
Shifting dates and calling meetings adjourned so that they can be held under the terms of the previous laws are a clear attempt to subvert the current laws and should be challenged via a request for orders at NCAT to rescind the decisions made and invalidate the election.
Mr Dominello has told me his department will be looking closely at any such challenges to see if the law needs to be tightened even further.
232 Orders to settle disputes or rectify complaints
(1) Orders relating to complaints and disputes
The Tribunal may, on application by an interested person, original owner or building manager, make an order to settle a complaint or dispute about any of the following:
(a) the operation, administration or management of a strata scheme under this Act,
(c) an agreement appointing a strata managing agent or a building manager.24 Order invalidating resolution of owners corporation
(1) The Tribunal may, on application by an owner or first mortgagee of a lot in a strata scheme, make an order invalidating any resolution of, or election held by, the persons present at a meeting of the owners corporation if the Tribunal considers that the provisions of this Act or the regulations have not been complied with in relation to the meeting.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 know of one chair who sent out a letter saying the shoes left outside doors were a safety issue, especially in the event of a fire and they would be removed. It had immediate results.
Remember, you don’t have to wait for people to comply. Issue a warning then go round one night and collect the shoes and leave them in a bin where people can retrieve them.
If the shoe owners have a problem, let them take the committee to NCAT, not the other way round.
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The regulations will be in your block’s by-laws. Also, have a look at THIS THREAD about the lateral transmission of noise.
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Having pets in buildings is regulated by the block’s by-laws. By-laws can be very different for different blocks.
If your by-laws say you have to apply to have a pet and what the conditions are, then that is what you have to do (to avoid being told to get rid of the pet or move out).
If you aren’t familiar with your own building’s by-laws then you are likely to end up in trouble over something, sooner or later.
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Or are they just racking up Section B fees? Worth asking how much they would charge for running an EGM.
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I’m guessing that the strata manager is relying on section 13 of the “Who’s responsible..?” document (below).
However, the point is that the ceiling is common property so it should be fixed. They could argue that they don’t have to paint the ceiling … except, the paint would be damaged in effecting the repair, therefore it should be repainted at their cost,
The strata manager is well off the mark here. A simple instruction from the strata committee is enough. Or do they want you to take them to NCAT and have the added expense of a failed case at the tribunal as well as the plaster and paint job.
Failure of common property (the bathroom seals) led to damage to common property (your bathroom ceiling). Clearly the OC has to fix this on both counts. Your SM needs to go back to strata manager school.
Section 13
If damage is caused to a lot owner’s property while the owners corporation are effecting a repair, the owners corporation are responsible to fix the damaged property.
However, if the cause of the damage to the owner’s property was not made when the owners corporation were fixing the problem; instead it was caused by the problem itself, then the owners corporation are not responsible to make good the owner’s property unless the owners corporation can be deemed negligent.
E.g.: 1. A burst pipe occurs in a wall and the owners corporation have to knock a hole in the wall to fix it. The owners corporation are responsible to fix the hole and repaint the wall afterwards.
2. A burst pipe occurs in a concrete slab. The owner’s corporation fix the leak, but water stained the ceiling paintwork of the unit below. Here the owners corporation are not responsible to repaint the ceiling because it was not the fixing of the repair that caused the damage.
3. A burst hot water service soaked the magnasite in a unit and the owners corporation had to take up the carpet to dry the magnasite. Once the magnasite had dried, the carpet could not be re-laid because it had shrunk. The owners corporation would be responsible for the carpet because the carpet was damaged because they had to take it up.
4. With example 3, if the magnasite was not damaged, the owners corporation would not be responsible to dry out the carpet or replace it, if it shrunk because the damage to the carpet was not caused when the owners corporation were fixing common property.
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You need your owners corp approval which could and should include exclusive use by-laws, compensation (see item 2) and a recalculation of Unit Entitlements
You will also need council DA approval and they aren’t going to give that without the Owners Corp’s OK.
So be clear, if you don’t have the owners corp on side, life could get very difficult,
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@kaindub said:i did not try to imply that the operator had an unreserved right to operate a drone.
I get it. he (or she) has a right to fly a drone – but they may still need a licence. But you might reasonably assume that some Real Estate agents assume they can do what they want until someone tells them to stop.
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There have been a couple of developments on this. The owners asked to see all the records of the strata scheme and were told they could view them at head office – four hours away.
But finally the developer saw sense and has hired the owners’ choice of strata manager to help set up the strata scheme and get everything in place for the first AGM.
Result! But we will be keeping an eye on it.
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You can’t pass by-laws to prevent “dealing” with a lot. Than means if developers get control of 10 of your 12 units, then they can force you to sell or rebuild. However, they would ultimately have to get their proposals past the Land and Environment Court and that’s where you can make sure you are not being cheated. Making it clear that you will fight this all the way may be enough to deter all but the most determined developers.
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@Marvin said:
As to the question “are those reasonable objections” – does that really matter? Isn’t it up to the owners to decide these things. If a majority vote against, doesn’t that kill the proposal?Thee are lots of reasons committees make bad decisions that are unfair or just plain wrong- ignorance and bullying being just two.
Section 232 allows the Tribunal to issue orders to a strata committee to resolve a dispute over a decision it has made or refused to make. But you have to convince the Member that the owners corp acted wrongly in terms of either the strata Act or the scheme’s by-laws.
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I had forgotten one very important step which may, in fact, hold the answer to this: Mediation.
Not only do you need mediation before you can take most issues to NCAT, it could provide you with the opportunity to get everything out on the table and reach an amicable solution.
In the first instance, ask the secretary to arrange a mediation with an independent mediator (preferably one who understands strata law).
Failing that, apply to Fair Trading for an official mediation.
Even if that fails, you have ticked the necessary box to allow you to proceed to NCAT.
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Before you do anything else on this, you need to establish the fundamentals.
Firstly, who appointed the property manager, was it done at a general meeting and what are the terms of the contract?
If this wasn’t done properly at a properly convened general meeting, then the contract may be void. Owners are entitled to view all records of the strata scheme, so get on to that.
Then also look at the contract for the supply of gas. Who signed it? Again, was it agreed at a properly constituted general meeting? What are its terms?
If there has been some dodgy dealing, you can run a case at NCAT to do anything from forcing the strata committee to stop making a profit from the gas, to getting the property manager contract torn up, to having the statutory appointment of a strata manager to take over the running of the building.
But first you need to establish who has behaved badly and precisely how.
By the way, conflict of interest laws only mean that the compromised owners have to declare themselves, then be absent while the committee decides whether or not they can attend the meeting during that specific discussion and vote on the topic. If the committee is onside with them, they are just going to wave that through.
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