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Under section 153 of the new strata Act that comes into force on November 30, “smoke from smoking” has been defined as a “nuisance”. This is significant because it allows residents to pursue smokers who allow smoke to drift into their homes.
Section 153 (below) says “An owner… tenant or occupier of a lot in a strata scheme must not … use or enjoy the lot, or permit the lot to be used or enjoyed, in a manner or for a purpose that causes a nuisance or hazard to the occupier of any other lot” and “depending on the circumstances in which it occurs, the penetration of smoke from smoking into a lot or common property may cause a nuisance or hazard and may interfere unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of the common property or another lot.”
So you could seek mediation and then Tribunal orders under section 153 without requiring the committee to get involved on your behalf. This is a good thing – you only have to convince one person – an adjudicator.
Also, we all have to review our by-laws within a year of the new laws starting and you could recommend that your scheme adopts Option A of the new model by-laws (which apply to all new schemes but would have to be adopted by existing schemes to have any effect).
This model by-law states:
(1) An owner or occupier, and any invitee of the owner or occupier, must not smoke tobacco or any other substance on the common property.
(2) An owner or occupier of a lot must ensure that smoke caused by the smoking of tobacco or any other substance by the owner or occupier, or any invitee of the owner or occupier, on the lot does not penetrate to the common property or any other lot.It’s very hard for owners and committees to argue against a by-law that has been written by fair Trading for all new schemes. You would just be bringing your scheme up to date
153 Owners, occupiers and other persons not to create nuisance
(1) An owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee in possession, tenant or occupier of a lot in a strata scheme must not:
(a) use or enjoy the lot, or permit the lot to be used or enjoyed, in a manner or for a purpose that causes a nuisance or hazard to the occupier of any other lot
(whether that person is an owner or not), or
(b) use or enjoy the common property in a manner or for a purpose that interferes unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of the common property by the occupier of any other lot (whether that person is an owner or not) or by any other person entitled to the use and enjoyment of the common property, or
(c) use or enjoy the common property in a manner or for a purpose that interferes unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of any other lot by the occupier of the lot (whether that person is an owner or not) or by any other person entitled to the use and enjoyment of the lot.
Note. Depending on the circumstances in which it occurs, the penetration of smoke from smoking into a lot or common property may cause a nuisance or hazard and may interfere unreasonably with the use or enjoyment of the common property or another lot.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.
@madamme said:I understand from googling that the puppy resume should be as complete as possible including facts, breed, temperament, references (vet, neighbours, etc.), photos, etc …
So, this must be common scenario so I’m wondering how others have applied for a (future/new/yet-to-be-born) puppy with their strata.
Google will not tell you the requirements for your building, only your by-laws and in-house processes can do that and they vary from scheme to scheme (nowhere more than in the issue of pets). Maybe your scheme has a form, maybe not. There is only one way to find out.
Assuming your scheme subscribes to a “common scenario” is a huge error – it only means you could be trying to jump through hoops that don’t even exist.
Check your by-laws and ask your strata committee or strata manager what the deal is.
However, if you are trying to slip this under the radar and present the committee with a fait accompli, no amount of compliance with rules that have never been adopted by your building will help.
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I may be wrong – Queensland is another planet as far as strata is concerned – but I think some schemes have by-laws that require you to inform them that you are letting out your unit on airbnb. So yes, check the scheme’s by-laws.
As far as I know, unlike NSW, Queensland law doesn’t allow buildings to ban airbnb. Have a look at this article from Sisters In Law:
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There is no standard application form so we have no idea what yours requires. More details needed.
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There is another way to approach this. While a dog can be allowed under your by-laws, a dog that has been allowed can be removed under section 151 of the current Act (see below). So the dog-phobic doesn’t need to feel this is set in concrete – it can be changed if the dog proves to be a nuisance.
Also, you can agree to certain conditions under which, if they are breached, the permission will be rescinded.
This would include all of the things you have mentioned including, perhaps, texting the other owner to let them know that you are about to move through common property with the dog so that they can stay indoors (or ask you to do so) to avoid any accidental encounters.
151 Order relating to animal kept in accordance with by-laws
(1) An Adjudicator may make one of the following orders if the Adjudicator considers that an animal kept on a lot or the common property in accordance with the by-laws causes a nuisance or hazard to the owner or an occupier of another lot or unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of another lot or of the common property:
(a) an order that the person keeping the animal cause the animal to be removed from the parcel within a specified time, and to be kept away from the parcel,
(b) an order that the person keeping the animal take, within a time specified in the order, such action so specified as, in the opinion of the Adjudicator, will terminate the nuisance, hazard or unreasonable interference.
(2) An application for an order under this section may be made only by an owners corporation, lessor of a leasehold strata scheme, strata managing agent, an owner, any person having an estate or interest in a lot or an occupier of a lot.
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I spoke at length with my Man from the Ministry who confirm that the original owner (developer) is liable for debts calculated on the basis of his retained ownership of the remaining units and their unit entitlements.
By sending out incorrect invoices, he is in breach of the Act which requires him to base levies on accurate estimates of costs.
My contact suggests checking this with Fair Trading by sending a question on this online form. You want a direction in writing from Fair Trading as to the correct procedure the developer should be following which you can then pass to him
He also suggests that you and the other owners pay contributions calculated on the basis of your unit entitlements so that you are still ‘financial’ and can vote at the AGM.
At the AGM, you can ask for evidence that the developer has paid his proper share of contributions. If he hasn’t, he can’t vote. Even if he can, he will be in the minority provided all of you purchasers stick together.
Serious irregularities at the AGM may well reult in it being declared invalid
The question of the caretaker contract is very worrisome. All such contracts negotiated before the first AGM have to be approved at the AGM or they fall over. I worry that your developer may have signed a feather-bedded contract from which he has received payment but which you have to service.
If you get to the AGM, either reject the contract until such times as other quotes can be viewed and considered or, at the very least, limit the contract to one year.
If you can possible do so, delay the AGM until after November 30 when a whole new set of owner-friendly laws come in.
And when you get there, choose a size of strata committee that would exclude the developer who sounds like a bully and is already a nightmare to deal with.
If only three owners want to be on the committee, make it a committee of three (you vote on the size of the strata committee before the election) and don’t elect the developer.
These small scale developers need to realise that when they sell units, they don’t belong to them any more.
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Yes, I have heard good things about Buildinglink. And the point about needing to do some spadework to set it up is well made.
However, I am still looking for an all-in-one package that can do all that, allow for discussion of issues and then provide for online voting as per the new legislation.
Anybody?
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Scroll up and have a look at item 6.
The contract will continue until it would have run out anyway. After that you have a number of options to replace, renew or extend (for three months).
My advice would be to extend the contract up to your next AGM after the contract runs out, so you can then make a decision to renew the contract or replace the SM without having to hold a special general meeting just for that.
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I am 100 percent in agreement with Peter on the “first in, best dressed’ principle which is not only ‘old school’ (in a bad way) but is bad strata management.
If the roof is common property, so should the solar panels and the electricity they generate. There must be a way of sharing the benefit, perhaps by distributing the electricity more equitably.
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You send the committee and strata manager a letter outlinging all the areas of maintennace of common property that are not being attended to. You point out their obligations to maintain and repair common property under Section 62 of the Act (see below).
You point out that having insufficient funds to do so is not an excuse under Section 76 (4) which says if work needs to be done and they don’t have the money then they have to raise it
And you add that at the next AGM, under Section 75 of the Act (see below), they are obliged to have a proper estimate of levies for the continued upkeep of common property.
Finally, you tell them that the clock is ticking and, if they haven’t taken serious steps to remedy these issues with two months, you will seek orders at the Tribunal under Section 138 of the Act to compel them to do so or face fines from the Tribunal (for which you will not be liable).
How’s that for a plan?
62 What are the duties of an owners corporation to maintain and repair property?
(1) An owners corporation must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
(2) An owners corporation must renew or replace any fixtures or fittings comprised in the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.
75 Estimates to be prepared of contributions to administrative and sinking funds
(1) An owners corporation must … at each annual general meeting … estimate how much money it will need to credit to its administrative fund for actual and expected expenditure:
(a) to maintain in good condition on a day-to-day basis the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation, and
(c) to meet other recurrent expenses.
76 Owners corporation to set levy for contributions to administrative and sinking funds
(4) If the owners corporation is subsequently faced with other expenses it cannot at once meet from either fund, it must levy on each owner a contribution to the administrative fund, determined at a general meeting of the owners corporation, in order to meet the expenses.
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Sorry, sometimes these things just slip through the net.
If there was a written or minuted agreement that the doors and windows would be in keeping with the rest of the building, propose a motion to your strata committee that the owner is in breach of the agreements and should replace the doors and windows with appropriate designs.
If the committee refuses to act, you can take the committee to NCAT under a section 138 asking for order compelling them to take action. Usually, telling them that you intend to do that gets them moving as it’s an double hit – they have to defend the Tribunal action and still have to go through the hassles of forcing the owner to remedy their renovation.
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They can be nominated by another owner who is not standing for election and elected but they can’t nominate themselves or anyone else if they are unfinancial.
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This forum is intended to discuss issues that exist in the real world and predominantly in NSW. The scenario you have outlined above, where everybody does exactly as they are supposed to, when they are supposed to, may exist in Queensland (although I doubt it does in every case). It certainly is a relatively rare event here.
There is a obligation, implied at the very least, for strata committees to act reasonably. If they all did so this website and the related newspaper column would not exist.
I used the example of a bathroom being relocated because it has happened and there are examples of that somewhere deep in the archives of this website. It can occur, for instance, when the downstairs unit is tenanted and its owner is unaware of the details work being done upstairs, or where someone has bought in after the work being done and it either hasn’t been properly documented or the strata search hasn’t revealed the implications of work done some time before.
Believe it or not, people will sell their unit and move on rather than fight for their rights ad risk the problems being documented and that affecting the value of their property.
So, forgive me, but I don’t think there is anything misleading about describing real scenarios that have actually occurred where committees and authorities have only looked at one aspect of a renovation and not considered its impact on other residents.
And on that note, I think this discussion has run its course. Flat Chat out.
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Are you sure the balcony is not common property. If so, why is the Owners Corp fixing it?
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The contract is valid to the end of the three years but the automatic renewal is not valid. There are various provisos as to the renewal options but they are basically for short periods to allow the SM and owners corp time to decide whether or not they want to renew.
This is what the new Act says:
50 Term of appointment of strata managing agents
(1) The term of appointment (including any additional term under an option to renew) of a strata managing agent for a strata scheme expires (if the term of the appointment does not end earlier or is not ended earlier for any other reason):
(a) if the strata managing agent is appointed by the owners corporation at the first annual general meeting, at the end of the period of 12 months following that appointment, or
(b) in any other case, at the end of the period of 3 years following the appointment.
(2) A person may be reappointed by the owners corporation by resolution at a general meeting as the strata managing agent for a strata scheme at the end of the person’s term of appointment.
(3) The appointment of a strata managing agent may be terminated in accordance with the instrument of appointment if authorised by a resolution at a general meeting of the owners corporation.
(4) The term of appointment of a strata managing agent may be extended by the strata committee for successive periods of up to 3 months after it would otherwise expire (but not for any period that would extend beyond the date of the next annual general meeting of the owners corporation) pending a decision as to the reappointment of the strata managing agent.
(5) However, if a strata committee has extended a term of appointment of a strata managing agent under this section, the strata committee must give the strata managing agent at least 1 month’s notice of a decision not to reappoint the strata managing agent or not to further extend the appointment.
(6) A strata managing agent must give the owners corporation written notice of the end of a term of appointment:
(a) at least 3 months before the end of the term of appointment, and
(b) at least 1 month before the end of each extension of a term permitted by this section.
(7) An instrument of appointment of a strata managing agent for a period of 3 years (as referred to in subsection (1) (b)) is taken to include an option for the agent to extend the term of the appointment for a maximum period of 3 months after the end of the term of 3 years, if the owners corporation decides not to reappoint the agent and does not extend the term of appointment under subsection (4). The agent must give the owners corporation written notice of the exercise of the option.
(8) A strata managing agent is not entitled to exercise an option under subsection (7) if the owners corporation gives the agent written notice that the agent will not be reappointed at least 3 months before the end of the term.
(9) In this section, a reference to the appointment of a strata managing agent includes a reference to the reappointment of a strata managing agent.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.