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maybe you need to go to the HOME PAGE and read the editorial or blog or whatever it’s called these days
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@Whale said:
Kiwipaul – that part of my post was somewhat facetious and was not suggesting that the visitors’ carspaces be removed, but rather that the By-Law that prevents residents from using them be repealed. Nonetheless you’re correct, in that an over-zealous Council could get their bureaucratic nickers in a knot if the required numbers of visitors’ carspaces weren’t available for that purpose.Too right – allowing residents to use Visitors Parking means it’s not visitors parking any more. If the number of VP spaces has been stipulated in the Development Approval, any by-law allowing residents to park there would be unsafe as it is contrary to a superior law (local council planning laws).
It’s all well and good for us to use visitor spaces on an ad hoc basis but it leaves us vulnerable to abuse when one owner takes a neighbour’s 10 minute shopping drop-off as an excuse to park their second or third car overnight.
I can’t think of any circumstances where ‘written permission’ to allow a resident to park temporarily in visitors parking which has been established in planning approval has any validity at all. It’s nice to have a bit of give and take but as anyone who has lived through parking Wars will attest, it’s a slippery slope.
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An owner can nominate anyone to sit on an EC – so even a non-landlord can nominate a tenant – and if there are fewer or the same number of candidates as there are seats then they will join the EC without there being an election.
This person is not a proxy – they are a fully fledged member of the EC and entitled to vote on anything the EC is allowed to vote on.
The same owner can then give their proxy to another owner so that the second owner can vote for their nominee.should it come to an election.The likeliest scenario for this would be when an owner lives interstate and their unit is rented by a friend who is prepared to represent their interests on the EC. Any group of owners who object to a tenant being on the EC only has to make sure there are enough candidates and enough votes to preclude this. For the record, I’m in favour of long-term tenants being on ECs – they represent the majority of unit residents and often have more interest in the liveability of the building than, say, investors who are only looking for a quick profit.
One other point on the question of voting on financial matters – the EC is restricted on what it can spend over and above what the Owners Corp has budgetted at its AGM. And tenants don’t get a vote at the AGM.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’m not sure if it would require a special resolution in any case. Is it a change of use that would require a by-law? If you had an activities room and put gym equipment in it, would that need a by-law? It’s not exclusive use, that’s for sure.
I think all it would require would be a simple majority but – and this is a big but – there might have to be a by-law to control the hours of use otherwise the people living next to it will have something to say.
Oh … and that reminds me … a lot of buildings have by-laws saying children aren’t allowed to play on common property. If you have that, then you’d better get that proxy harvester fired up – you will need it.
Yes, I know I’ve contradicted myself but if I can’t beat myself up, who can I?
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Your strata manager is wrong. Let’s put this another way, if your neighbour was spray-painting his car and paint landed on your car, would it be up to you to erect screens to prevent this.
Or if your neighbour was chucking dog poo into your garden, would you then have to erect a poo-fence? The strata manager sounds like a typical “not my problem” merchant.
Strata is in its infancy in WA and that means you are going to get inexperienced and uneducated strata managers who still have their heads stuck in quarter acre blocks.
Have a look at your by-laws and what is says about interfering with other people’s lots. Then go back to the strata manager and tell him the rest of Australia says he’s wrong.
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@Boronia said:
Just print your own, and affix them with a water soluble glue so you can’t be accused of causing damage.Good idea. So Flatchatters, here is my Christmas gift to you … a DIY Parking Sticker. Print it, stick it, hope for the best.
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I agree with Paul2000 on this – sticker away.
I have heard so much BS on this over the years. It used to be all about letting people’s tyres down and then them have a crash and you being responsible (which you would be)
That evolved into the idea if you put a sticker on someone’s windshield and they couldn’t see past it and then drove and had an accident, you would be in trouble then too. I don’t think so! If someone is stupid enough to drive when they can’t see properly, that’s their problem. A flat tyre may not be obvious until it’s too late.
A sticker that’s hard, but not impossible to remove, in a place where the driver can clearly see it, could work wonders.
I’m still partial to the sign that says “Warning – cars parked here illegally have been vandalised”. Not a threat … a community service announcement.
However, on the sticker danger issue, I did see a young woman driving in the rain the other day with her parking ticket flailing back and forth on her windscreen wiper. She must have thought that if she didn’t open it, it wouldn’t count. I think she may be in for a surprise.
Looking for ‘no parking’ stickers on the Interweb, I found THIS charming American site where they promise your phone calls will be answered by “nice people … with possibly one exception”.
But is there anywhere in Australia that you can buy big, annoying, shredding parking violation stickers?
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Whale has a point (which Boronia is edging towards). This isnt a problem with strata – it’s a problem with people. If the neighbour is on the same strata scheme, you should get the support of the managers or secretary in dealing with him. If he’s on a separate property, as with being on an separate title yourself, you are on your own. Strata living isn’t the problem – it’s the solution.
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Just in case no one got Blue Swimmer’s irony (I think it was irony), there are legal requirements to obey by-laws (whether or not you have read them).
44 Who is required to comply with the by-laws?
(1) The by-laws for a strata scheme bind the owners corporation and the owners and any mortgagee or covenant chargee in possession (whether in person or not), or lessee or occupier, of a lot to the same extent as if the by-laws:
(a) had been signed and sealed by the owners corporation and each owner and each such mortgagee, covenant chargee, lessee and occupier, and
(b) contained mutual covenants to observe and perform all the provisions of the by-laws.
(2) There is an implied covenant by the lessee in a lease of a lot or common property to comply with the by-laws for the strata scheme.
(3) In this section, lessee means, in relation to a lot in a strata leasehold scheme, a sublessee of the lot.
Regarding distribution, the Owners Corp has to distribute the minutes of its meetings which would, of course, contain notices of any by-laws that had been adopted or changed. A diligent EC would make sure this happened at the first opportunity (rather than waiting a year until they have to be included for approval at the next AGM).
The Owners Corp has to keep a record of general meetings which must then be available to owners on request.
Tenants have to be given copies of the by-laws within seven days of taking up the lease or within seven days of any amendments to by-laws being registered. This clause is unusual in that it actually carries penalties for non-compliance. It also doesn’t apply if the lessee (tenant) is also an owner.
46 How does a lessee get information about the by-laws?
(1) If a lot or common property in a freehold strata scheme is leased, the lessor must provide the lessee with a copy of the by-laws, and any strata management statement affecting the lot or common property, within the time and in the manner required by this section.
Maximum penalty: 1 penalty unit.
(2) If a lot or common property in a leasehold strata scheme is sublet, the sublessor must provide the sublessee with a copy of the by-laws, and any strata management statement affecting the lot or common property, within the time and in the manner required by this section.
Maximum penalty: 1 penalty unit.
(3) The copy of the by-laws or strata management statement must be provided to the lessee or sublessee within 7 days after the lessee or sublessee becomes entitled to possession of the lot or common property.
(3A) If a lot or common property in a freehold scheme is leased and the by-laws are amended, the lessor must provide the lessee with a further copy of the by-laws, within the time and in the manner required by this section.
Maximum penalty: 1 penalty unit.
(3B) If a lot or common property in a leasehold strata scheme is sublet and the by-laws are amended, the sublessor must provide the sublessee with a further copy of the by-laws, within the time and in the manner required by this section.
Maximum penalty: 1 penalty unit.
(3C) Any further copy of by-laws required to be provided under subsection (3A) or (3B) must be provided to the lessee or sublessee within 7 days after the amendment of the by-laws is recorded by the Registrar-General under section 48 (1) (b).
(4) The copy of the by-laws or strata management statement (including any further copy of by-laws that have been amended) must be:
(a) served personally on the lessee or sublessee, or
(b) if the lease or sublease relates to a lot—served on the lessee or sublessee in any manner allowed by this Act for service of a document on the occupier of a lot, or
(c) if the lease or sublease relates to a lot or common property that is fully enclosed by walls or other structures—left in a conspicuous position at the lot or on the common property.
(5) Subsections (1), (2), (3A) and (3B) do not apply if the strata scheme concerned is part of a community scheme or the lessee or sublessee is the owner of a lot in the strata scheme concerned.
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Bizarrely, I had replied to this but it must have been lost in the ether.
Someone spraying your car even by accident is a problem that they have to deal with – the fact that they don’t mind doing it to their own car or their windows is of no interest to you.
It’s hard to ask someone to be a good neighbour when it clearly hasn’t occurred to them that this may be their fault – or that they have to change their behaviour – but that’s what you have to do.
Follow Whale’s advice but if that doesn’t work, start sending them bills for getting your car washed, see if that does the trick. And have a word with your strata manager or EC. There’s almost certainly a by-law being breached here and the neighbour has to take responsibility.
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I guess yours is a pet-friendly building … just not a pet free-for-all building.
The simplest way to fix this is to write to your strata manager asking him or her to place a motion on the agenda of the next Executive Committee meeting asking the EC to inform all owners that there are new by-laws in place and what they are, with specific reference to the new pet by-law. This will accelerate the notification process (waiting till the next AGM before you issue the minutes of the previous one is ridiculous but, sadly, commonplace).
In any case, but especially with all these by-law changes having been made, any diligent executive committee would be issuing a “welcome pack” to new tenants and owners, pointing out that there are by-laws and what they need to do to observe them.
This can also cover other common complaints like parking, laundry and noise and can be presented in a way that is informative rather than threatening.
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I think you are right. It looks like the strata manager has full delegated powers which means they can go ahead and issue the Notice To Comply.
Does anyone read this differently?
Here’s what the law says:
STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT ACT 1996 – SECT 45
45 How can an owners corporation enforce the by-laws?
(1) An owners corporation may serve a notice, in a form approved by the Director-General, on the owner or occupier of a lot requiring the owner or occupier to comply with a specified by-law if the owners corporation is satisfied that the owner or occupier has contravened that by-law.
(2) A notice cannot be issued under this section unless a resolution approving the issue of the notice, or the issue of notices for the type of contravention concerned, has first been passed by the owners corporation or the executive committee of the owners corporation.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to the issue of a notice under this section by a strata managing agent if that function has been delegated to the strata managing agent in accordance with this Act.
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It is not unknown for owners corps and building managers who have cars abandoned on common property to roll them out on to the street where they have to be dealt with by the local council and/or police. Often they will remove the plates to hasten the car being deemed ‘abandoned”.
This is, of course, completely illegal but it gets round one of the great anomalies of strata law that Common Property parking is private property as far as the council and police are concerned but it’s not private property if you want to remove vehicles that aren’t supposed to be there.
It’s hard to know what the details of this particular case are but it would seem that the car was on common property and hadn’t been moved for a while. Notices to move it weren’t getting to the car’s owner – or they were being ignored. And throw into the mix a typically high-handed attitude towards tenants who are treated as second-class citizens in many strata buildings.
If the Strata Manager is in possession of the wedding dress, it suggests the car was opened by someone (as part of the process of rolling or towing it out?).
I doubt if the local council parking attendants would have removed the plates, as has been alleged.
I would put my money on this being a case of a car parked illegally, a car owner who either didn’t know or care that they were in breach and a frustrated and/or overzealous building manager or EC taking the law into their own hands.
You won’t get any joy with the CTTT as they won’t award damages. I doubt very much if the police will be interested in a case of theft or criminal damage. So your best bet may be to talk to a lawyer about a claim for financial restitution at a district court against the Owners Corporation on the basis that they or their agents must have organised the removal of the car which they were not entitled to do.Other questions that spring to mind include why the daughter wasn’t parked inside the building, how often she used the car, whether or not the Owners Corp knew whose car it was, whether or not it was parked on common property and whether or not she ever got a notice to remove it, either directly or on the car.
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