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Parking is a pain in the bum, isn’t it! I’m reminded of the complex that couldn’t get the local council to patrol their access roads which meant commuters used their relatively narrow streets (all common property) as free parking while they travelled to work from a nearby station. The problem was miraculously solved when a fire truck couldn’t get to a unit and the council was suddenly interested and sent parking wardens down on a regular basis.
So your friend asking their local Firies to have a look wouldn’t go amiss. They might even issue a fire safety order.
I don’t think the insurance issue is going to wash as the OC has no legal obligation to enforce by-laws (although some would argue they have a duty of care – but that has yet to be established legally, as far as I know).
But your friend shouldn’t forget that, in the absence of their own EC taking action, any owner can go to Fair Trading and ask for a Notice To Comply to be issued. Presumably there is more than one resident sick of having to weave their way around parked cars so they could apply as a group.
Perhaps stating the intention to take action at the AGM might persuade some of the rogue parkers it’s time to do the right thing.
By the way, the person who uses their garage as a store room might be in breach of by-laws and planning approval.
And, at the AGM, your friend should ask the people who stand for re-election to the EC why they are even on the committee if they have no intention of enforcing the by-laws.
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The Act is quite specific on all this – but only, it seems, in relation to ‘large’ strata schemes (schemes with 100 lot or more). There seem to be no spending limitations or rules on schemes with fewer lots in them (apart from when ir comes to taking legal action).
Assuming you are in a large scheme, firstly there’s Section 75 (5)
An owners corporation of a large strata scheme must include in the estimates prepared under this section at an annual general meeting specific amounts in relation to each item or matter on which the owners corporation intends to expend money, or on which the owners corporation is aware money will be likely to be expended, in the period until the next annual general meeting.
Then there’s this …
80A Limit on spending by executive committees of large strata schemes
(1) If a specific amount has been determined as referred to in section 75 (5) for expenditure on any item or matter, the executive committee of the owners corporation concerned must not, in the period until the annual general meeting next occurring after the determination was made, spend on the item or matter an amount greater than that determined amount for expenditure on the item or matter plus 10 per cent.
(2) The owners corporation of a large strata scheme may by resolution at a general meeting remove the limitation imposed by subsection (1) generally or in relation to any particular item or matter.
80B Quotations to be obtained for certain items of expenditure by large strata schemes
An owners corporation of a large strata scheme must obtain at least 2 quotations in relation to proposed expenditure in respect of any one item or matter if the proposed expenditure will exceed an amount prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section.
80C Exceptions in relation to emergencies
Sections 80A (1) and 80B do not apply to expenditure undertaken for emergency purposes, including, for example, expenditure to remedy any of the following:
(a) burst or blocked water or sewerage pipes,
(b) serious damage caused by fire or by storm or any other natural disaster,
(c) unexpected electrical or security system failure,
(d) glass breakages that affect the security of any building in the strata scheme or could result in damage to the inside of any such building.
Hope this clarifies more than it confuses
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As a common courtesy you would think that they should but unless it specifically says so in their contract, they are not obliged to do so and they’d have to be pretty sure of their position to inform the EC that they can be sacked in three months when their contract runs out.
In fact, I would put a clause in every strata management contract that says the SM has to inform the EC in writing that the contract is about to expire or the roll-over clause doesn’t count.
But this is a very good reminder to everyone to do a contract audit to establish when when all your service contracts run out and under what conditions they can be terminated or renewed.
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You certainly can issue Housing NSW with a Notice To Comply – it has been legally established that as landlord they are responsible for the behaviour of their tenants, especially if they know there’s a problem that would be a breach of by-laws and therefore the terms of the lease but they do nothing about it.
I would guess that if you are prepared to make enough of a fuss, they will act. Why? Because they are taking apartments in buildings all over Sydney (rather than building their own housing stock) and they don’t want to scare the horses. The last thing they need is to see a story in the daily papers about a urinating poo-dropping loony that they have placed in a private housing complex.
In fact, I would just cut to the chase and tell them there’s this idiot who writes about strata for the SMH and he’s sniffing around the story – AND send them a Notice to Comply. That should get their attention.
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It sounds like your EC and strata manager are part of the problem rather than the solution. Their mediation has no binding legal standing as far as you are concerned as you were not part of the agreement. You can completely by-pass the EC and SM and take this on yourself (or even get a strata lawyer to do it for you).
I wouldn’t delay a moment longer in raising this with Fair Trading, even if you may have to go through the mediation process yourselves again. Look at it this way, it will make the unit a harder for your selfish upstairs neighbours to let out if prospective tenants find out that they may have to move out while carpets are laid or even if the whole floor has to be put down again.
No one has the right to enhance the value of their own property at another owner’s expense and, frankly, carpet squares are a joke and your EC and Strata Manager need their backsides kicked for agreeing to them, especially without consulting you.
Go to https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/About_us/Forms/medform.pdf to start the process and have a serious think about talking to a strata lawyer at the very least to find out how much it would cost to run this case. It may be worth it to prevent your unit form being, as you say, unsaleable.
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I’d just like to add to what Scotlandx has said, if you end up having to make all your decisions by General Meeting, at least there is provision under the Act to reconvene the meeting if it isn’t quorate.
Realistically, communication is the answer and if people choose not to read agendas, minutes or any briefing notes you send out, that’s their problem if decisions are made that they don’t like.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.
The governing body for strata managers is Strata Community Australia. Go to https://nsw.stratacommunity.org.au/ to find their contact details. They may mediate in a disute with your SM. If your strata manager isn’t a member of SCA, that’s another matter of concern for you and you need to look at their contract very closely to see what your options are.
Meanwhile, you need to gather evidence of what they’re doing and not doing that is contrary to the terms of their contract. But bear in mind that this is mainly a contractual issue and there are very few tasks that SMs are legally obliged to undertake without a direct instruction from the Owners Corp.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.
OK, first up, you can’t prevent anyone from renting their unit to anyone else (unless it’s a short-term rental and they aren’t permitted in your building or you are in a 55s and over retirement village).
Also, we shouldn’t make any assumptions about how anyone will behave based simply on their social and economic status. Any issues regarding noise, antisocial behaviour or overcrowding have to be dealt with if they happen.
Some of the worst-behaved people I have encountered in strata have been arrogant owners who think their title deeds entitle them to behave as badly as they would if they were in a free-standing home.
However, there is nothing to stop you from formulating a “Code of Conduct” to be issued to all residents, regardless of whether they are tenants or owners, pointing out that there are by-laws, what the main ones are, that they apply to everyone and that they are enforced.
I would try to make the wording more welcoming than threatening, and this may not be the place to remind tenants (regardless of who their landlord is) that a breach of by-laws is also a breach of their tenancy agreement. But it will come as surprise to some tenants to discover that by-laws apply to them and they could lose their homes if they breach them.
Just one final thought on this – don’t be too worried; it’s a lot easier to get rid of bad tenants than it is to get shot of ratbag owners.
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Judging by emails to me and postings to this website, concerns over Housing NSW and rent-assisted tenants being placed in strata sub-lets seems to be growing. And while there is always the opportunity for scaremongering and a level of paranoia, there are genuine concerns expressed by apparently reasonable people.
If you are interested, have a look at to the first post in this topic (at the very bottom) and read a variety of views.
For the record, I don’t assume that Housing NSW tenants will be any better or worse than any other tenants (or owners, for that matter) but I have written to Housing NSW and asked the following questions. They are based more on the fact that there is a general lack of understanding of how strata communities work, rather than any assumption that Housing NSW tenants will present a problem:
- Is there a policy to place Housing NSW and rent-assisted tenants in privately owned strata developments?
- If so, does Housing NSW consider the suitability of the individual strata developments for its tenants?
- Does Housing NSW consider the suitability of individual tenants for strata developments?
- How many families does Housing NSW currently have in strata developments?
- To what lengths does Housing NSW go to make tenants aware of the by-laws (and their enforcement) in the buildings where they are placed?
- Does Housing NSW have a policy related to complaints and Notices To Comply issued by Executive Committees in strata developments?
I await their response which I will pass on to you Flatchatters as soon as I get it.
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You can’t force people to join the EC but in any case I think you may be approaching this the wrong way round.
The Owners Corporation is a superior body to the EC. Every owner is a member of the OC whether they want to be or not. Al;so, they are responsible, without limitation, for decisions that are made by the OC, whether or not they participated in that decision.
EC members, however, may be insured against any unfortunate decisions made in good faith.
So, for instance, if the majority of owners refuse to pay special levies for maintenance, they will still have to pay when the repairs are essential, or if an individual owners sues to have repairs done or, worst case, someone is injured or their property is damaged as a result of lack of proper maintenance of common property.
I’d be on the EC just to protect myself when things go pear-shaped, as they inevitably will.
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If the strata manager means the by-law wasn’t properly formulated, then that’s an issue you have to take up with the lawyer who wrote it. If the by-law contravenes another law and is therefore invalid, then that should be taken up with the lawyer who wrote it too. But if the SM is just being cynical about by-laws in general and difficulties in enforcing them, he or she needs to step up and offer more constructive help than a blanket disparagement.
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I tend to agree, Peter, but Flat Chat is a broad church and we try to accommodate all views. Interesting, when I was researching my answer I came across an attempt to ban electric dryers from one council area. And I believe some councils are insisting on communal drying lines on the roof (for instance) so at least there is an alternative.
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Yes, Quincy, and that applies just as much to free-standing homes as it does to strata blocks. It’s time to stop kidding ourselves that everything is sweet and lovely in quarter-acre block country while strata blocks are seething sinks of discontent. I know people in free-standing homes who have been threatened, abused and persecuted by selfish and antisocial neighbours who refuse to observe even the basic decencies.
And the problem in stand-alone houses is that you literally do stand alone. There’s no building manager, strata manager or Executive Committee to back you up when your neighbours turn nasty.
Of all the bashings and even shootings that have happened when neighbourhood disputes got out of hand, I can’t think of one that occurred in an apartment block. So can we stop this myth right here? The problem isn’t where people live, it’s how people live.
Live in a strata block and you might increase the chances of having an antisocial neighbour simply because you have more of them – but you also have plenty of ways of dealing with them. Live in a house and you’re on your own … in every sense. I hope you are never unlucky enough to have a nasty neighbour move in next door – then you’ll find out here’s another side to this coin.
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Even if you discovered there was a by-law about laundry, your neighboring EC is not compelled to enforce it. And since a duplex has only two owners, your chances of getting anyone to change their habits are slightly less than zero. I doubt your local council will take a position on this so there’s not really very much you can do.
There may be a remote chance of taking legal action on the grounds that the ‘visual pollution’ of their washing is lowering the value of your property but I wouldn’t recommend it. In fact I suspect this is one of those cases where the misery associated with getting a result outweighs the slight benefit of whatever result you might get.
In other words, if you can, learn to live with it
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With you on that, Struggler. I had to weather the usual contemptuous dismissal from our building’s chair at an AGM to prevent them from accidentally banning portable air coolers in a by-law aimed to clear up where air-conditioning could be installed. People need to realise that by-laws are a lot harder to undo than they are to create so ultra-diligence is required.
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