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  • in reply to: Short Term Lets #20471

    Jimmy T it is a bit rude to change the heading half way through the discussion.

    in reply to: Short Term Lets #20470

    I’m going to jump in here because there is a sense of crowing smugness about some of these posts  celebrating the failure of Melbourne City Council’s Supreme Court appeal against the victory by party flat short-term letters.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

    – Jimmy T thanks for your feedback. I have never met you, nor have you visited my apartment, why do you keep referring to it as a ‘party flat’ – There has never been a party in my rental. I will not allow it to be trashed, what don’t you understand about that fact.  

    It’s an interpretation of the law, not a definition of right and wrong and eventually, as it always is, the law will be brought into line with public opinion and society’s values.  It’s just a matter of time.

    I agree and the time has come! As a property owner I can now use my apartment as a short term rental and keep control of the property. If someone breaks my House Rules, they are out. By them having a licence to occupy and not a lease they can be evicted immediately. My occupants know that and that is why I have no parties. Public opinion is increasing in their desire for fully self contained residences.

    By the way, I apologise to all the genuinely responsible, considerate and caring landlords of holiday lets, who take the time and trouble to ensure their tenants have no negative impact on your neighbours.

    – Thanks

    But the party-flat scumbags are using you as a human shield to protect their own selfish interests. You should be on our side, not theirs, or you could find you go down the same gurgler as they inevitably will.

    Our Code of Conduct will get rid of the small minority that you refer to. 

    Meanwhile please don’t give us your BS about voluntary codes of conduct and how licences to occupy are more effective control on bad tenants than leases.  They nothing more or less than a sop to politicians and legal loopholes to avoid having to abide by the same laws as other landlords.

    – Self-regulation of the industry is working very well according to the Australian Building Codes Board and a number of Government bodies who understand the demand by families for a self contained residences.

    If that’s the best you can come up with, it shows the profound dishonesty that is the bedrock of this grubby little business.

    The Australian Governments Productivity Commission Research Report 2010, states the following on page 190 … the growth in serviced apartments as a major form of tourist accommodation, ‘representing at least 30 per cent of all short stay accommodation rooms in Australia’

    – I don’t think that is little and your opinion will not change those facts .

    If you don’t actually live in the building, please tell us what mechanism you use to remove party animals who are destroying the legal right to peace and quiet that your neighbours are supposed to enjoy. And I mean when it’s happening – not two weeks later when they are long gone!

    – Jimmy – exactly the same way you do for long term tenants who make a noise as you have explained elsewhere on this site.

    Long-term residents have to stick around and face the consequences of their actions. Meanwhile, how do we get in touch with YOU (or your mealymouthed agents) at 2 am on a Sunday morning when your tenants are singing Cold Chisel’s greatest hits on your balcony or in our swimming pool, and threatening anyone who dares to utter a reasonable request to keep the noise down.

    Call the police?  Maybe they’ll come if they aren’t too busy scraping drunk drivers off the road or pursuing real criminals.  But if that’s your answer, you are just as much parasites on the law enforcement services as you are on your strata neigbours.

    – In my case text my mobile – all my neighbours have it and they are evicted, like I keep telling you – they are not going to trash my place or they will pay. If any of the common property is damaged, the written agreement I have with my strata guys is that I pay. As the owner I am responsible.

    So what are your sanctions against your party animal tenants?  Oh, you won’t let your flat to Bozo ever again?  But Numpty, Johnno and Tubby can each have a go at putting their name on the lease – sorry, licence to occupy – so that’s going to be really effective, isn’t it.

    And it’s too late for the people who’ve suffered yet another weekend of disruption in their homes.

    I have already covered that!

    It may be different if you actually live in the property where you are letting out homes like hotel rooms.  But if you don’t, and if you or your agents don’t even meet the people who are renting your property, in my humble opinion you are an irresponsible, selfish, greedy grub.

    Any one who runs a good business will meet and greet, with the power of the internet, you will not survive if you cannot deliver what you promote.

    All over Australia right now, strata residents – tenants and owners – who are afflicted by the scourge of short-term lets are wondering what Christmas will bring.  It might be a nice family looking for a quiet time by the beach – or it could be a bunch of yahoos who don’t give a damn about whose peace and quiet they disrupt  because by the time any complaints filter back to the landlords, they’ll be long gone.

    In our building it is the bikies upstairs that are the problem and we cannot do anything – we have tried.

    You can’t control that and neither can your neighbours and that’s why sooner or later the law will be changed and you will be out of your tawdry little business.

    Part of the problem those who defend the short-term letting industry chose to think there isn’t a problem, despite all the evidence to the contrary.  

    What evidence – have you read what Justice Beach, Nettle and Osborn actually said in their judgements.

    And when they start crowing about a legal decision In Victoria, it’s not they they have been proved morally right – because we all know that’s never going to happen – but because they have been allowed to get away with it for a bit longer.

    If there is such a “need” for short-term lets, let developers build serviced apartment blocks where they are allowed by council regulations and you can invest in them.  

    Oh, but wait, that would mean you would have to pay commercial council rates for things like garbage collection and insurance.  It’s so much better to leech off apartment residents (even if it does mean making their lives a misery).

    Regardless of the Victorian Supreme Court ruling (on a point of law) this opportunistic and parasitic invasion of people’s homes has to stop.

    My opinion and my experience are different!

    So enjoy your little victory while you can.  But it won’t be long until the party’s over. 

    Yes the party is over and we can get back to business and continue to provide a regular flow of patrons to the local restaurants, and dollars to the local shops, tickets to the football games and shows around town.

     

    in reply to: Short Term Lets #20466

     

    Thanks so much Stumped! I may have confused you.  

    You said “People come into my home, ie the building in which I live.  Imagine if we came and stayed at your home, used your house(?) and all the gardens, garage, driveway etc.”

    – You are more than welcome to come into my home, the building in which I live, use my apartment, all the gardens, garage and driveway, as long as you pay a reasonable amount, the same as the other occupants of the building. If you want to come for a few minutes to do whatever, that is your business.

    Re your short-term lets:

    Are you there to ensure that there is no damage to (common) property and that there are no parties, or is this left up to residents or the EC to manage?

    – Yes I live in the building and why would I allow my investment to be trashed, really!

    And the issuing of by-laws? – Yes

    And the registering of all your ‘leases’ on the Strata Roll?

    – We do not have any ‘leases’ to register as previously stated.

    And your Bank and the terms of their loan to you?

    – My bank are more than happy because they know the property is kept in peak condition being cleaned at least twice a week, in fact my loan guy said he could not believe the high standard in which the property was kept. 

    And Council…which takes you to the Land & Environment Court if you are in breach of Council’s DA – you know the extent of the fines don’t you?

    – All good there, they are very happy with me as we only allow it to be used as a residence, so no breaches there.

    And the terms/conditions of the Strata’s Building Insurance?  You all have unlimited liability – but you know this don’t you?  What if the Insurance Company uses short-term letting/non-compliant use to refuse to pay a major claim…

    – My insurers have visited the apartment and confirmed in writing the residential use and approved the 20Mil Public Liability. 

    We have people book for a night, but the reality is that a few of them stay for an hour or three. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine what they’re doing.

    And?

    I imagine your immediate focus is trying to maximise the return on your investment – is this where you’re coming from?

    – I do live in Australia and last time I checked, making money was not a crime. We actually add to the local community by allowing people to stay who will go to the local restaurants and shop locally and they spend more because they are on holidays.

    Might you perhaps be able to see where resident owners/tenants using the property as their home are coming from?

    – I know exactly where they are coming from and that is because my people prefer to live in a home rather than a hotel, because they want to cook as well as do their laundry and not be interrupted by maids. 

    When people use our building for a holiday their attitude towards the building/property is very different.  And their attitude towards those who live in the building often leaves a lot to be desired.  

    And then there is the lack of Community because of all the transients, if you’ve ever considered that?

    – Yes, my neighbour loves the fact that he has new people to meet on a regular basis, he has met some amazing people from so many different cultures around the world. He has even been invited to dinner by some of them.

    My people contribute well above the average to the local community.

    Finally – the facts are that poor behaviour and bad attitude will occur in every building irrespective of the length of stay.

    Every building has it’s bikies, drug dealers, prostitutes’, noise makers and party animals, just read some of the other material on this site, it is all related to long term tenants. 

    Cheers

    in reply to: Short Term Lets #20465

    Two well respected experts in strata law give their opinion on the Victorian Court of Appeal decision.

    https://www.accomnews.com.au/industry/3503-absolute-clarity-on-class-2-buildings?utm_source=newsletter_560&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=accommodation-industry-news-monday-16-december-2013

    Some very clear direction for the industry and together with the HRIA Code of Conduct we can party! Not in our rental property of course, we do want to evict ourselves.

    in reply to: Short Term Lets #20463

    Sorry stumped – parties are prohibited under the House Rules and I will evict you if you have more than 4 people stay in the apartment.

    in reply to: Short Term Lets #20462

    The answer to your questions.

    1) do you give everyone your short-term stays a copy of the by-laws and are they aware of/comply with them? – Yes

    2) Do you register each and every short-term ‘lease’ on the Strata Roll? – They don not get a lease, they get a licence to occupy and if they break the house rule they are evicted – its harder to evict if they have a lease.

    3) If short-term stays don’t comply with Council’s DA on your property but the Supreme Court says they’re OK, do they comply with the terms of your Building Insurance? – Yes

    4) If you have your apartment/s negatively geared, ie you have a mortgage, does your Bank know that you’re renting it short-term – aka a serviced apartment – and not as a residential property? – Yes

    5) I could go on – please do!

    6) but am more interested to know if you’d be happy with us all coming to stay at your place when you’re not there sometime soon?  (New Years Eve would suit.)  Cheers – Yes you are welcome any time, provided you comply with our house rules, we also follow the Holiday Rental Industry Association (HRIA) Code of Conduct – my 2 bedroom apartment will accommodate 4 people with a minimum of 4 nights over New Year at $500 per night.

    Let me know what time you want to arrive.

    in reply to: Party flats ban overturned #18884

    Who writes this cr..
    Do some research!
    ‘Partygate” is no more, the bad operator who allowed the parties in Melbourne has closed down.
    The majority of the short term industry follow the “Code of Conduct”

    Just think about this for a moment, why would I allow marauding schoolies, backpackers, football fans and bucks night in to my short term let to have it trashed.
    You think I keep spare furniture in my back pocket.
    No agent has ever revved me up or any of my friends who run short term, we do it because it allows us to keep control of our property while providing an accommodation choice other than a hotel.
    Some facts:
    “the growth in serviced apartments as a major form of tourist accommodation, representing at least 30 per cent of all short stay accommodation rooms in Australia’
    Australian Government Productivity Commission Report – August 2010
    To suggest that the poor long-term resident who finds him or herself outvoted by absentee landlords lured by the fast-buck agents promoting illegal rentals, is a bit over the top.
    If you guys are lawyers, please explain how 30% of the market is illegal.
    How selfish of us to want peace and quiet in our homes when there are owners who need to make a quick buck from their investment units – really, if you want peace and quiet, go and find a gum tree in the country, you will not get it in a city apartment, weather it be short or long term. At least with a short term guest I can evict them immediately, try and do that with a long term tenant that has doof doof next door to you – good luck.
    Just read your other forum – Neighbour Noise, poor fellow – kept records of noise disturbances, obtained witness statements and finally went to mediation (at his expense) and eventually they got rid of the offending tenant – 
    With a short term let we can evict bad behaviour immediately.
    As we have said many times in this column
    1) Who is we?
    2) Where do you live.
    I live in Australia a democracy not some dictatorship that forces developers to build specific buildings for the fly-by-night tenants or did you mean people who prefer to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel, because they have a choice.

    If you think short-term lets are warts on the face of residential apartment living and it’s time the government and local councils got together with the CTTT and burned them off, you should find another profession.

    in reply to: Party flats ban overturned #18650

    Jimmy T should provide some evidence behind his opinions. The vast majority of short term accommodation apartments are well run and follow the HRIA ‘Code of Conduct”. The operator who caused the problem in Watergate has closed their business. The one operator who went to the Supreme Court did so to protect, tourism, accommodation choice, property rights and an industry that provides beds for over 30% of the travellers in Australia.
    If you have one bad legal firm, you don’t close them all down.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)