[Barnaby]

Dealing with a resident like this is a massive headache, especially since he owns the place and you can’t just evict him. However, being an owner doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to break the rules.

Here is how the Strata Committee can finally crack down on this guy and make his life difficult until he behaves:

1. Match His Actions to the Rules

Look up your building’s by-laws. You need to pin him down on specific rule breaks:

• The yelling and aggression:  Breaks the basic rule against causing a nuisance or ruining the peace for others.
• The speakerphone calls:  Clear breach of the noise by-laws.
• The balcony “bonking”:  Public indecency and offensive behaviour.
• The non-stop smoking:  Under NSW strata law, smoke drift that ruins a neighbour’s air is considered a legal nuisance. You can fight this even if the building allows smoking.

2. Gather the Proof

You can’t just tell a court “he’s annoying.” You need hard evidence. Tell the neighbours to start tracking him for the next few weeks:

• Keep a log:  Write down the exact dates, times, and what he did.
• Take recordings:  Get video or audio from inside nearby apartments showing how loud his phone or balcony antics are.
• Call the cops:  Every single time he gets aggressive, call the police and ask for the Event Number .

3. Hit Him With Official Warning Letters

The committee needs to hold a quick meeting and vote to send him an official Notice to Comply with a By-Law 

• Don’t just send one generic letter. Send a separate, official NSW Fair Trading form for each  thing he’s doing wrong (one for noise, one for smoking, one for bad behaviour).

4. Take Him to the Tribunal (NCAT)

If he ignores the warning letters (which he probably will), the committee can escalate things to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT):

• Fines:  NCAT can slap him with a $1,100 fine  for ignoring the warning notice. If he keeps doing it, the fine doubles to $2,200 .
• Orders:  The tribunal can issue a legal order forcing him to stop smoking on the balcony or using his speakerphone. If he breaks a tribunal order, the fine jumps up to $5,500 .

1 user thanked author for this post.

Poniro

[Barnaby]

Dealing with a resident like this is a massive headache, especially since he owns the place and you can’t just evict him. However, being an owner doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to break the rules.<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

Here is how the Strata Committee can finally crack down on this guy and make his life difficult until he behaves:<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

1. Match His Actions to the Rules<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

Look up your building’s by-laws. You need to pin him down on specific rule breaks:<!–TgQPHd||[]–>

• • The yelling and aggression:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Breaks the basic rule against causing a nuisance or ruining the peace for others.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>
  • The speakerphone calls:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Clear breach of the noise by-laws.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>
  • The balcony “bonking”:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Public indecency and offensive behaviour.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>
  • The non-stop smoking:<!–TgQPHd||[]–> Under NSW strata law, smoke drift that ruins a neighbour’s air is considered a legal nuisance. You can fight this even if the building allows smoking.<!–TgQPHd||[]–><!–TgQPHd||[]–>

 

[Barnaby]

Is the situation different if the water issue is not related to faulty membrane – but is actually due to a split original copper water pipe – embedded in a concrete block. Where access to the water pipe requires substantial building works including the removal of bathroom tiles; entry into the ceiling space and heavy drilling into the concrete slab. Just gaining access to the split section caused severe damage to an owners apartment – aside from the inconvenience – is the OC responsible for the entire “fix-up” including new bathroom tiles. The building is more than 40 years old and the bathroom was still original.

[Barnaby]

I understand the challenges associated with the installation of power sources for the individual owners of EV’s plus the complexity of supply to an apartment block – but the issue of safety and exploding batteries needs also to be considered and the impact this could have on the complex’s insurance. And whilst Lithium batteries are a major concern for cars – what about other lithium batteries of devices owned by owners and residents. Is there a template for Strata complexes written to cover aspects of safety for all lithium batteries?

[Author]

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