[Not An Apartment]

In my block, the CreatureFromThe Black Lagoon would raise the levies and take a bigger cut and when all the “no, sorry, really, I don’t have moment to spare to come along to the AGM, and I trust you to do what’s good for all”, finally get around to attending their first every meeting, just so they can complain about the raised levies – well, the CFTB Lagoon would stand up, rip it’s head off to reveal – that I AM THAT CREATURE! And I would start ripping the hea………….

Okay , so I’ve probably gotten a little carried away, but ……….Jeez, just for a moment, it felt Great!

[Not An Apartment]

I’m unclear with your post as to why your deadlocks are considered unsuitable, but here’s my experience: 

I had a double deadlock installed when I first moved in; the deadlock was fine for many years but then got hard to close from outside without slamming hard enough to bring the building down, so I called a locksmith to replace it, which he did.

I immediately noticed a difference:  old lock – it’s double locked and coming in carrying a load of stuff I inadvertently left the keys in the lock outside, and the door slams closed behind.  Keys outside; me inside, door locked. I had to hunt around to find my spare keys to unlock door and get keys from outside, so all okay.

The new lock, same situation BUT this time:  unlocking the door from the outside also un-deadlocks the lock from the inside, so no need to find spares, just open door and retrieve keys. It’s still locked from the outside, but not inside.  The locksmith said that was how the newer deadlocks worked to avoid people locking themselves in.

Sometime along the way, I decided the best place to keep my keys when home,  was, in the lock inside, which also allowed me to keep it deadlocked, but no delay finding keys if someone shouts “fire”. The only time I lose my keys now is if I don’t put them straight into the lock when stepping in.

Maybe that is applicable in this situation?

[Not An Apartment]

Thanks Lady P:  I don’t think I’m ready to go down the PI route yet, as the SMC has only recently been able to contact the owner’s agents (ie: grandchildren),  so we’ll see what sort of response we get.

I spoke to a Court Officer when I went up to the Police Station.  Apparently an AVO isn’t for non-related people – partner, parent, child etc, but there is something called a Personal Violence Order which might apply, but for both of the above you need the name of the person to be served, to go on the Order. 

I’m also going to make it abundantly clear to  our SMC that they need to lift their game – the least they can do is actively pursue the SMSA regarding keeping up-to-date Strata Rolls of residents so they, at least, know who lives in the building.

Thanks again

[Not An Apartment]

Well, things have moved apace and, as predicted, have escalated:

Despite repeated requests, the bins are still under the clothes-lines and don’t get emptied until full or overflowing; the bicycle is permanently (except when someone’s is using it – which isn’t often enough) left behind the front door in stairwell;  cigarette butts still being thrown off balcony onto driveway; a resident observed climbing up onto the balcony for entry to the unit (apparently this person isn’t trusted with a key, which explains why the building’s door is frequently left open). 

There have bin some minor harassments also: my laundry basket lobbed over the side fence, the  mat outside my front door removed and hidden under door mat just inside the building’s front door.

Oh, and did I mention that someone (the really objectionable one), is living in the garage?  Yup, made-up bed with  electrical cord running from power point to the bed, table and chairs set up………..

That would explain why they won’t keep the bins in there.

Plus, it’s heading toward getting physical – a week or so ago, I was walking down the driveway and saw ‘the objectionable one’ going in the front door, followed by another person, closing the door behind them.  I got to the front door, put my key in the lock but the door wouldn’t open, so I tried again but door still wouldn’t open.  I thought I could see, through the glass panels, a tall figure standing close to inside of door, so pushed harder, forcing the door open where I could see said resident leaning against the door, denying me access.

Seriously.

After consultation with the only other owner/resident and the strata management company, a few days later I went to the Police Station and asked them if they could get someone to drop round and ‘have a word’, which they did later that afternoon.  The attending officers spoke to me first and were reluctant to get involved without evidence of harassment, but, perhaps after I pointed out that the bloke in question is at least 10″ taller than me and probably 40yrs younger, they agreed to talk to him, warning him to discontinue whatever he’s been doing and to ignore me when our paths crossed, and advising me to do the same.

On the upside, the strata mng co. now has name/address for presumably one of the grandkids.  It’s not clear whether details were updated deliberately by the owner/grandkids, or inadvertently when paying the latest strata levies. My money’s on the latter, given they’ve ignored all other contacts. But the SMC sent the NTC to both the owner (at this address) and to the new adddress.

I’ve also spoken to the Council re their ‘living arrangements’ and they advise that if the DA for the building is for the structures on ground floor to be garages, then they need consent to vary purpose, from the Body Corp and in the event of such consent being given,  must also meet the Building Code of Australia, which the Council advised includes things like food prep facilities (sink, bench) and personal hygiene (toilet, sink) as minimum.  Any changes would also need to meet fire safety regs (insulation etc) and similarly,  electrical and plumbing works.

Needless to say, such consent has not been sought or given. 

I’m not sure how much more the grandkids need to stimulate them into action, but we’ll see how things go from here.

Any further advice or comment will be much appreciated.

Cheers  – NOA

[Not An Apartment]

Thanks for above suggestions. The info re ‘a genuine debt…..for non-payment of levies’ would have been useful some weeks ago, but the previous qtrs levies had been issued several weeks before our AGM in May; there was no mention of being in arrears.  Contacting the grandkids is beyond us – we have no surnames for them and only contact we have is through the grandad who isn’t responding to anything!

In the intervening couple of weeks, the residents of unit have been asked to keep their bins in their garage – they have now moved all their bins outside, near the clothesline.  The rubbish bin is almost overflowing, and stinking, but they didn’t put it out for collection on Tue;  so it seems they believe that resistance will win out – maybe they think everyone else will move?

I’ve spoken to the Strata Mng Co. again; she’s had no contact thus far and says she’s reqd to make three attempts, so will do the rounds of all the contacts they have for the owner once more, this time including advice of what will result from another unanswered set of communications and the further action that can be taken.  Hopefully, this will encourage someone to take their responsibilities seriously.  Meanwhile, next week I’ll speak to the Council to see if I can get any updated info to pass onto the SM.        Cheers…….NAA.

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