[Vermont]

I wonder if a call to the non-emergency police line citing their number plate and (if known) names might make a difference if there is any damage.

It might be worthwhile taking some “before” photos now-ish.

[Vermont]

Jimmy-T wrote:

There are commercially available instruments, that range from an app for your iPhone to a fully commercial “listening” kit. That said, you might be better hiring a qualified audio engineer to set up a monitoring device that records the sound levels in your home (not the actual sound). I have no idea how much that might cost but at the end of the day you will have a reliable record and an independent professionally qualified witness.

That said, I’n not sure who might provide such a service but a deep Google search dug up these guys: Noise in Apartments | Audiometric & Acoustic Services (noiseconsult.com.au) Might be worth a phone call. Good luck!

Indeed, I engaged an acoustic engineer for my complaint against my upstairs neighbours and because they were an expert witness, it was received well by the tribunal and showed the noise levels, duration, and incidents were well above normal levels.

[Vermont]

I’d go straight back to what was in the contract. A lot of contracts have a payment schedule in them which would detail if and when progress payments should be made.

There might not be anything necessarily to vote on if the strata legally needs to keep up its end of the deal.

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[Vermont]

Thanks Tina.

More widely, are the email distribution lists that I should subscribe to so I get more invitations to events like this?

I feel like I find out too late or after they’ve already occurred.

[Vermont]

UberOwner makes a great point.

Perhaps this could be put to the rest of the committee as an insurance risk. Is it likely that premiums will go up should owners not be prohibited from this type of behaviour in the future?

Also, I agree – $256 is peanuts in the scheme (see what I did there?) of things.

[Vermont]

Sorry to hear that Nanadi.

I have been living in apartments since 2011, and never experienced the chaos and disrespect until this place.

I now own and plan on staying for a long time.

It’s a pity that a lot of strata residents don’t see the benefits in cultivating good relationships with their neighbours.

[Vermont]

Thanks for asking about costs BlackHotel.

It’s not an inexpensive endeavour, but my apartment would have been otherwise uninhabitable with the amount, nature, and duration of noise.

The acoustic engineer cost > $8K and that included initial week-long monitoring, reports (and clarifications), and retesting after the upstairs lot owner had complied with the NCAT ruling.

My legal team cost a lot more than that.

I was not successful with my costs order, but my understanding is that they rarely are. I was fully aware of my decisions around costs, but it was more important to me to have a home that I could live in, sleep without being continually woken up, and to feel comfortable in my own home.

I learned a lot about strata law during this process as well.

The Flat Chat podcast has been paramount to my confidence levels and motivation to learning about my rights in strata.

[Vermont]

An update:

The OC, strata company, and property manager for upstairs were useless.

I engaged a legal team and an acoustic engineer and went to NCAT.

I had over 500 days of noise logs – with up to 50 incidences each day – and my flatmate’s affidavit, my partner’s affidavit, and the acoustic engineer’s expert report as evidence.

In the end, the nuisance tenants ended up leaving before the tribunal date.

I won my case and NCAT asked the upstairs lot owner to install floor coverings up to a 6-star rating – something that they previously refused to consider at all.

The tenants upstairs now are ACTUALLY normal people.

I am catching up on years of sleep deprivation, and feeling like my apartment is now home.

[Author]

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