One of the oddities of strata life has popped up this week with a sacked committee owner wreaking revenge on his neighbours through nefarious but strictly legal means.
With clearly more money than sense, he pays for strata searches to discover the tradespeople who’ve been hired for various jobs around the place.
Then he pretends he is a member of the committee and harasses the tradies with abusive phone calls and emails until, in at least one case, they refuse to do any more work around the place.
Now, impersonating a committee member isn’t a crime, unless you are doing it for fraudulent financial gain. Also there is no strata law that covers “Obsessive Nutter Syndrome”.
Meanwhile, the vengeful ex-committee member has the legal right to view all strata correspondence and records – and that’s without exception.
However, this may come under behaviour that could attract an Apprehended Personal Violence Orders – which would certainly be worth a try. A quiet word from a member of the local constabulary might do the trick too.
But there’s another option that might work. What if the committee instructed the strata manager not to show the strata records to the ex-member without their written permission?
OK, that may be a breach of strata law, but nobody’s going to be jailed for it. The ex-member could go to NCAT for orders, but then he would have to explain why he needed to see the records … and the Member could hear all about what he’s been up to.
Strikes me that this is one of those cases where it’s the victims who are obeying the law and the culprit is having fun at their expense. Time to turn the tables, methinks. You can pitch in with your own thoughts HERE.
Elsewhere on the Forum, the questions are a bit more down-to-earth … mostly:
- Why is our building manager demanding our contact details? That’s HERE.
- Secretary has re-written our by-laws but refuses to issue an explanation so owners can see what the changes mean. That’s HERE.
- Can a by-law block Airbnb rentals when the owner is in the apartment, renting a room? That’s HERE.
- Committee keeps blocking repairs to my garage roof, even though they were okayed at an AGM. That’s HERE.
- Insurance being withheld because committee member refuses to sign a document saying we’ve never been sued. That’s HERE.
There will be even more questions, answers and opinions on the Flat Chat Forum. Click the subscribe button on the topics that interest you and you’ll never miss a post.
