RANT: How to train your strata committee
We had a small panic attack the other day when we couldn’t find the link to Strata Community Australia’s online executive committee training program. This is a fantastic facility that…
How can you curb noisy kids?
What can you do about noisy kids in an apartment block? It’s not just that a family has moved in upstairs from a Flatchatter, who wrote for advice. On top…
Parking spaces – the walls come down
Can an owner put a cage around their car park to create a secure storage space? This old chestnut has popped up again on the Flat Chat Forum, years after…
Rant: Time we jailed serial ‘phoenix’ developers?
A couple of stories have come to my attention in the past couple of days that, frankly, have me lurching from rage to revulsion. In both cases, highly profitable development…
Dogged denial leads to barking madness
When it comes to excuses and denial, pet owners can be even worse than doting parents. It’s never the dog or cat’s fault – there’s always some factor other than…
Strata law reforms delayed … again
Apartment owners fearing they will be forced by neighbours to sell their homes to developers, or dreading the tread of parking wardens in their car parks, have been given a…
Rant: To the barricades … or the pub?
Another week in StrataLand and another selection of questions on Flat Chat – some new, some returns to old favourites and a few that are frankly well out of left…
Dear idiot: How to manage angry emails
When is a determined owner an email pest? Or, to put it another way, how do you tell the difference between someone with a legitimate complaint, who won’t let it…
Drawing the line on holiday lets
There’s been a lot said and written about Airbnb-style short-term lets in apartment blocks – not least in this column – but where do you draw the line between enjoying…
New strata laws explained
We seem to have been talking about strata law changes for the last 100 years and certainly we are on the brink of the biggest shake-up of strata law in…
Strata troublemakers nailed
Are you a criminal, a rebel or a know-all? Or is it your neighbour who’s one of apartment living’s permanent pests and constant troublemakers. Strata lawyer Amanda Farmer, founder member…
How can you put a strata pro in charge?
How bad does your strata committee have to be before a tribunal will sack them and appoint a strata manager to take over? If you can’t vote the committee out,…