Chorus of approval – but is it legal?
QUESTION: We have ten apartments in our block and an Executive Committee of five. I am Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary as none of the other committee members has taken much…
Tenants driven out by building work
If work on common property means reduction or loss of rent in a tenanted property, should the Owners Corporation – that’s all the other owners – compensate the landlord? The…
Time for more discrimination?
When I first started writing about strata I came across a story about a residential village plan in the USA which was open to anyone … except lawyers. The developer…
Is a ‘no kids’ ban such a bad thing?
A Current Affair last week ‘exposed’ an apartment building that doesn’t allow families with kids – or even pregnant women – to buy into it. As a result, according to…
Give and take on direct debits
QUESTION: I received a letter from my letting agent telling me I must give them permission to Direct Debit my account to pay the rent. I do not use Direct…
Tenant dogged by the power of one
A couple of weeks ago we brought you the tale of the tenant who had it written into her lease that she could have her dog in her home, only…
Heavy levies Vs the loan arrangers
Stories of unit blocks having no money in the bank when they need repairs are legion. There has long been a culture in strata of leaving repairs to “the next…
Confusion reigns in scramble parking
Should parking be less of a scramble for owners than tenants? A Flat Chat reader has written to us about his unit block where he parks his car in an…
Grouse over spouses on EC
‘Can a husband and wife both be on the executive committee,’ writes Kenuppa on the Forum. The simple answer is yes in NSW, but no in Victoria and Queensland. However,…
Short term pain, long term gain
Our recent story about how the Building Appeals Board in Victoria had decreed that short-term rentals in residential apartment blocks are in contravention of the building codes and are therefore…
By-laws not optional for tenants
Do tenants in NSW really have to obey by-laws, wonders Flat Chat website regular KiwiPaul. “In NSW the tenancy agreement only states that tenants have to be given a copy…
Split bills too hard to swallow
“Let’s just divvy it up,” is the civilised way for friends to pay for a meal. But it doesn’t work so well when it comes to covering the running costs…