It says on the NTC form/NSW government website that the next action is to go to Fair Trading.
No, on the official (and only legal) form it says you take it to NCAT.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS NOTICE
3. For a Penalty: an application to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal must be made within 12 months of the Notice being served (given).
Now check out Page 11 (section 147) of this NCAT document. Unlike most of the other orders, seeking a penalty for a by-law breach does not require evidence of mediation.
And in fact, the Fair Trading website offers you the choice of seeking mediation or taking a by-law breach directly to NCAT.
This is what it says:
If an owner or resident continues to breach a by-law after the notice to comply is given, the owners corporation can:
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- ask for an order from the Tribunal telling the person to pay a penalty.
- apply for mediation with the resident who is breaching the by-law. If that does not resolve the issue, the owners corporation can then apply to the Tribunal for a compliance order.
Obviously in your situation you would go directly to NCAT, making sure you had a copy of the official minutes of the strata committee meeting at which it was decided to issue an NTC.