Kiwipaul – Unless clamping could be broadly covered under the definition of “distrain” (and I don’t believe it can) then the following, provided to me by a past Owner and of unknown origin, seems to comply with the advice so clearly provided by Beverley Hoskinson-Green of Makinson & d’Apice, but I suppose a clamping provision could be easily added by an O/C after appropriate legal advice:
“1 An Owner or Occupier of a lot must not park or stand any motor bike, boat, trailer, or any motor vehicle (“vehicle”) on common property except with the prior written approval of the Owners Corporation.
2 The Owners Corporation shall have the following powers and authorities, in addition to those conferred upon it by the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 and the By-laws:-
a) The power to do one or more of the following in respect of a vehicle, the property of an owner or occupier of a Lot, parked upon Common Property contrary to the By-Laws;
(i) the power to remove the vehicle from the parcel;
(ii) the power to move the vehicle within the parcel;
(iii) the power to distrain the vehicle by such reasonable means as the Owners Corporation determines; and
(iv) the power to affix a sign to the vehicle.
b) the power to recover the costs of exercising any power pursuant to this by-law from that owner or occupier as a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction”.
We didn’t adopt the above but opted instead for a Special By-Law (SBL) that, after a vehicle is found to be on Common Property or on a carspace other than the one allocated to the Lot being occupied by or visited by the vehicle’s owner on three (3) occasions, and where a Notice has been placed on the vehicle on each of those occasions, permits the Owners Corporation to then issue a “parking fee not exceeding $500 per day or part thereof” to that vehicle’s owner for payment, and in default to the legal occupant of the Lot where that vehicle’s owner was an invitee.
Even with the detailed preamble to our SBL I know that there are a few loopholes, but thankfully our friendly postcard size “Notices” have mostly done the job, so our $25 Fees have been few and have always been paid by both tenants and and Owners.