Forum: Law breakers want to sue over complaints
Our “star forum post” this week (for want of a better term) concerns a resident of a mixed use block where the proprietors of the commercial units all come from…
NCAT
Tenants can take OCs to NCAT over defects
Tenants have the legal right to take their owners corporations to a NSW Tribunal to force them to fix faults in common property, an NCAT Appeals panel has ruled, but…
Podcast: Petinos, pets and petty squabbles
There we were, all set with a podcast on David Chandler’s resignation in the can, when we heard that NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet had invited Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos…
Refusal to allow second Frenchie challenged
Does gaining permission for one dog in a strata scheme mean you should automatically be allowed a second pooch? And does a by-law allowing permission to keep “an animal” mean…
When hiring a good strata lawyer is a great idea
In this week’s Australian Financial Review I wrote about the value of good strata lawyers and the problems with bad ones. This was prompted by a chat with Amanda Farmer…
Forum: Angry tradie targets new unit owner
Here’s a conundrum from way out of left field, and then some. One of our Flatchatters has just received a final demand, and a threat of legal action, from a…
Losers pay: Special levies mandatory for NCAT cases
Listen up all you litigious committee members! We have discovered something via the Flat Chat Forum that should make every strata committee in NSW think long and hard before they…
Tribunal rescinds pre-sold management contract
For the first time in NSW state history, a tribunal has rescinded a strata building management contract, pre-sold by the developer, finding it to be harsh, oppressive and unconscionable, writes…
OCN issues revised Airbnb by-law after NCAT ruling
As we reported last week, when the owner of two properties in a Sydney Olympic Park complex challenged their identical by-laws restricting short-term holiday lets, an NCAT member had found…
Forum: Cashed-up and confused by costs levy
Here’s a bit of a brainteaser. An owners corp has won its tribunal case against a couple of lot owners over unapproved renovations. The OC’s strata manager has now asked…
NCAT delays force family back into mouldy unit
Unexplained delays by the NSW government’s property tribunal have forced a mother, her five-year-old daughter and her elderly parents to move back into their damp, mouldy apartment. Sarah Wu’s family…
Heartbreak over Angus, the pet-ban busting dog
Angus, the pet-ban busting dog, has died. Singer Jo Cooper, who challenged her owners’ corporation’s “no pets” by-laws all the way to the NSW Court of Appeal – and won…