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…
NCAT
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For the first time in NSW state history, a tribunal has rescinded a strata building management contract, pre-sold by the developer, finding it to be harsh, oppressive and unconscionable, writes…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…
Podcast: Dogs banned but NCAT says OK to cats
There’s a few differences in this week’s podcast from previous editions. For a start, Sue is on the other end of a Zoom call as she takes advantage of easing…
Forum: How you can lose even when you win
The headline on one of our posts this week, says it all: “It’s as if I’m paying to sue myself.” The situation is pretty common. The strata committee takes an…
Forum: ‘No-pets’ by-laws dead so bans are bogus
While some strata schemes struggle to deal with the fact that their “no pets” by-laws have been rendered obsolete by the recent NSW Court of Appeal ruling, others seem to…
Forum: Flooring breach bungle and flawed law
The main story from the Forum this week is a real comedy of errors, with a dash of misguided or mischievous bush-lawyering thrown in. A Flatchatter has written to us…
Pets in apartments: the dogfight is just beginning
The big question swirling around “no-pets” blocks in NSW, following the Court of Appeal’s decision against the Horizon building’s by-law last week, is “what next?’ And the answer is probably…