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Hi Guys,
I have started a relationship with someone and about 5 nights a week I will stay over at his place. When I stay over at his place I usually park in the visitors parking spot. This morning I came out to my car and found a first and final notice breach of a bylaw letter on my car. I am not sure what the bylaw actually is but I am assuming it is saying I am breaching the bylaw of residents not parking in the visitor parking.
Before I speak to building management (the bylaw letter has a hand written note on it asking me to call), I wanted to get peoples opinions on when it would be considered someone who does not own or rent a unit in the complex goes from being a visitor to being considered a resident in the block. I know I park in the visitors parking spots a lot and am happy to move but just wanted to work out what would be considered fair before I speak to building management. I live in a share house in a unit block and we don’t have visitors parking so I am not sure what the rules are around this.
The unit block has over 100 units in the Chatswood area and has very little on street parking close by.
Thanks for your help guys.
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A couple of technical points first. There is no statutory definition of a visitor but there is an official warning letter, which is a Notice To Comply.
Foe the Owners Corp to take action, they have to issue a Notice To Comply on a specific form and it has to include details of the by-law that has allegedly been breached. By the way, the owners corp can only take action against the resident of the building, not visitors.
And that brings us back to the definition of “visitor”.
If we start from the assumption that every building has its own by-laws, that that has to be you or you partner’s first port of call. For instance, the by-laws might define a vistor as someone who is allowed to park in the parking space for no more than two hours during the day and, if staying overnight, be required to arrive after a certain time leave by a certain time. Or not.
The answer is in the by-laws and if there is nothing there that defines visitor, then you have a lot of wriggle room.
Having said that, abuse of visitor parking is a big issue in strata and it’s a battle where you don’t want to place your friend in the firing line if you can avoid it.
Get a hold of the by-laws and the make that call. They may be just trying to find out who you are and whether or not your are a permanent resident stealing a visitor spot.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Assuming the complex is using the standard by-laws, then I don’t believe there is a definition for visitor. If you are regularly staying overnight 5 days a week, then my (subjective, common sense) feeling is that you are a resident, and not entitled to use visitor parking.
If that complex is anything like ours, the Exec Committee will have received complaints from other residents about the perceived misuse of visitor parking.
The fact that you don’t own or rent doesn’t automatically make you a visitor.
Likewise, the fact that you are in a high-density area doesn’t really help your cause.
As far as i know there is no legal definition of ‘visitor’ but this is something you can attend to in your own by-laws by, for instance saying that visitors during the day have a maximum of, say, three hours and overnight they have to arrive after 6pm and leave by 7.30 am. Or whatever. It’s entirely up to you and your neighbours to set the parameters to suit the way your building runs.
Having said that, anyone parking permanently in visitor parking is not a visitor. However, it’s the resident you have to go after since you have no sanctions over non-residents.
Start a discussion now about drawing up a by-law for your next general meeting – if nothing else, it will be interesting to discover what your neighbours think a visitor is.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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