Flat Chat Strata Forum Neighbour noise Current Page

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  • #8478

    Our strata has no registered by-laws.

    One owner bought a dog.  Kept it on a lead most of the time however left it off the lead on common property enough times to annoy me & make me concerned for the welfare of my tenant (who lives next door to me) & her young child.

    Spoke with the managing agent whom told me the OC could not really deny permission to keep the dog due to the Act stating he OC could not unreasonably refuse permission.

    I argued that if the dog owner was made to go through the formal process, of applying for permission at least the OC could impose conditions regarding always being on a lead on common property, dog poo removed etc.

    Managing Agent did not assist, other owner whom resided overseas, did not care so the situation was left as is.

    Now dog owner has moved out to rent a house & their tenant has moved in with … a cat!  Of course, no permission sought.  Overseas owner has sold & a nice new owner is in place.  So now, the 3 of the 4 EC/OC members are opposed to animals at the property.

    We tried the soft approach ie informing the tenants that we don’t approve of cats & explained why being that we worry for the many & varied species of wildlife we have etc.  They assured us the cat is old & does not go outside.

    Guess what?  Surprise, surprise, the cat is often outside during the day.

    We now have a new Managing Agent, do Forum Members recommend that the OC insist upon permission from the tenant/owner be sought & then refuse the request?

    We like these tenants & don’t want to upset them but they lied about the cat being outside (& about a few other things).

    Talking to them about it is not an option as we have been told by our Manging Agent whom was told by the Real Estate Agent whom was told by the owner that they do not want the owner/occupiers bossing their tenants around – this was after these tenants repeatedly came to the owner/occupiers asking if they could store this & that on common property & were given some leeway but when they abused that, were told ‘no’.

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  • #16863
    deliria1
    Flatchatter

      If they want to give their cat some time outside (which I am sure the cat would appreciate) – insist that they enclose their terrace/balcony with Catmax https://www.catmax.com.au/?source=easyppc or a similar product (at their expense).

      It is fairly low visibility, will keep poo off the common areas, stop the cat getting run over/hurt & protect wildlife.

      #16871
      scotlandx
      Strataguru

        You say the strata scheme has no registered by-laws.  If it was created after 1997 then it would have to have had by-laws lodged with the registration of the strata plan.  If it is a pre-1997 scheme, then the model by-laws in the Strata Schemes Management Act apply.

        So, presuming it is a pre-1997 scheme, then the model by-law that applies is the one that provides that an owner/resident can’t keep an animal without the written permission of the owners corporation, and that permission can’t be unreasonably refused.  From what you say in the third paragraph, it is likely that this is the by-law that applies.

        The managing agent is wrong, in that for an owner or resident to keep an animal they must first obtain the written permission of the owners corporation.  If they don’t do that, then they are in breach of the by-law.  Yes that permission can’t be unreasonably refused, but in some cases an owners corporation may refuse on reasonable grounds.  At the extreme, it would generally not be unreasonable to refuse permission to keep a horse.

        I am not suggesting that permission should be refused (I have a dog), but the point is that the owner/resident has to ask for that permission and be given it, and the owners corporation may put conditions on the permission.  For example, it may say that the animal must be kept within the lot and if it is on the common property it must be under the control of its owner.

        In this case, assuming you do have that by-law, and it sounds like you do, the tenants should be told to seek permission, and if permission is given they should be required to keep the cat under control, i.e. off the common property.  As they are tenants they should also get the permission of the owner.  Of course you could decide to refuse permission, but it would have to be on reasonable grounds, and that can be tricky.

        I don’t think cats should be allowed to roam around, they can cause real havoc.

        #16876

        deliria1 & scotlandx

         

        Thank you both very much for your comments.  I really appreciate it & will use the information contained in both.  It’s so nice having some support in these matters.

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