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hi everyone! We are looking for some advice. We have just moved into a strata complex of seven lots of villas. We were very surprised to find the strata completely and wholly managed by an 80 years old female resident. She literally runs the place and bullies all the tenants, most having lived hereat least 12 years. My neighbour has lived here since 1976! Our lot (villa) does not face the street and is located up a long driveway. We casually mentioned to the lady that we are looking to replace our rusty 30 year old venetians with shutters ( as we had done this to our previous unit with no fuss – in fact our neighbours thought they looked so good they followed suit!). She went into a tirade and stated everyone must have venetians. She basically says no to everything! You get the kind of person I am talking about. When I pointed put that the elderly lady two doors up has roman blinds and curtains that look like they have been there for at least 15 years, she did not appear happy at my point. Since that day she has been harassing our lovely elderly neighbour about getting venetians “like everyone else”. I am pretty certain there is no by law or such stating everyone must have the same. In fact the lady even said so much herself when under her breath she stated, “well, it’s internal so I can’t do anything about it”. But I fear she will harass us if we do proceed with the shutters. What are our rights?
any advice is appreciated.
Ps. We are hoping to get enough support to get a strata management company in to manage this place properly… But that’s another topic!!!
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If they are within the property no problem (curtains and blinds are) the only issue MIGHT be if it affects the appearance of the lot from the common property. But as you say others have different window covering you should be ok.
@kiwipaul said:
If they are within the property no problem (curtains and blinds are) the only issue MIGHT be if it affects the appearance of the lot from the common property. But as you say others have different window covering you should be ok.Not really the case, generally speaking.
If there were a by-law, it could stipulate the outward appearance of the units from anywhere, common property or not.
My building stipulates white blinds or curtains (without specifying a style). One owner who had spent a fortune on very trendy (and very large) black roller blinds was told not to even bother putting them up as he would be ordered to take them down immediately.
But I’m guessing there is no specific by-law about blinds or whatever. However, Elabushka would do well to go through the by-laws that do exist (in minute detail) to discover what can and can’t be done and find and potential traps that this particular strata fascist may be able to set.
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.
Thanks Jimmy T and other readers for replying! It definitely gives us food for thought. We think the White shutters are fairly inoffensive. We might try to access all the by-laws to see what we are in for.
babushka. Most by laws stipulate white or neutral coloured curtains,blinds etc. If they are within your lot, i.e behind the glass, then my opinion is that you can install white shutters safely. Best to really read those by laws carefully before you proceed.Good luck.
Certainly read your By-Laws. Potentially useful no matter what.
If your By-Laws specify only a colour for the outward facing surface of a window treatment then you could go ahead with your blinds confident in the knowledge that you are doing the right thing, no matter what your neighbour’s interpretation of the by-laws might be.
If your by-laws are ridiculously specific and narrow you might get involved to have them changed. For example, you should not be obliged to get (say) a particular style of white venetian blinds that might not even be available any more because the by-law was written before you could get (say) white cellular blinds that would provide both insulation and privacy.
I do think consistent appearance can matter in some designs but what matters and what does not is very particular to the specific development/building.
In the ACT “an amendment to the rules of an owners corporation (ACT-speak for By-Laws) has no effect to the extent that it results in the rules … prohibiting or restricting the installation, operation or maintenance of sustainability or utility infrastructure.”
I mention that last point so that people interested to lobby for improved strata legislation elsewhere will know what is possible.
So, in the ACT, a rule specifying a consistent colour (say white) for window treatments would be OK and might be important for the aesthetics of the property, but a rule that prevented a unit owner from installing heavy, close-fitting curtains or cellular blinds that would provide better insulation would not be OK.
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