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Topic
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Is there any limit to how long Estate agents’ “For Sale” signs can be attached to common property of a strata block?
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Replies
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Hi DentOn,
I would suggest first checking your by-laws to see if they need to have applied for permission from the Owners Corporation (OC) – and if so, did they?
If permission was provided, were any conditions set and are these being adhered to?
If permission was not applied for/granted you may have grounds for requesting removal of the signage. However, before requesting removal of the signage, I would suggest the OC considers how they would deal with any forthcoming requests so they are prepared.
Alternatively, consider where the signage is located &/or its condition; does the location pose a ‘safety hazard‘ or its condition means it is ‘not in keeping with the appearance of the building‘.
We have, on a number of occasions, successfully denied / requested agents remove their signage due to safety issues or aesthetics.
Finally, you could look to your local council. Some councils place limits on location, duration, size and even the number of for sale signs – sometimes these are based on the size of your complex.
I hope this helps 🙂
A great response by SnOwl ….. although as real estate signage is typically “attached” (the term used by dentOn in post #1) or erected on the common property, both practices in NSW are actually in breach of the Strata Schemes Management Act and so By-Law or not, they’re illegal unless approved by the Owners Corporation (O/C) in each case or more broadly under a Signage Policy as our Plan has developed and circulated among local Agents.
There are some items to consider with any such Policy though:
- that Owners have a reasonable expectation that the O/C will permit their chosen Agent to erect sale signage and so total prohibition would be ill-advised and consequently a few suitable locations on the common property need to be nominated by the O/C;
- that there needs to be a “trigger” for signs to a be removed by Agents such as within 7 days of sales contracts being exchanged or to avoid confusion, at a time that’s consistent with any policies that the local Council may have (because as SnOwl said – many do);
- that Agents usually employ third parties to erect their signage who may not be aware of the policies of individual Plans and so the Agent needs to be advised of any improper placements, and lastly;
- that the signage belongs to the Agent and so if it’s removed by the O/C that Agent need to be informed, and their signage placed in an accessible location for collection by them within a suitably short timeframe, and if not collected be then disposed of by the O/C.
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