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My partner and I have carpet in our apartment. We have a toddler who pretty much plays on every inch or it. So my partner and I make it a habit of taking out shoes off outside and picking them up as we walk in. On occasions, like when Im carrying my sleeping son, I leave the shoes outside a a few minutes until I put him down to go grab them. We have a neighbour who is hell bent on reporting this because he does not like it. This neighbour has complained on 3 occasions. The shoes may have been left there for no longer than a few minutes. Mind you we have lived here for 5 years. The building manager has now threatened us with a Notice to comply based on this. Is this acceptable? I thought it was quite harsh given we do not intent to use the space outside our door as a shoe storage space nor do we leave our shoes outside regularly. What should I do?
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A Notice To Comply IS a warning, it is not a fine, although it carries the potential of a fine if you ignore it and the matter is taken to the Tribunal. A warning that you will be issued with an NTC is a warning that you will get a warning.
Also the building manager can’t issue NTCs – only the strata manager or strata committee can do so, and only then after having discussed the issue at a properly constituted meeting.
Also, the NTC has to include a copy of the relevant by-law that you are alleged to have breached.
So my response to the building manager (if it is them and not the strata manager) would be to ask if they are actually empowered to issue an NTC.
If you have confused the building manager with the strata manager, then tell them that you will be interested to see the NTC to establish which by-law they allege you are breaching.
If you do have an NTC issued, you could just ignore it until such times as you are summoned to the Tribunal (in six to nine months) and argue your case.
If the Tribunal Members feels you have breached a by-law, they will probably tell you not to do it again or the next time you will be fined.
Or they might say that for health and cultural reasons, many people leave their shoes outside their homes and a blanket ban is unreasonable. Or that it’s just too trivial a matter to even deal with.
However, as a tenant you are a little more vulnerable as a breach of by-laws may be considered a breach of your rental agreement. I would check that out but I can’t see anyone being evicted for leaving their shoes outside their door.
Finally, there are many requests elsewhere on this site not to post in multiple places on the same topic and with the same text. I have deleted your other post.
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.
In Japan, it is pretty much mandatory to leave your shoes in the front vestibule of the home. My Japanese language teacher said it was quite a shock to come to Australia and see people walk straight into their carpeted homes with shoes on.
Nowadays, I put my shoes away as I enter my home. I put on a pair of house slippers. It keeps the floor clean.
This reminds me of the hanging laundry outside your home argument. I worry there is racism behind this “by-law breach”.
Jimmy: Just to be pedantic, the SSMA S146 says that the owners corporation can pass a resolution to issue the NTC. The strata committee can also pass a resolution. The strata manager can be delegated by the owners corp to issue a NTC.
Shoes left outside the door is a topic raised before on the Flat Chat forum and the general consensus is that residents (myself included) don’t like it because it makes the foyer look untidy. Even if you are carrying your son, surely you can kick the shoes inside the door and come back for them later.
Plus, they can be an O,H & S issue if someone else in the apartment block trips over them. Just take your shoes inside. If they are too untidy for your apartment, then they are too untidy for common property where everyone else has to look at them.
Some people are so worried about what a block of flats looks like, they forget that people actually live there. I don’t think a pile of shoes outside a door is attractive, but is it the end of the earth? And if it is (and it may well be if we’re talking about two pairs for each member of a family of four) then require them to be placed in a neat box or on a shoe rack, or require them to be kept inside the front door of the apartment or carried through to their balcony for outdoor storage.
Removing shoes at the door is a cultural practice and wearing “outdoor shoes” inside the front door is highly offensive in some cultures. In Australia, we don’t think much about whether the soles of our shoes have been exposed to dog pee or other gross substances on the grass outside. But in some cultures, dog pee on shoes would be considered absolutely disgusting. So it’s important to be sensitive when addressing this issue.
This seems like over-reach on a trivial issue. So what if some shoes are left for a few minutes at the door of a flat, especially by someone carrying a child.
If you consider your own shoes too dirty to enter your own home, how can it be acceptable to inflict their dirt upon your neighbours???
What next? the bag of rubbish you are going to take to the bin when you get a minute??
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