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Topic
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What can the strata body do to take action against owners and tenants who park in visitors car spaces.
Thanks
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We have previously had a big problem with owners/residents using the visitors car parks. We kept a record of dates that this occurred for each car (Flat Chat has advised taking photos as well). We issued a notice to all residents that the visitors car parking was just for that, visitors, and that residents could not use it for parking without written permission. Then we sent them the NSW Strata By Laws regarding parking in visitors car spaces.
I believe I also read in Flat Chat that if the provision of visitors car spaces was a condition of the development approval from council, then these spaces cannot be used for anything other than visitors, even if the EC and OC want to, as this would contravene the development approval?!
We also found effective the leaving of notes under the doors of the offenders stating that “we have noticed that car XXX-XXX has been sighted parking in the visitors car spots without permission on XX/XX/XX…” and list all the dates. Any resident who has received this note has quickly removed his/her car and it hasn't returned (except for the resident who has 4 cars and thinks that we will not notice when the other one is there). We have had to, for a couple of serious offenders, issue a notice to comply. But they quickly stopped then and have been good since.
Our EC is open to any resident who may have a need to use these car spots if they ask. But, despite many using them over the years, there has not been one request to use them. But it has been great since the last notices went out. Can it finally be sinking in?
Designated visitors parking areas generally result from one of two sources:
1. Local council requirements as one of the conditions of the development approval, or
2. A designated area of common property for visitors parking passed by the owners corporation under a section 47 by-law.
The strata scheme by-laws may specify whether the visitors parking area is for visitors and invitees of residents or retail tenants.
The owners corporation can pass and enforce a by-law restricting the use of the designated visitors parking area, define the meaning of visitors and include enforcement provisions to avoid contravention.
For an information sheet on this topic, please email me: simone@teyslawyers.com.au
Kind regards,
Simone Balsara
Lawyer
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TEYS Lawyers
The Strata Law Experts
02 9562 6500
https://www.teyslawyers.com.au
We now having a growing trend with residents who believe the bylaw regarding parking in visitors car spots doesn't count – if they borrow/use someone elses car.
Just witnessed a neighbour who has obviously “minded” a friends car whilst friend was away. Nice guy – but he parked the friends car in the visitors car spot including 4 days over the last weekend when visitors parking is at its peak (it was Mothers Day).
As I read the standard strata bylaws it states that “residents” cannot use the visitors car spots without the written permission of the EC/OC. It doesn't stipulate that residents can't park their own registered vehicle in the car spots but can park any other vehicle there. So if residents park there – whether their own/borrowed/hired car – they are still in breach of by laws? It is still the resident parking there? Despite the car not being a residents, if the visitor isn't actually visiting, is it not common property not being used for its intended purpose?
Hi Struggler
You’re right. The bylaw is about the resident’s conduct (ie – parking a car) and it doesn’t matter who owns the car.
As you can imagine many people drive cars that are not registered to or owned by them – such as partners, parents, friends or employers cars.
Francesco Andreone
1. If like most places that building has adopted the standard bylaws, someone's breaching bylaw 2 on parking of vehicles on common property.
2. First, a motion is put to the secretary or strata manager to issue a Notice to Comply with a Bylaw on the offender.
3. If the motion's resolved at an OC meeting, EC meeting or by the Managing Agent (if delegated that function), a Notice to Comply is served on the offender.
4. If the offender contravenes the Notice to Comply, another motion is put to the owner's corporation.
5. If the motion's resolved, the owner's corporation then files an application with the CTTT requesting a fine be imposed.
6. The Tribunal hears the evidence, then decides on whether to issue a penalty on the respondent, which largely depends on the detail and quality of evidence given by the owner's corporation.
If dealing with rogue parking was that easy, then it wouldn't be a problem. There’s a big difference between knowing the law and correct procedure and managing these problems in an effective and civilised way.
The use and apparent abuse of visitors car spaces is part of the ebb and flow of strata life. Would you ping someone visiting a sick relative for staying a few hours too long? How about an owner who's juggling the departure of an old car after the arrival of a new one? Both of these may be in breach of the by-laws but does it really matter?
The problem arises with regular and persistent rogue parkers who think that fact that they have more cars than they have spaces to accommodate plus the fact that visitors haven't paid to park there, means they have the right to do so.
Then there are the commuters who have “mates” in the building who allow them to park all day while they catch the train to work. You can't fine, warn or tow people who are not subject to the by-laws of the building.
And if members of the executive committee expect some leeway themselves, don’t expect them to be too hot on enforcing the rules.
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.
struggler said:
We have previously had a big problem with owners/residents using the visitors car parks. We kept a record of dates that this occurred for each car (Flat Chat has advised taking photos as well). We issued a notice to all residents that the visitors car parking was just for that, visitors, and that residents could not use it for parking without written permission. Then we sent them the NSW Strata By Laws regarding parking in visitors car spaces.
I believe I also read in Flat Chat that if the provision of visitors car spaces was a condition of the development approval from council, then these spaces cannot be used for anything other than visitors, even if the EC and OC want to, as this would contravene the development approval?!
We also found effective the leaving of notes under the doors of the offenders stating that “we have noticed that car XXX-XXX has been sighted parking in the visitors car spots without permission on XX/XX/XX…” and list all the dates. Any resident who has received this note has quickly removed his/her car and it hasn’t returned (except for the resident who has 4 cars and thinks that we will not notice when the other one is there). We have had to, for a couple of serious offenders, issue a notice to comply. But they quickly stopped then and have been good since.
Our EC is open to any resident who may have a need to use these car spots if they ask. But, despite many using them over the years, there has not been one request to use them. But it has been great since the last notices went out. Can it finally be sinking in?
*******
Thanks for the advice….our strata manager advised us that unless we know the specific details of the offenders ( and not just car rego numbers) it would be impossible to issue notices to comply.
How do we get around this problem ? i.e. we don't know the names or unit number of the people who park in the visitors space ( there are 65 units in the building !).
We have tried the notice on windscreens but there are some that still keep doing it.
Alas, we still also have a few regulars who still try parking in the visitors car park. And I would like to point out that we have more than ample street parking. You could park a semi up there. Infact we did have a resident who drove a truck and had no problem. And when we had the driveway upgraded, all cars had to be parked on the street and there was more than enough space for all! And yet, there are those who believe they should be able to use these spaces if they want.
Living in a large complex such as yours would be difficult to find the owners of the cars. Perhaps your EC could ask that all residents submit the regos of their cars for access/security purposes? Or a name and shame board? Where you could put up a photo of the car in question saying this person keeps parking in the visitors spot?
Our Strata Manager has previously advised us that even visitors have a time limit in the visitors car parks – 24 hours.
Thanks Struggler…..we are planning to name and shame cars with large notices on the windscreens ( as soon as the rains stop !)…we thought about the “asking for rego numbers option”…the issue is that owners will give us only the numbers of the cars that they park in the proper parking spot…..and not the one they park in the visitors spot !! Is there a legal way to get the details of the owners of these cars ?
Pass a by-law that allows an annual “audit” of owners’ cars and therefore allowed to park in the car park. Or a by-law allowing you to issue parking permits. In both cases, the by-law should allow the OC to clamp cars parked illegally by owners and charge an administration fee for the clamping and the removal of the clamp. Don’t know how legal this is but it will put a good scare into them.
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.
Tell owners that only residents cars whose details have been given to the OC will be allowed to park anywhere on the premises. Then arrange visitors parking passes issued to each unit that must be displayed on the visiting cars dashboard. So any car that is parked anyhwhere in the complex that has not given their rego number to the OC must display a visitors pass with the unit number they are visiting on it.
And advise residents that a visitors car has a limited time to park there ie no long term visitors parking for months. Some residents may borrow someone elses car and put the visitors tag on it and think they are pretty clever. But if they only have, say 24 hours before having to move on then they won't be so clever.
And as far as naming and shaming on the windscreen of the offending cars, I would put a notice on the notice board/s in the complex so that everyone sees it!
Tell all the residents that you are going to do the above, with bylaws to clamp and tow at their cost.
Thanks Jimmy and Struggler….think that the two options suggested are definitely worth a try…will discuss at the OC and keep you posted on how things go
As we are about to send out even more “reminder” notices about residents not parking in the visitors car spots, was wondering whether it is worth writing to the owner of one unit whose tenant is a serial offender. In May 2011, the Flat Chat column “Party over for crash pad owners” where it said that the owners of an apartment where found responsible for noise created by their tenants, could we advise the owners that their tenant does not comply with by laws and to instruct them to do such or we may find the owner responsible for their tenants behaviour?
This however does not help with the resident owner who is fast becoming the biggest abuser of parking in the visitors spots, despite ample street parking and a garage of their own. However, they have not received numerous reminder notices – yet.
There are no visitors car spots for anyone having visitors this weekend. Residents have already snaffled them. Too bad for those having friends and family over! The parking area has been badly damaged now due to the constant stream of residents (it is, by order of the council, a grassed area – or should I say was grassed). So should we also politely tell them that it is against our strata by laws to damage common property and their constant parking has caused damage? With the cars there,especially on weekends, the OC can't even do any maintenance on this lawn area to maintain it. Can we find them liable (or at least insinuate that we may find them liable) to pay for the grass to be reinstalled? The grassed area is also where owners can wash their cars legally. So they are not only breaking a by law regarding parking on common property but also regarding blocking the use of common property for its intended use (we have previously quoted this by law when residents “stole” garbage bins for their personal use)
Struggler, As one “Strata Guru” to another, let me say that in the 6 years that I’ve been Secretary & Treasuer of our 27 Lot self-managed Plan where 16 Lots are tenanted, and 4 Lots are holiday rentals, I’ve found that the problem of visitor parking is one only two Strata–related problems that I just can’t solve.
We registered a Special-By Law in 2006 that gives the Owners Corporation (O/C) the ability to issue a “Parking Fee not exceeding $500 per day or part thereof” to any person whose vehicle is parked in a space not allocated to their Lot, or in a designated visitors’ space, or on the Common Property.
That Special By-Law transfers responsibility for the payment of that Fee from the person who parked the vehicle, to the resident of the Lot where that person was living or visiting, and finally to the Proprietor of that Lot.
I’ve just checked or records, and over the past five years the O/C has issued 137 “Warning Letters” and invoiced 16 $55 Parking Fees; 7 to visitors, 4 to residents (all tenants), and 5 to Absentee Proprietors (Landlords). Of those, only 9 have ever been paid, and none of those by Absentee Proprietors.
In fact, one Absentee Proprietor included the O/C’s Parking Feed in his Civil Claim against a previous tenant, and after almost three months the Local Court awarded just 53% of that Proprietor’s total claim, and granted the offender time to pay; lots of time!
So I guess that sometime in the far distant future, that Proprietor will pay 53% of the O/C’s Parking Fee that was originally invoiced to his previous tenant in February 2011.
By the way, that other problem that I thus far can’t solve is convincing some rent-hungry Absentee Proprietors to terminate the Rental Agreements of their continually miss-behaving tenants before those Agreements enter their variable term, because once that variable term commences, Property Managers will do nothing (usually for the same $ related reasons), and as an O/C is not a “person” in the eyes of the Tenancy Division of the CTTT, we’re off to the General Division armed with Warning Letters and Notices to Comply – where Orders are few and Penalties are fewer!!
Hi guys,
Having first hand knowledge if the 'crash pad' case and the result, it is not as easy with regard to the issue of burdening owners for their tenants actions around parking on common property, however, you may want to have a look at including the lot owners in any particular by-law enforcement action with an action on the owner under s117 of the strata act.Maybe one of the strata lawyers may be able to advise on this course of action?
Mr S
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