Problem tenants

OK, the first thing to remember is that tenants are subject to exactly the same laws and by-laws as any other resident, including owners. So get a copy of your by-laws and have a look at which ones you think they are breaching. Then go to an Executive Committee meeting and ask them to issue a Notice To Comply. You can download a Notice To Comply for here: https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/About_us/Forms/Notice_to_comply.pdf.

The secretary of the Executive Committee can then sent the NTC or ask your strata manager to do so if they are worried about confrontations with the tenants. NB: You can only send one NTC per by-law breach and you have to specify the by-law that’s been broken. On the other hand, if they have broken several by-laws, they can get several NTCs and, potentially, several fines.

The NTC is effectively a final warning (although there doesn’t have to be any previous warning). If the tenants continue to breach the by-laws you take them to CTTT where the fine(s) can be imposed. Usually the threat of fines is enough to make most rogue tenants either behave or move out.

In a situation like yours, where the tenants have already ignored verbal requests to modify their behaviour, I would go straight to the NTC option. It’s not a fine, remember, it’s just a final warning but they ignore it at their peril.

Meanwhile, if they show no signs of changing their behaviour, gather as much evidence as you can including properly notarised statutory declarations and photographs (even recordings of the cat’s cries) so that when you take them to the CTTT the complaint will stick, the fines will be imposed and the threat of further fines will be hanging over them.

Hope this helps … if anyone has any other thoughts, please hop in and tell us what you think.

Whale
There’s a lot of sense in what you say but plenty of ECs find that many Rental Agents and landlords would much rather make this your problem than theirs. You can waste a lot of time chasing agents and landlords to do something when there is no upside for them (especially if the rogue tenant pays their rent on time and doesn’t damage their property).
Perhaps the best approach is to do both, cover all your bases and leave these reprobates under no illusion that their behaviour is unacceptable and has consequences.
But Whale does have a point – the CTTT can be a lottery, especially if you get some duffer that thinks the Owners Corporation is a big company and the tenant is always the victim.

Very interesting.

I am in similar situation where neighbours are unreasonably noisy.

Our strata manager/owners's committe have refused to sent the notice to comply.

The reason they gave me: people make noise,it can't be measured and nobody else has complained.

The units are positioned in such a way that it affects only me. They want  me to deal with it on my own. So, is it their obligation to address these matter?

I have searched the net a lot and it looks like it IS their duty.

There are definetely laws that suppose to protect everybody from any sort of annoying improper behaviour.

It sounds something like that:The owner or occupier of a lot must not create noise that is likely to interfere with peacefull enjoyment of the property at any time ,must not be a nuisance etc.

However,how strong are these laws enforced?

I have heard some cases when tenants did not pay the rent and magistrate still did not order them out. Apparently it is not strongly supported by law to terminate the agreement.But I really don't know.

I personally would like to avoid negotiations by Fair trading or CTTT since I don't know the negotiator's skills and ability.

Trying to impose on others to change their natural behavior would

be difficult IMHO.

Getting the advice from the lawyer-I would love to do that but there is no garantee that this lawyer have reasonable knowledge of the issue.Personaly I had absolutely wrong and illegal advice from the lawyer I used to buy unit.

Do owners have to give any reason asking tenants to move out?

Regards,

Joe

Noise is always going to be a problem in some what in high/medium density living.  You can't help hearing something when someone is on the other side of the wall.  But it is hard for the EC to step in when they haven't witnessed or heard it themselves.  What is annoying noise for one may not be that annoying for others.

I worked with someone who complained if his neighbour had a few friends over in the afternoon for a drink.  I have kids next door to me and they do make noise now and again.  But my neighbours do not play music late at night or make a habit out of making noise.  It is just the occasional noises of life that I hear.  And while that is fine by me, it may not be fine for someone else.

If these tenants are making noise regularly, could you ask the committee if you can contact them when they are noisy so they can hear for themselves?  Perhaps ring a couple of them to come in?  Could you record the noise? 

Another way, that this complex has found very effective in the past, is to ask the EC to write to all residents with something like “It is necessary to remindi all residents that making enough noise to disturb neighbours is a breach of strata by laws”.  Could also mention fines may be imposed.  I have been told that breaching strata by laws is a reason to cancel a lease.  In these tough rental times, anyone renting and reading that may keep themselves in check.  We send notices like that out on a regular basis, to all residents, when one or two start to take liberties in the complex.  We find that reminding all residents not only works on the offenders, but reminds the others not to start.

The simplest way is to check what by-laws you already have and then ask your EC to issue a Notice To Comply.  There should be a by-law on your books that says your neightbour can't interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of another's property.

If you don't have that by-law, think about applying to your district court for a Noise Abatement order but obviously you need to talk to a lawyer first.

I think it's pretty clear from the answers above that there is no obligation under law for the Owners Corporation to do anything in this regard – that's why you have the option of going to Fair Trading. There's nothing I recall in the Strata Act that says the EC has to pursue complaints by an individual owner.  Call Fair Trading or consider getting a Noise Abatement order from your District Court (which means you really should talk to a lawyer).

There is another alternative which is to get a Noise Abatement Order from your District Court – you may need more and a higher standard of evidence but if that is ignored the culprits are committing a crime.