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A 2 bedroom unit in our strata plan is for sale. The current owners are selling because the Executive Committee & the Owners Corporation would NOT allow them to: convert their garage to a bedroom, store personal items on common property, park in front of other garages & keep a dog.
We have been told by the current tenant that the real estate agent is telling prospetive buyers that the property is pet friendly & the back yard is virtually their own as nobody really uses it & that they should be able to convert the garage into a bedroom, thus making it a 3 bedroom unit & that the other garages are only used for storage (thus implying they can park in the driveway).
We have written to our Strata Manager to place a note on the strata plan files that we do not support these things but we rely on the prospective buyer actually doing a strata search & finding this recent letter.
One of our EC members told us he would speak to the Real Estate Agent about this, as he is mate of his, but we heard the agent saying all of this recently.
Do you think we should write to the Real Estate Agent or just take the view that is the responsibility of the new owner to check these things out before purchasing? We have had many difficulties over these issues with the current owner & do not look forward to going through all that again with somone new whom were misled or are ignorant about how strata works.
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Yes, write to the Agent and tell them that you believe they are either deliberately or accidentally misleading the prospective buyers, contrary to Rule 3 of their Rules of Conduct here:
3. Honesty, fairness and professionalism
An agent must act honestly, fairly and professionally with all parties in a transaction.
An agent must not mislead or deceive any parties in negotiations or a transaction.
If that doesn’t work, go HERE to lodge a complaint with Fair Trading.
But to be on the safe side I would make sure your issues were properly minuted at an Executive Committee meeting ASAP.
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.
Can I just suggest the you take the softly softly approach to this matter. After all, you are not hearing this directly from the horsing mouth. Unless you perronally have heard the agent say this then don’t accuse then. Instead why don’t you contact them and say that you want to ensure that the by laws etc are made clear in regards to pets and renovations because you have had “misunderstandings” regarding these matters in the past. So you are not actually accusing anyone, just simply ensuring they are aware and pass this on to prospective buyers.
We have one owner here who still, 6 years after moving in, claims that the agent told him that the visitors parking next to his place as actually for him, on his title. Having had some dealings with this person it is apparent that he only hears what he wants to hear. Therefore I believe that the agent said ” and you have visitors parking next door” and this person has heard ” and you have parking next door”..
Yes, I should have cautioned about finding out what’s actually being said first – but a little subterfuge like getting a “prospective buyer’ to call the real estate agent and ask a few pertinent questions might be the answer.
Placing the “clarification” on EC meeting minutes would establish the facts for all to see from day one.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.
I agree it would be good to make sure the agent is telling people the correct information and reduce the chances of future arguments. When units change hands is a good time to have unapproved eye-sores removed, be clear about what is whose and so on. However, ultimately, the strata plan is what shows common property and the unit area. If a new owner was told the wrong thing it is they who have an argument with the agent or the lawyer who did the conveyancing.
I wonder what the reaction might be to a notice beside the building entrance at ‘open for inspection’ time advising prospective purchasers/renters to verify the OC’s position on any representations regarding such things as tolerance of parking in visitors’ areas; the acceptance by ‘Strata’ (and the household downstairs) of the recently-installed wooden floor discovered by the Executive only when the planks were delivered; the marginally ventilated basement store-room with one power point that has miraculously morphed into a studio/home office (“see the monitor on the table in the corner and the rug that we have put on the bare concrete floor”); and pet friendliness (one dog allowed after scrutiny of its immaculate credentials).
One can be torn between, on the one hand, not wanting an arrogant owner to benefit from treating the general body of occupants with contempt and, on the other hand, putting any obstacle in the path of their prompt departure on acceptable terms!
It is important to ensure that any correspondence is on file where it will be seen if a prospective purchaser’s solicitor reviews the files with due diligence. Unfortunately renters in the present Sydney market are unlikely to be fussy enough to do that.
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