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I’m on the EC of a strata complex in Sydney. We have had major problems over the last few years with one particular tenant parking not only in the visitors parking area, but also just parking her car in the middle of the driveway, infront of garages etc and basically making life difficult for everybody else.
We use a Strata management company and our manager is less than enthusiastic regarding dealing with the issue. We have had enough and issued a “final warning” notice (via the manager) about 2 weeks ago. The behaviour has not stopped and we have now asked the manager to advise the process for taking further action.
His plan basically said we need to call a lawyer, have them quote us, send the quote to a vote (which would need 75%+ to pass) and then the law firm will handle it. I’d always thought that the purpose of the tribunal was to keep it simple for small matters like this.
Does the managers plan of attack sound right? Or is he just chosing the easiest path for him? I’d have thought that it would actually be the manager who would attend tribunal for such matters. Does anyone have any experience with the tribunal in NSW?
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First of all, unless your “final warning” was an official Notice to Comply (CLICK HERE), you haven’t even got started with this.
A Notice To Comply has to be agreed on and minuted as such at an executive committee meeting unless you have delegated EC powers to your strata manager.
There is no need for a “final warning” The Notice to Comply is a warning. Read it carefully, fill it in as appropriate, and if necessary make sure you have minutes of the meeting that show it was discussed and agreed upon.
If the behaviour continues, you then go directly to NCAT (no need for mediation) to ask that a penalty be imposed, using this form.
If the problem persists even after a fine, you might prefer to go for NCAT orders which attract mcuh higher penalties if they are breached. You’ll find a handy guide to the whole process, with links to appropriate forms HERE.
Regarding your strata manager, their reluctance to get involved may be because they don’t know what they’re doing. Or it could be because they won’t be paid extra for the extra work. So check your contract with them and find out what they are expected to do for the money that you pay them and, if necessary, find out how much more they would need to be paid for pursuing this.
Regarding hiring a lawyer, NCAT is set up so that you can do this yourselves and you actually have to seek their permission if you want to be legally represented. Sounds to me like your strata manager doesn’t know what they’re doing and/or doesn’t want to do any more than the bare minimum.
If they aren’t even fulfilling the basics of their contract, it may be time to look closely at the contract to see what it would take to get them out.
One other thing, you posted the same question in two separate sections of the Forum. We’ll let it go this time becasue you’re a newbie but that is a very efficient way of getting yourself banned from the site
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.
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