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Hi,
new member here with a question for the forum:
we are the only owner/occupiers in a six-unit strata building in Sydney. we’ve recently had new tenants move in to the unit next door.
loud parties and general abusive behaviour aside (they’re real charmers…), the major problem we have is that they have one visitor who persistently parks in either a registered car space for one of the other tenants, or on common property in such a way that the garages are blocked.
We’ve asked him to his face, twice, to remove his car and explained that there is no visitor parking – there’s even a large sign at the entrance of the property that clearly states the same.
His response has been a none-too-friendly ‘f#%k you’.
The question is this: Since we’ve asked the tenants to tell their friend not to park there, and they’ve ignored that request, are they technically in breach of the strata by-laws regarding parking and visitors?
If so, can we get the EC to issue them with a notice to comply.
Also: are the tenants responsible for the behaviour of visitors to the property? If so, can we ask the EC to issue some sort of warning about them being in breach of their lease by allowing loud / abusive / carpark-stealing visitors onto the property?
We’re at our wits’ end. these new people have only been living here for four weeks, and they’ve already managed to turn the entire unit block against them. We’ve had to call the police twice (once over the noise, once over the threats that the visitors made against me, in the presence of the tenants who did nothing to stop him, even when asked).
I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ in the unit block – but I don’t feel like I’ve got a choice any more.
Any and all advice appreciated.
gregor
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Replies
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Tenants are responsible for the behaviour of their visitors so get that Notice To Comply in the post as soon as possible.
The standard tenancy agreement states that they have to abide by the by-laws so you can tell them the next letter will be to their landlord demanding they be evicted because, by being in breach of the by-laws, they are also in breach of their rental contract.
Also, think about taking a Noise Abatement order against them at the district court – it's a criminal offence to ignore one of those. Collect as much evidence, including notarised depositions from neighbours, photographs and recordings of noise as you can.
And finally, point out to the landlord/agent that a recent court decision means landlords are responsible for the behaviour of their tenants if they receive legitimate complaints and do nothing about them.
The threat of fines and/or eviction may persuade the tenants to either behave or move on.
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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