All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Time for more discrimination?
When I first started writing about strata I came across a story about a residential village plan in the USA which was open to anyone … except lawyers. The developer reckoned that most people just get on with their lives and sort out their problems when they have them. But some lawyers’ knee-jerk response to [...]
Give and take on direct debits
QUESTION: I received a letter from my letting agent telling me I must give them permission to Direct Debit my account to pay the rent. I do not use Direct Debit with any bill because I disagree with the process, basically permitting them to stick their hand in to get their funds at their discretion. I much [...]
Tenant dogged by the power of one
A couple of weeks ago we brought you the tale of the tenant who had it written into her lease that she could have her dog in her home, only to have the permission withdrawn when a lawyer neighbour complained. This building’s by-laws include the standard one that says pets can only be brought in [...]
Heavy levies Vs the loan arrangers
Stories of unit blocks having no money in the bank when they need repairs are legion. There has long been a culture in strata of leaving repairs to “the next guy.” So it’s unusual to come across a building that has a stack of money in its sinking fund but won’t spend it and, in [...]
Confusion reigns in scramble parking
Should parking be less of a scramble for owners than tenants? A Flat Chat reader has written to us about his unit block where he parks his car in an area designated for residents but where the spaces have not been allocated to specific units. It’s ‘scramble’ parking and residents get the spaces on a [...]
Grouse over spouses on EC
‘Can a husband and wife both be on the executive committee,’ writes Kenuppa on the Forum. The simple answer is yes in NSW, but no in Victoria and Queensland. However, as with all things in StrataLand, it’s never as straightforward as that. Firstly, in all states, an owner can nominate him or herself for election [...]
Short term pain, long term gain
Our recent story about how the Building Appeals Board in Victoria had decreed that short-term rentals in residential apartment blocks are in contravention of the building codes and are therefore illegal illustrates the huge gulf in attitudes to apartment living between the southern states and Queensland. Earlier this year, the opposite decision was made in [...]
By-laws not optional for tenants
Do tenants in NSW really have to obey by-laws, wonders Flat Chat website regular KiwiPaul. “In NSW the tenancy agreement only states that tenants have to be given a copy of the bylaws,” he says. “There is nothing to indicate that they have to comply with them, which seems to me a fatal flaw.” He [...]
Split bills too hard to swallow
“Let’s just divvy it up,” is the civilised way for friends to pay for a meal. But it doesn’t work so well when it comes to covering the running costs of an apartment block. A Sydney owner has been told that in her self-managed 12-unit block everyone agrees to simply split the bills equally by [...]
Two routes for disputes
If you want to read an editorial piece explaining the ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ ways to pursue complaints and by-law breaches and resolve disputes in strata in NSW. That piece now resides HERE. Having suggested it might help if there was an integrated and simple step-by-step guide to the process on either the Fair Trading or CTTT [...]
