Who should do unit repairs?
QUESTION: I have repairs needed on my townhouse but real estate keep saying strata need to do it and they can’t make them. One is a sliding door that doesn’t shut fully. Rain gets through and is causing constant mould growth even the gap being plugged as best as possible with towels. Another problem is [...]
Remote possibilities have simple solution
QUESTION: I have an air conditioner installed in my investment property. The remote control has gone missing since the property manager took the new tenant through the apartment prior to the tenant moving in. Both claim to have sighted it during that inspection but the tenant claims that it wasn’t there when she moved in. [...]
Dog plan barking up the right tree
Everybody has a different idea of what ‘reasonable’ means but when a by-law says that the Owners Corp can’t unreasonably refuse a request to have a pet, whose definition do you go by? “Is our best option to just write a letter to the owner’s corporation requesting permission to get a pet?’ asks Biologynerd. “Many [...]
Electrical repairs shock landlord
QUESTION: I’m a first-time landlord and have just started letting a small unit. A few weeks after moving in, the tenants reported that a power point and a light don’t work and the fan thingy above the stove is missing a couple of grill thingies. They asked that they be repaired. This property is a [...]
EC has a false sense of security
QUESTION: Does anyone know of any laws that require an apartment block to have a front security door? I am living in a small block of fewer than 15 units and the main entrance to the building does not lock. I am worried about security. I have asked for the matter to be put forward [...]
Timber floor is just dirty pool
Want to know the biggest problem with by-laws? It’s not that they’re too restrictive – it’s that nobody reads them and too few enforce them. If you want proof, look at steady stream of complaints from residents whose selfish sods of neighbours have ignored the rules and laid noisy flooring to enhance the value of [...]
Stone the crows, is no one safe?
QUESTION: The concrete roof of our building is covered in a tar membrane on top of which are river stones – presumably to protect the membrane and reduce the heat transfer. Crows are picking up the stones and attempting to fly away with them. Some stones are falling ten levels onto our apartment balcony which [...]
Agent silent on rent arrears
QUESTION: Our new tenant paid in full in December, two weeks in January and nothing last month. After no response to two emails the managing agent finally advised us she has sent an eviction notice and that the tenant is trying to come up with the funds. I’m frustrated the agent didn’t notify us earlier [...]
Rents go down as lift gives up
QUESTION: Who is responsible for lost rent if tenants move out while the lift is being upgraded for approximately 10 weeks? – TC ANSWER: This is very tricky, because on the one hand the lift repairs would have to be seen as an improvement to the property on the other there is temporary but serious [...]
Apartment smokers can breathe easy
Hurrah! People who live in apartment buildings will soon be forbidden from smoking outside their buildings’ entrances. A sight we see … um … errr … never because, unlike office workers, they can smoke in their flats or on their balconies, right under the noses of their neighbours. The much-trumpeted NSW Tobacco Strategy 2012, which [...]
