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NB: This post has been edited to avoid identifying the specific building
Our strata bldg is on a beach and is in a council area that clearly has an LP that outlaws short term rental. One particular strata parasite (your words but oh so true!) and immediate family own several apartments in this building – they themselves don’t live here. All the units are clearly listed on AirBnB and other short term sites as being available for short term rental (some for as little as one night). Our body corporate and individual owners have tried for the past few years to get council to enforce the LP however they bury their heads in the sand and simply stop responding to emails. What do we do and where do we turn? This particular individual and family can afford to pay any and all fines that may be directed at them and simply continue to do as they please ignoring the almost constant requests from the body corporate to cease the short term rental and stick to the minimum 3 month by-laws, not to mention breaking the council laws on a daily basis. This family bullies the owners, sometimes in a threatening way to the point where there is now a police file and an AVO….but nothing changes and they continue to get away with it – laughing all the way to the bank. Any advice would be welcome. Where do we turn when the council turns their backs and files it in the too hard basket?
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What do your by-laws say about short-term lets?
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.
You may be able to cut off this problem at source. Contact Airbnb and tell them that this family is in breach of their own policy – they have lied to Airbnb by ticking the box that says they have permission to list their flat.
Airbnb told me that they respond very quickly to complaints like that. Email them on response@airbnb.com and tell them you have been advise to do so by Jimmy Thomson at the Sydney Morning Herald.
If that doesn’t work (and I’m checking the email address with them right now), your options, given that you have tried everything else, are to talk to a strata lawyer about getting Supreme Court orders against this family.
The point is, it’s one thing paying NCAT fines. It’s another entirely flouting a court order – that’s a criminal offence and they could be arrested.
Or you could try one more time to hit them with everything you’ve got and let them know exactly what you plan to do.
Firstly, organise an executive committee meeting which should have the following items on the agenda:
1. To hire a specialist strata lawyer to pursue anyone in the building who is illegally letting their flats as holiday rentals.
2. If necessary, arrange for a general meeting to authorise legal action at the Supreme Court.
3. Hire a reputable private investigator (as recommended by the lawyer) to gather the evidence required to pursue the case at the NSW Civil Administration Tribunal, the Supreme Court and at council.
4. Send a letter to all residents telling them that you are planning to do this and to warn those who are breaching these laws and who refuse to stop doing so that they will a) be forced by law to stop doing so and b) charged costs related to proving they are breaking the law.
5. Send Notices To Comply to owners suspected of breaching the by-law relating to short-term lets.
6. Take action at the NSW Civil Administration Tribunal under section 119 for failure to provide details of leases or sub-leases which must, by law, be supplied within 14 days of a tenant taking occupation. Maximum fine $550.
7. Authorise members of the executive committee to talk to print media, television and radio to discuss the problems and the failure of the local council to act on complaints.
8. Get quotes for the installation of security cameras to cover car parking areas where cars have been vandalised and the common property areas, specifically those near units that have been illegally let.
Then make sure this family gets copies of the agenda and the decisions taken at the subsequent meeting. They may well ignore the threat, so be prepared to follow through … otherwise, I’d be looking to sell before they destroy the values of all the properties in your scheme.
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’m curious to hear if you get a reply from AirBNB. If email doesn’t work – their spokesmodels on twitter might be embarrassed into doing something:
We’ve got about a third of our owners letting short-term. Airbnb is just one platform that facilitates this activity. It’s a global problem and legislators need to consider what this activity is doing to the affordable housing market. We are always hearing about the crisis in the housing market. I reckon Legislators need to act…and NOW!
One really great site I’d recommend everyone to scrutinise is http://www.sharebetter.org. This is what New York is doing.
below is a reply I got from Airbnb last November. They successfully shift all responsibility away from themselves.
I’m Joey and I work here at Airbnb. Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns with a listing in your building
Airbnb is an online platform and does not own, operate, manage or control accommodations, nor do we verify private contract terms or arbitrate complaints from third parties.
We do, however, require hosts to represent that they have all rights to list their accommodations.
To that end, we are committed to notifying hosts about complaints such as yours, provided we (i) receive a formal written letter (scanned electronically as an image or .pdf) that (ii) details your specific allegation, and (iii) fully identifies the Airbnb user to whom you believe it applies (please include links).
Although we will not verify, evaluate or arbitrate the terms you identify, we will provide a complete copy of your complaint to the host we will ask them whether they wish to remove their listing.
Again, thank you for contacting us about this.
Joey B
http://www.airbnb.com/helpHi janicesyd
It took 3.5 years of constant – constant! – lobbying to get our Council to act. Can see from the Land & Environment Court’s website that our short-term letting culprit was back in court with Council last Friday…for the fourth time. Watch this space.
If you can bear it, don’t ever give up. Your Council is duty bound to Act…that was the route taken in our case, despite the truly horrific ongoing threats levelled at those opposed to short-term letting.
And remember, should something major happen – caused by those short-term letting – and your Insurer doesn’t pay up, you and every owner has unlimited liability.cyou could lose your home and contents plus life savings, super etc.
You go girl!
Suggestion, Apart from the Legel remedies I would suggest getting the BC to install combination locks, that can have their code changed easily, and issue the code to Only Bona fide tennants, even if one of the holiday makers gets it, it can be simply changed and because you issued it to someone who may have claimed to be a long term tennant or lease holder don’t issue a changed number to the next holiday maker as you had in fact issued it to the ‘tennant’ or ‘leaseholder’. Better still if you see one of the holiday makers move out change it, next holiday make can’t get in!
You need need to put a CCTV camera at the door make sure door is not damaged or wedged open.
With owners who consistently ignore minimum rental terms as they bank the profits from short term rentals would this system be legal?
1) Send a letter to all owners telling them that the minimum rental of ?months is to be strictly enforced following a 30 day period to enable them to cancel forward bookings
2) Advise owners that access fobs will be cancelled for all users with the exception of the owner or tenants with a lease for over the minimum period.
I couldn’t access the Victorian Forum tonight as it is being updated, but this topic covers us all.
In our case, all the owners could do would be to take us to VCAT and complain that we are not allowing them to break the rules!
Touché Janicesyd and Hubbie!
Individuals will get nowhere trying to fight this. This is what I reckon has to happen:
- The NSW/VIC Planning Ministers (read, other States as well) issue subpoenas to obtain all Airbnb’s client records.
- The Aust Tax Office then picks up all those who are dodging the payment of tax. That’ll hurt!!!
- The Planning Ministers work with the State Ministers for Local Government. They in turn work with Local Governments to round up those who are breaking the Development Consents on their buildings.
- They then take a Class Action to the Land & Environment Court and drive a steak through the heart of those using Airbnb to breach their development consents. This will send a very loud and clear signal to all others who are using other platforms to breach Residential Zoning Consents.
Remember this important thing: Airbnb have protected themselves. The onus for complying with all laws rests squarely with those using Airbnb’s internet platform to advertise and sell their properties to Tourists/Visitors.
I’ve worked on this issue for nearly four years. The resistance is massive and viscious. WHY? Because there is so much money involved. And there very much appears to be resistance at Government Level because some very high-profile an powerful people – Politicians included – are neck deep in this practice, which our Council, the City of Sydney, classifies as “ILLEGAL”. It is time that these people were called to account. They have inflicted very real pain and damage on those who have simply questioned the legality their actions.
Also ask yourself the question: “Who owns Stayz and what influence do they have with/over Governments?”
Here’s what is currently happening with Airbnb in Sydney:
https://rentingyourplace.com/ci/AirDnA-Sydney-AU-Airbnb-Data-and-Analytics.html
Think Docklands in Melbourne. Think Barangaroo and Darling Harbour in Sydney…do all these new Strata owners who have paid a mozza to live in their spanking new buildings want to put up with the trash that we live with daily?
Our Legislators fall over themselves fighting to win their positions of power. It’s time they used that power to work for those who’ve elected them.
In November 2013 Brad Hazzard (then NSW Planning Minister) said in Parliament that there was a shortfall of 50,000 residential properties in Sydney alone. Add to this the reports of some 30,000 additional Airbnb properties that have jumped into the mix and see what this is doing to the affordable housing market.
And ask your friends who rent apartments how easy it is to find an affordable, liveable property?
Our Politicians ignore this matter at their/our peril. They must do something about this massive problem.
Write to your Premier and copy every Minister you can think of, plus your State Member and the CEO of your Local Council. And keep writing! Keep writing!
Go. Go. Go!
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