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  • #50342
    Gromie
    Flatchatter

      My question comes with a long history.  When I bought my apartment it had a pet friendly by-law (pets allowed subject to notifying the committee), it was one of the reasons I bought into the block.

      The chairperson, who has:

      a) been in the block for 25 years;

      b) always enjoyed a disengaged owners corp;

      c) always had things their own way, and

      d) clearly dislikes pets;

      “refused” my application.  Unfortunately for the chair, they didn’t have the power to do so.  I then joined the committee having caught wind of the chair’s intention to put through a no-pets by law, which was attempted but shut down thanks to my own campaigning.

      Since then the chair has on the surface accepted that the building isn’t anti-pet and has said as much at general meetings.

      I have now put my unit on the market for sale and advertised it as pet friendly, as it’s the perfect garden apartment for animals and has a pet friendly by-law.

      Unfortunately I had my first open house on the weekend and the (spineless) chair put up signs around the building’s lobby saying this building isn’t pet friendly.  Essentially he’s sabotaging my sale.  As a buyer I would be completely put off by a note like this, irrespective of whether I had a pet, as it signals underlying issues with the building’s harmony/management.

      My question is in two parts:

      1. What can I do right now to make this person stop during the sale campaign;

      2. In my opinion this person is unfit to be chair.  My sale price reflects on the value of the rest of the building and by sabotaging me, this person is undermining all unit-holders.  It’s also unhinged conduct, not befitting of the plan’s chief decision maker. Anyone have any tips to ensure he is not re-elected?

      Thanks in advance for your help.

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    • #50372
      Jimmy-T
      Keymaster

        Well, you could seek orders at NCAT to prevent the chair putting the posters on common property, backed up by a request for interim orders.

        Or you could send the chair a note saying that if your unit doesn’t reach the reserve price, based on Real Estate experts’ advice that no-pet apartments get 5-10 per cent less in today’s market, you will sue them for the difference unless they cease and desist.

        By the way, the 5-10 per cent is made up – but I bet you could get your RE agent to say it.

        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.
        #50377
        kaindub
        Flatchatter

          Jimmy is on he right track

          Your bylaws will have some by law about changing the look, or damage to common poroperty or some such bylaw. Be creative with the interpretation.

          Insist that the strata manager issue a breach notice to the chairman.

          This saves having to go to the tribunal and the effec t is more immediate

          Mind you the chairman may object to his own strata manager issuing such a notice is which case you may just have to head to the tribunal but this time under section 232 ( failure of the OC to act)

          #50438
          Gromie
          Flatchatter
          Chat-starter

            Thanks for your suggestions Jimmy and Kaindub.

            I thought long and hard about taking formal action but didn’t with the hope of playing nice and not antagonising further, for want of inviting more volatile behaviour.  I also took comfort in him not showing up to the mid-week open.  That said, he has since had the managing agent send a letter to my sales agent saying that the “pet-friendly” references in the ad are misleading, on the basis that there is an approval process under the by-laws, and references must be removed.

            Again, not to antagonise, we complied, on the basis that if buyers are interested in the plan’s position on animals, we can refer them to the by-laws.

            That being said, I’m pretty annoyed that the managing agent sent the letter purporting to be from the Committee (I’m on the Committee and wasn’t consulted) and that the Chair continues to try and control things that don’t affect him whatsoever.

             

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