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I live in a strata plan of 3 blocks each of 48 units. For the last year or so there has been a group of very noisy youths in one unit in my block. Noise = shouting, swearing and talking loudly on their balcony all night, coming home at 4am and being rowdy till 7 or 8am or longer, bottles being smashed on balcony, loud music, etc etc etc. The noise is evidently audible not just to our block but to those neighbouring, and nearby townhouses. I and others have complained in writing several times to our EC, who appear to have taken no steps. They just say the owner of the unit does not care what happens in it. Recently we've been woken twice before 6am by rowdy behaviour. I've rung the police but they do not attend. What can we do to get our EC to take some action?
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I had a similar problem and I complained to everyone: the EC (useless), the strata manager (completely useless), the police, (they only showed up once despite complaining about 5 times) the local council (they wrote a few letters to the tenants but didn't follow up) and eventually the landlord's managing agent (most effective). I told the landlord's managing agent that they had to take steps to stop their rowdy tenants, otherwise I would hold the landlord responsible. I quoted legislation and cases to the landlord's agent. I collected evidence on the noisy tenants (eg photos of them leaving rubbish on the common property and their pet cat which they were not allowed to have, conducting business from residential premises) and presented it to the landlord's agent. 3 months later, the tenants moved out.
You have to attack the problem from every angle possible and collect evidence. Eventually, someone will take action against the tenants.
First of all, the EC can take action directly against the tenants, via Fair Trading and the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal, regardless of the landlord. They will need to hold a meeting at which the issues and decision to send a Notice To Comply is minuted. You can download the official Notice To Comply form HERE.
If, for instance, it's difficult to nail down who the tenant is, the EC can also take action against the owner for failing to manage their tenants properly (and a warning that they might do so may be all it takes as Clive2000 outlined above).
If the EC doesn't want to get involved (and if so, why are they even in the job?), you and your neighbours can go directly to Fair Trading (Tel. 13 32 20) to get this problem sorted. You can download an application form for mediation (mandatory before you can take any further action) HERE.
If mediation fails, you can then apply for an adjudication at the CTTT. You can download the form from HERE.
And you can go to your district court and get a Noise Abatement Order issued against the tenants (and landlord, if need be). You can find out more about Noise Abatement Orders HERE.
But really, a strongly worded letter from the EC to the landlord telling them to either shut their tenants up or kick them out (they are already in breach of their tenancy agreement by being in breach of by-laws), and outlining the options open to the EC to pursue this may be enough to get a result.
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.
If they are on a fixed term lease they only need to give 30 days notice that the lease will not be renewed. If they are on a 'periodic' agreement or what used to be called a continuing agreement, they have to be given 90 days notice to quit.
However, if they have breached the agreement (and a breach of by-laws is a breach of a leasing agreement) they only have to give 14 days notice.
If you are prepared to put up with this for another 3 months, I'd be letting the agents know that if they lease the apartment of another bunch of similar ratbags, you and your neighbours will run the agents, the tenants and the landlords through the CTTT and the courts without a moment's hesitation.
And don't forget your EC's gutlessness when it comes to election time at your AGM.
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.
We have also had problems with noisy neighbours. We had 3 girls move in to our unit block and they bought their 3 boyfriends with them. What we have found over the years is that it is the ones that are not supposed to be living in the units that make the most noise.
The first thing I would say is make sure that the by-laws are created via the strata management. In some cases if the by-laws are not chosen a default one will be selected, particulary when it comes to pets…
Get to know any other owners that live in the block. If you have a complaint to make to your strata management company make sure you e-mail rather than just call, and add the other owners in so they also have a copy. By e-mailing you are keeping a paper trail and can prove that the strata management were aware of the problem. Next I would go to Fair Trading.
If you are really not happy look into swapping your managing agent. This is something we done and have never looked back.
A problem that we have also faced is that the owners who rent their units out never bother to show up to meetings and really don't seem to care what happens so long as they get their rent.
If possible find out what real estate the units are rented through and when there is a problem phone/e-mail them to make them aware of what is happening. The girls we were having problems with left our block after their lease was not renewed.
I would definitely call the police if things are out of hand in regards to noise. They will issue a noise abatement order and if they refuse to quieten down the fines are huge.
You need to take swift action. If the EC does not offer a decisive solution, then follow these clear steps.
1) Conduct a Land Titles search to establish the identity of the owner of the unit. 2) Find out the details of the managing agent 3) Familiarise yourself with the POEO Act under the Office of Environment & Heritage.
Contact the agent (in writing) and inform them that you will recording the level of noise using a 'noise and vibrational analysis' device (available for hire) which records 24hrs a day. The data generated is irrefutable and admissible in a court of law. Mention to him / her that you will be seeking unspecified damages in accordance with the POEO Act.
You'll be surprised how quickly the owner will act.
Sarah said:
The first thing I would say is make sure that the by-laws are created via the strata management. In some cases if the by-laws are not chosen a default one will be selected, particulary when it comes to pets…
I'm not arguing with the sense of anything that Sarah is saying – in fact the rest of her advice is spot on – but at the risk of being picky, Strata Management doesn't “create” by-laws. What you need to do is check the by-laws that are registered for your building.
Also, there are no circumstances under which by-laws can be used by “default” except in the very rare occasion in which no by-laws at all were adopted at the first AGM of a strata plan – then Fair Trading's “model” by-laws would apply (but only the ones that were in effect when the strata plan was created).
Anyone who says, for instance, “we don't have a by-law on pets so we'll use the one in Fair Trading's model by-laws” is doing the wrong thing.
By-laws have no effect unless they have been adopted by the Owners Corporation at a General Meeting – if you don't have a by-law on pets or anything else, you can't just pluck one off the shelf and start using it.
Unless the Strata Manager has been empowered to act on the OC's behalf in these matters, breaches of by-laws have to be discussed and minuted at an Executive Committee meeting before a Notice To Comply can be issued. The NTC has to state which by-law has been breached. Again, that's YOUR building's bylaws … nobody else's (even though the chances are most of your by-laws may be identical to other buildings').
Yes, I know I'm being pedantic but if you start pursuing people with non-existent by-laws, you will end up worse off than you started.
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 live in a unit block of 18 and a block of 4 units next door have very noisy rowdy neighbours who party every weekend until 3am. Similar to the above posts, the police have not been very supportive in silencing them.The owners in that block have not put any pressure on their EC , landlord or strata manager to do anything. Is my EC able to issue the landlord with a notice to comply to control their tenants?
I don't think so. But you could take a noise abatement order out against the neighbours concerned and possibly the Owners Corp too . If they breach that notice, they are committing a crime rather than a breach of by-laws and the police should take that more seriously.
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.
Thanks Jimmy. In a most recent development I have spoken to the owner of the property to advise her of the problem and she will be evicting her tenants due to all of the complaints she has received. So my advice would be to nip these problems in the bud early and keep informing the owner and strata manager as soon as the problem starts. We were too tolerant and put up with it for 18 months. We called the police on every occasion and they rarely silenced the problem which is disappointing for us law abiding neighbours.
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