Pet Approval

@micksik said:
This was there response via email: “No owners have been given permission, we can’t approve a breach of the by law.   If there are complaints of animals in breach of the by law then they are acted on.”

We’re not sure what to do now either. Give up our dog or not move in?   

What does the by-law actually say?  If it is the standard “May not have a pet without permission …” then you still have a lot of leeway.  If it says “may not have pets” period, then you have a problem.

Regarding the article you quoted, it’s very informative about the law but short of specific advice.

Just bear in mind that when the new strata laws come into effect in November, strata committees have to put their reasons for refusing pets in writing.  And, increasingly, just saying “we haven’t allowed this pet because we have never allowed pets” is not considered “reasonable”.

I would move in with the pet  (since you are halfway there already) and by the time it gets to a tribunal you should have gathered enough evidence to prove that the pooch is not a problem.  However, if it behaves badly and annoys your neighbours (and not just by its presence), then it – or you – will have to go.

Committees that go to tribunal working on an unproven assumption that every dog will behave badly are (ahem) barking up the wrong tree.

My understanding is that pre-1996 schemes come under the standard model by-laws EXCEPT where a special by-law has been created, which would seem to be the case in your scheme.

Your best bet is to canvass all the other owners to have your by-laws updated (something the government wants us all to do anyway) and to include the pet by-laws that allow pets with permission that must not be reasonably refused.

This is not up to the Executive Committee (although they can make it harder to do).  You need to get enough signatures to call an Extraordinary General meeting (25 percent of owners) and then persuade 75 percent of the owners voting at the general meeting to adopt the new by-law.

Bear in mind that the EC members will have zero interest in doing anything that may mean more work for them with no obvious benefit.

You could start your campaign by putting a motion to the EC with accompanying material about the benefits of pets and the fact that apartments that ban pets can suffer a 10-15 percent reduction in value.  There is a stack of material around that shows the social, financial and personal health benefits of pet ownership.

No one that I know has been evicted for pet ownership but they have been driven out. The way it works is that you get a Notice to Comply, but you don’t. The EC goes to the tribunal and asks for a fine, (probably about $200).  You pay it. They go through the process again, but this time they ask for orders and that’s when you have some hard decisions to make.  The fines for ignoring NCAT orders can be hefty and they get higher every time you ignore them.

Needless to say, this can get expensive and stressful (for both sides) but it does buy you some time for the new laws to come in and, for instance, for proxy farming to be eradicated, improving your chances of getting a majority on your side.

However, a much better tactic for all concerned is to go to the EC and ask if they will allow you to organise an EGM at your expense (assuming your AGM isn’t any time soon), so that owners can discuss the appropriateness of this 1995 by-law and whether or not they want to change it.

If the EC refuses, start your own campaign by appealing directly to other owners and you can demand an EGM by getting the sgnatures of 25 percent of owners. 

It’s worth noting that I got into this whole strata thing because we were told that our off-the-plan apartment would be pet-friendly but the autocratic chairman and his committee of cronies decided to ban pets.  

What that did was to unite pet owners who might never have spoken to each other and not only did we get our pets in, they pet owners took over running the building and uncovered all sorts of dodgy deals as well as out-and-out corruption.

So talk to the committee about raising the issue, don’t allow yourself to be fobbed off, campaign constructively and positively, be ready for some serious resistance and be prepared to look for somewhere else to live if the majority of people in the block still don’t want pets.

I went down this road a few years ago, our by-laws state that pets can’t be unreasonably refused. However the EC refused on the grounds that they have never allowed pets before and weren’t about to start a precedent

before going to tribunal we had to go to mediation, however as the SM represented the EC at mediation it was just a waste of time as he was just there to reinforce the wishes of the EC (even though he guided the EC on the pet refusal).

We got a lawyer (who specialises in Strata & pets). The main thing we learnt was to get submissions (i.e. supporting letters) from as many owners and tenants (i.e. the people living there) as this made a massive difference, you need to show you pet is suitable for apartment living (remember that dogs bark and this itself isn’t an issue, excessive barking is though).

In our case we found out that the neighbour below us (new parents) was on the EC and had a previous issue with a dog where they lived before and this had turned them into ‘pet haters’ and were spreading lies about how noisy we were to the EC. Luckily for us we knew all our neighbours and got along well with them and they were happy to provide letters saying they didn’t have a problem with us.

We won our case as the tribunal found the EC unreasonably refused and the majority of owners/tenants didn’t have an issue us having a pet. The whole process took just under (a very stressful) 12 months…

Hi everybody. I am new to this forum and I recently read an article from Michael Pobi from Pobi lawyers about what to do when you wish to keep a pet as an owner of a strata scheme. This is the article I am referring to https://www.pobilawyers.com.au/owners-corporations-unreasonable-witholding-consent-pet/.
We would like to find out a bit more information if possible.

My partners parents own an appartment in a well thought after highrise in north sydney in which me and my partner live and our by laws say no pets allowed.

We spoke with our current strata manager and he advised that this is a strict policy and that we should not even bother to apply for a small dog as he believes the owners corporation will decline our application right away given the by law that is in place.

We would like to challenge this by law given the recent proposed changes for keeping pets in new strata schemes in nsw. We feel that it is highly unfair and unreasonable that we are being refused to have a small dog in our own appartment just because we bought 15 years ago.

I have been suffering from an adjustment disorder for a while now (as I am originally from Germany) and me and my partner both feel that having a small dog to keep me company while he is away at work (we work opposite schedules and rarely get time together which makes me very lonely and sad) will improve my mental health significantly.

We spoke with a friend who is in real estate and she encouraged us to apply and take this matter to tribunal if we have to even though it says no pets allowed. She said that tribunal would be very likely to rule in our favour.

We understand that we could try our best to change the by law to the more moderate option that every pet needs to be approved by the owners corporation first and that they cannot unreasonably withold the approval. But for this we need more than 75% yes votes to change it. Our strata manager has already pointed out that this won’t happen as he knows how conservative the owners here are.

Now I also read that after november 30 when the new bylaws take action old strata schemes have to review their bylaws. Is this correct?

We will take this matter to tribunal if we have to but wondering if we stand a good chance? Lawyers are expensive and i rather not pay 500 for someone to tell me we dont have grounds. We heard about a ruling in Queensland but the strata manager already said they don’t care about what happens in other states.

We do not understand why the reform would only recommend this new rule and not make strata schemes enforce it for new and retrospective created strata schemes. All in all this reform seems useless then as all strata schemes could still say they won’t adopt it.

I apologise for the lenghty post and the questions but it seems that there is a lot of fighting ahead of us and we would like to know if it is worth us picking this fight with our owners and if we even stand a chance.

The dog would likely be a small pug who is not a noisy dog or bark loudly and can be carried over common property. The dog would not even have to be carried through the entrance reception area of the building just in the elevator and down to our garage where no one would see the dog.

If they worry about the common property we are willing to look into getting an inside cat instead that would never leave our appartment but we prefer a dog as a companion.

I appreciate any little comment from you! ???? have a great day.

Arlette…….and you need to take into consideration that you’re residents not owners, and that while the strata manager is currently providing you with some advice, they’re engaged by the Owners Corporation (O/C) as a collective of all owners and as such provide paid services to that collective.

So subject to the precise wording of the Plan’s existing by-law for the keeping of animals (ref: previous post #17), in order to progress anything such as a Motion to amend that by-law you’ll need as a prerequisite the active support of your partner’s family as the Owners of your Unit, including their formal permission for a pet to be kept at their Unit subject to the consent of the O/C, and by placing any Motion/s that you might prepare on the Agenda for consideration by those Owners in attendance at a General Meeting of the O/C.