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Under s. 122 of the SSM Act the OC can enter premises under certain circumstances. Does anyone know of a case where an owner of a lot was away, did not leave a key with anyone and the OC needed to access her lot during an emergency and that entry caused damage for which the lot owner sought compensation at NCAT and lost pursuant to clause 6 of that section?
Thanks to all.
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Unless its a real emergency the OC needs an order of the court to enter a property
In an extreme emergency ie a fire the OC can enter without a court order. The only damage I can contemplate is a broken door. As the door is OC property, they have to repair it at their cost. But thats going tobethe least of the problems.
Maybe you can be more specific about the type of damage you are thinking of.
If an OC is granted entry to a property it needs to take reasonable precautions not to cause any damage to owner property. However how one proves the OC damaged owner property may be harder to prove.
NCAT is a civil court, so the standard of proof is “on the balance of probabilities”. Unless you can show recent photos of undamaged property, proving such a case, even with such a low threshold, is difficult.
Surely withholding keys from the OC when one is absent and in fact not passing the keys to a neighbour or friend is the very definition of hindering? No?
No. If it was, there would be a standard by-law to that effect. The section you quote is to deal with people who don’t want anyone coming into their apartments for reasons that range from privacy to criminal activity and in so doing interfere with essential or emergency repairs. The front door is common property so the OC has a lot of leeway in that regard.
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.
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