On 10 April 2020, new strata laws concerning short term rental accommodation arrangements commenced.

These laws give an owners corporation power to make a by-law prohibiting short term accommodation in certain circumstances.

But there are two major problems with the new laws that limit their effectiveness.

In this article we take a look at the new laws and those problems addressing:

• New Strata Laws Concerning Short Term Accommodation
• Background to the New Short Term Rental Strata Laws
• Problem One – Principal Place of Residence Exemption
• Problem Two – Unlawful STRA Arrangement Exemption

So, what are the problems the New Strata Laws for Short Term Accommodation have created?

 For NSW strata legal, building defect or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

Need a Short Term Rental Accommodation By-law?

COVID-19 Risk in Apartment Buildings

 
 Read on for more details or to purchase your by-law click the button below. 

There has been recent talk in the media about the risk of apartment buildings becoming hot spots for Coronavirus infection.

This media attention has focussed on the fact that the recent public health orders and other laws that have been introduced to help stop the spread of Coronavirus do not apply to densely populated apartment buildings.

Apartment Buildings – Are they Cruise Ships on Land?

Indeed, there has been mention of apartment buildings turning into “cruise ships on land” unless stringent rules are put in place to regulate them to help stop the spread of Coronavirus inside them.

For that reason, there is a need for some residential strata buildings to introduce rules to help stop the spread of Coronavirus.  We have drafted a by-law that sets out those rules.  The by-law addresses:

• reporting COVID-19 infections;
• self-isolation;
• social distancing;
• parties and social gatherings;
• guests and visitors;
• changes in occupancy such as short term stay guests via Airbnb;
• use of recreational facilities;
• restrictions on access to and use of areas of common property;
• landlords’ responsibility for tenants;
• responsibility for invitees.

COVID-19 By-law – Power to Help Avoid the Spread

The by-law will prove useful for many residential strata buildings to set out basic rules that owners and tenants must follow to help avoid the spread of Coronavirus and to give owners corporations power to take steps to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in their buildings.

In the expectation that the COVID-19 pandemic will pass, our by-law provides for the owners corporation to conduct a mandatory review of the by-law and its terms within six months to enable the by-law to be amended or be repealed at the appropriate time and for the by-law to expire at the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A One-off COVID-19 By-law for all Your Buildings

We are offering the by-law to strata managers working in the strata management industry for a discounted price of $300.00 plus GST.  For that fee, you obtain a licence to use the by-law and introduce the by-law into as many residential buildings as you like. If you have residential buildings that may benefit from the by-law, please do not hesitate to contact us.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR COVID-19 BY-LAW

For NSW strata legal, building defect or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

The Coronavirus has presented new and fundamentally different challenges to strata managers and owners corporations.

The most dramatic and short-term impact of Coronavirus on the strata industry is the affect it has had on the ability of strata managers to engage in face to face meetings with strata committees and lot owners and work from their office.

But there are other impacts the Coronavirus has had and will be likely to have on the strata industry. 

In this article we take a look at some of those impacts:

• General Meetings
• Strata Committee Meetings
• By-laws
• Health and Safety
• Service Contracts
• Public Relations
• And more…

What can you do? Strata Managers and the Coronavirus: Here’s What You Can Do

For NSW strata legal, building defect and levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

Special Arrangements made with NSW Land Registry Services to register consolidated by-laws.

 The Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 requires every owners corporation to keep a consolidated up to date copy of the by-laws for its strata scheme.  However, there is nothing in the Act which requires an owners corporation to register the consolidated set of its by-laws.

The only time an owners corporation needs to register a consolidated set of by-laws is when it resolves to make a change to its by-laws.  In those circumstances, the consolidated set of by-laws incorporating any changes to the by-laws must be lodged for registration within six months of the meeting at which the changes are approved.

The requirement for every owners corporation to keep a consolidated up to date copy of its by-laws was introduced on 30 November 2016 on the commencement of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.  Since then, most owners corporations have not made any changes to their by-laws as a result of which they have not registered their consolidated by-laws.  This means there is no public record of a consolidated set of by-laws for most owners corporations.

Up until recently, NSW Land Registry Services was reluctant to register a consolidated set of by-laws where it did not record any changes to the by-laws.  In other words, NSW Land Registry Services often would not permit an owners corporations to register a consolidated set of by-laws unless it had made changes to those by-laws within the last six months.  This has made it more difficult for owners corporations to register consolidated by-laws to ensure there is a public record of those by-laws in a consolidated form.

We have recently made arrangements with NSW Land Registry Services to allow an owners corporation which wants to register a consolidated set of its by-laws (even though it has not made any changes to its by-laws) to do so.  This will enable many owners corporations to register their consolidated by-laws to ensure there is a public record of them even though they have not made any recent changes to their by-laws.  If you would like to know more about these special arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact us.

For NSW strata legal, building defect or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

There are many strata managers who are preparing and registering consolidated sets of by-laws for the strata schemes they manage.

We have recently come across several by-law consolidations prepared by strata managers that contain critical and costly errors.

In many cases, the professional indemnity insurance policies held by strata managers may not cover the negligent preparation of consolidated by-laws.

Here are some examples of mistakes we have seen… By-law Consolidations – When they go Wrong?

CLICK HERE FOR HELP WITH YOUR BY-LAW CONSOLIDATIONS!

From sunset clauses to cooling-off periods, changes to the strata laws are being considered all over Australia.

The first cab off the rank will be modifications to the Victorian strata laws, due to be implemented in the next couple of months. These changes will bring some of those laws into line with NSW strata laws.

Some proposed changes include:

1: Sunset Clause

The new laws will clean up the ‘sunset clawback’ regulations. The laws will  prevent property developers from deliberately delaying the completion of buildings, in order to invoke the sunset clause.

No longer allowed will be the cancelling of contracts and the readvertising of properties on the market, at a much higher price.

Get out clauses will also be introduced for people who’ve bought properties off the plan, and discovered their completed apartment is substantially different from what they’d agreed to buy.

2: Cooling Off Period

The cooling off period will be extended from five to 10 business days with limitations on the vendor’s ability to get purchasers to sign those rights away.

3: Proxy Farming

Committees will be reduced from 12 to seven members with restrictions on proxy farming and committee proxies.

 4: Voting Rights

Lot owners voting rights on contractual limitations will be banned. It’s also yet to be seen if this will affect the vetos on short term letting often pre imposed on purchasers of new buildings.

 5: Levies

Lot owners who default in paying their levies will incur more debt recovery costs but, on the other hand, for those people suffering hardship payment plans can be arranged.

 6: Renovations

Owners corporations will be able to set conditions under which renovations must be conducted, clamping down on rogue renovators, while rules that unreasonably prohibit the installation of sustainability measures will be invalid.

7: Smoke Drift

Rules to combat cigarette smoke drift will be allowed and residents made responsible for their guests’ behaviour, including being fined for any breaches.

 8: Penalties

Maximum penalties for rule breaches will be increased to $1,100, with the fines paid to the owners corporation. Voting thresholds for legal action will vary, depending on the level of courts involved.

If these laws are accepted,  we’ll see a huge step closer to a uniform set of national strata laws.

More Information

You’ll find more information (and proposed laws) at consumer.vic.gov.au/OCBill. These regulations reflect many of the NSW laws in place and how they’ll roll out nationally.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

We recently reported about an NCAT case in which a lot owner was ordered to remove CCTV cameras she unlawfully installed on the common property of a strata building in breach of the by-laws and strata laws.

But what happens when a next door neighbour (who is not bound by the by-laws and strata laws) installs a CCTV camera that peers into your home?

What can you do about that? Can you force your neighbour to remove or reposition their CCTV camera?

Read here to find out: Strata and Invasion of Privacy by CCTV Cameras

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

The recent media attention concerning smoking in strata buildings reached a fever pitch when NCAT ordered the landlord of a strata unit in Potts Point to pay compensation to his tenant.

The NSW Government said that the new strata laws would make clear that smoking and second-hand smoke exposure could constitute a nuisance that could be outlawed.

So, what can be done about smoking in strata buildings? Can smoking be prohibited? Perhaps a smoking by-law,  let’s find out.

For more information read – Smoke Drift By-laws

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

JS Mueller & Co partner and strata law expert, Adrian Mueller, shares the following case  Frankel – v – Patterson [2015] NSWSC 1307 with LookUp Strata Newsletter.

For more information read – Pet By-laws