I’m an owner of a lot who has a property tenanted. I recently had an application approved for some flooring to be approved against the wishes of a couple of certain lot owners in the building trying to make it difficult for us for no reason. We were in full compliance so it all went through eventually. Since and during the dates of our application and approval process, all of a sudden our tenants have been the victim of bullying and harassment due to them making “noise” constantly in which we have proof that when they were asked to ” be quiet” they weren’t even home or even in the country at one point. Where do we stand re this as we do not want to become in arrears to our strata but also do not want fall victim to being bullied and harassed? – Stephen, NSW

Q: I’m an owner of a lot who has a property tenanted. I recently had an application approved for some flooring to be approved against the wishes of a couple of certain lot owners in the building trying to make it difficult for us for no reason. We were in full compliance so it all went through eventually.

Since and during the dates of our application and approval process, all of a sudden our tenants have been the victim of bullying and harassment due to them making “noise” constantly in which we have proof that when they were asked to ” be quiet” they weren’t even home or even in the country at one point.

There a few occasions in which we have proof that they were blamed for a party from another lot and then a to as it wasn’t them. They were since apologized to by other lot owners in the building.

We feel that they were trying to make a case against the noise output of our apartment at the time to stop us from installing floors but after having to take the matter further it was found they didn’t have a leg to stand on and the floors were passed but since the approval of the application and now the tenants have been given a breach of by-laws notice and I have been charged an invoice of $60 for it as the lot owner.

In the meantime prior, our tenants have reached out to my real estate agent to express they feel like they have been bullied and victimized by these certain lot owners for no apparent reason and are constantly being told to stop making noise. Just seems odd as it was never an issue prior to our floor application.

We feel that this is a dig at us and a way of the other lot owners who originally deliberately made it hard for us to install floors as we got what we rightfully wanted.

Where do we stand re this as we do not want to become in arrears to our strata but also do not want fall victim to being bullied and harassed?

We also feel that the strata manager is siding with the lot owners as the cause of the problem is the secretary who calls the shots and is influence her to charge us and not the owners corporation for this.

it just seems very rough as we want to do the right thing.

Id love some perspective from a professional as we endeavour to move in next march.

A: A good place to start would be to check your by-laws. Some by-laws have provisions that deal with offensive behaviour on common property (generally where bullying takes place in person).

You may then wish to call upon your strata manager for mediation, or make your strata committee aware of the bullying. You may also seek to file a motion on the agenda at the next general meeting. Here you can addressing the bullying behaviour and amend your by-laws with the necessary provisions – aligned to federal and state laws.

If you are able to do so peavefully, make sure to keep any evidence that may help your case that prove that bullying or threatening behaviour is occurring.

A strata property’s by-laws aren’t merely suggestions, they are legally binding on all residents and your strata committee is legally responsible to act if a person is in breach of a by-law by acting or speaking inappropriately to another resident or owner on common property.

If the committee fails to be able to resolve it, the matter may be taken further, such NCAT (NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal).

For more information on managing and resolving disputes in your strata, download our free guide: https://picagroup.com.au/managing-disputes-guide/

You may wish to also book a free consultation with our legal team who specialise in strata by visiting https://kempspetersonslegal.com.au/bylaws/. Our team will be able to provide you with general strata advice and dispute services.