A neighbour in the complex I am living in has been complaining about “excessive noise” from us, but never elaborate on the complaints. – Yazmin, NSW

Q: A neighbour in the complex I am living in has been complaining about “excessive noise” from us, but never elaborate on the complaints.

First, we come home late from work and they complained they could hear us open the door and walk, the next complaint they said they just heard “noises” coming from our apartment, and the latest thing they have accused us of is owning gym equipment (we have no such thing) and that they could hear us exercise excessively during lockdown (which we did not do because we had to work and study).

They also said that could hear running and jumping and we do not have children, we never party, we never even invite friends because we are too scared of this situation. They keep falsely accusing us and making claims of things that are not true, I feel like we are being bullied/harassed.

The Strata company has ignored all our emails with proof that the noises are coming from somewhere else. I can hear a child run at night but is not in my apartment, they keep making accusations but won’t mediate with us. They do not want to disclose any evidence that allegedly proves the noise comes from our unit and now they want to take us to court, our property manager is on our side and she has tried to mediate with Strata and ask for evidence but they keep ignoring her.

I don’t know what else to do. I have tried communicating with them, our agent has tried too and no one would listen. I am scared that this is going to go in our record when we have done nothing wrong. My mental health is deteriorating and I am a full-time student that is also working, I have too much on my plate to have to worry about this additionally.

 

A: If you have proof of emailing your strata company without response, as well as trying for mediation without success (due to the unresponsiveness of your strata management company), you may wish to take the case up with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

Before you do so, however, you may wish to speak to a strata legal expert. You may want to try Kemps Petersons Legal, who offer strata legal advice.