Question: If a by-law states the written approval for a pet is a decision of the owners corporation, does the committee have the power to approval a pet?
Our by-law states that the written approval of the owners corporation (as distinct from the committee, which is often the case) is required before being able to keep a pet in one’s lot (excluding an assistance animal). Does the decision need to be made at a general meeting, or does the committee have the power to approve the pet and then ratify the request at a subsequent general meeting?
Answer: The strata committee may, on behalf of the owners corporation, approve pets.
While we have not read the by-law, it is not unusual for the strata committee to be delegated the function/power to approve pets under the by-law. Even if the by-law is silent as to the strata committee’s powers, the strata committee may, on behalf of the owners corporation, approve pets subject to the specific terms and conditions of the applicable by-law.
This post appears in Strata News #664.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: info@premiumstrata.com.au
P: 02 9281 6440
“… ‘You’ve never had power to make a no pets bylaw’, so that transitional provision doesn’t help you.”..
.Didn’t the Strata Body Corporate back in 1996/7 had to use a solicitor to draft all the By-laws?
If they did, then the power rested with with the solicitor’s draft and the registry government’s office to accept or to reject.
Since it cost solicitor fees and registry fees to draft and to lodge the By-laws that are now declared as invalid, where the hell are the refunds to all the NSW Strata Owner’s Corporations of the legal fees paid to make the By=laws legal back in 1996/7 and in 2015,that no one had the power to make and validate in the first place?…
Oh, and, add to that refund the commission charged by Strata Management Companies for arranging the dud (ill) legal By-law drafts.
“…in the words of the court, a democratic will of the majority of owners doesn’t convert a democracy into a majoritarian dictatorship”…
Would this also apply to a jury verdict in court?….No, I don’t believe it would. So, is a unanimous jury verdict a majoritarian dictatorship?
Where does this leave owners / occupants who do not desire to live with animals in a strata unit complex?
Because-
a) they loathe dogs and or cats? or,
b) they have an inherent fear of dogs or cats because they were seriously bitten by a dog or a cat
in their past?
Isn’t unreasonable and oppressive to impose the presence and interfering behaviour of animals (such as dogs or cats) upon the enjoyment of living of other lot owners / occupants?
Will the Owners Corporation be liable for damages and injury to another owner/ occupant/ visitor by a dog, cat or a snake that has escaped its custodian’s unit onto common property?
Can the Owners Corporation impose a condition of approval that the animal strata lot owner / occupier submit to the Owners Corporation an annual Currency of Public Liability Insurance, Animal’s Health and Desexing Certificate from a qualified Vet, Proof of Dogs Registration and Micro chipping with the Council, at their own cost for continuance of approval keeping an animal in the strata unit and throughout the common property ground complex?
Can the Owners Corporation impose and pass on to the animal owner/occupier the difference in increased Strata Insurance Premium because of the risk that animals pose to other owners/occupiers?
I saw that “Any new by-law should include reasonable conditions regulating the keeping of pets..”
Does this mean a by law could require or ask an owner to have dog training prior to permission being granted? Eg to train it not to bark at everything before it is permitted to reside in the building? It’s not uncommon for dogs to bark at people walking by and all sorts of things.
Would that be considered harsh or unreasonable?
Section 49 (4) in the Act seems to refer to appointment of managing agents. I cannot find the text you quote under Options A & B in the Act online. There is a similar Section 5 in the Regulations online, but it is not the same as your version. Please advise the correct reference to the Act or Regulations as active now.
With thanks
Hi Josephine
We have removed the response you are referring to from the above Q&A due to the age of the post. This is the current section in schedule 3, Strata Schemes Management Regulations 2016 you have mentioned, I believe:
5 Keeping of animals
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, watch this space for updates. If you would like to more about the current state of pets in strata for NSW, join us for our upcoming WEBINAR: Pets in Strata Q&A on 12 March at 10 am AEDT.
What are the NSW laws about keeping “Restrictive” dogs such as Pit Bull terriers in Strata apartments, without the Owners consent, without the owners Corporation approval? We are in a 10-Lot Strata complex, all ground level. New tenants have brought in 2 Pit Bull Terriers. They let the dogs loose in the backyard sometimes unsupervised and the dogs roam on common property. What can the Owners Corporation do given that the new tenants are aggressive, use filthy loud language?
HI,
I submitted a written application for my dog in 2014, but recently we adopted another rescued dog. The neighbour was complaining to strata that my dogs have been making excessive barking, which I believed not. This is because I am mostly at home, my dogs don’t excessively bark (i.e. not for continuing 30 minutes, or any bark at night time). They do have reaction to posties and strangers walking in the building, but would stop straight away if I asked them to. The neighbour did not come to advise us anything, but they instead approached strata management, Now my concern is do strata have the rights to ask me to submit another written application again? Will they make me to remove my dog? How do I proof that my dogs did not excessively bark? What should I do in this situation? Thank you
Hi Adrian, Thanks for the guidance on the changing regs with pets in NSW Strata. We have a NSW Community Titled scheme consisting of 18 free-standing chalets on a 40 acre eco-tourism resort. The CMS establishes a rigid ‘Theme of the Resort’ as an environmentally sustainable eco-resort with protections for wildlife, with eco-educational signage and with independent eco-tourism accreditation and Land for Wildlife affiliations. The By Laws fully prohibits any owner’s or guest’s pets or domestic animals of any type being brought onto the site. On the odd occasion when a neighbour’s dog has started onto our common lot, our guests note the kangaroos & birds disappear in seconds from the otherwise wildlife-friendly environment. How is our committee going to respond if an owner (or guest) endeavours to rely on these changing pet arrangements to bring a domestic animal onto our site (the By Laws also prohibit any fencing between the 18 small development lots around each chalet and the rest of the common lot).
Weekend Australian (22/23/8/20) has a very interesting story on this whole topic running to several pages. The owner of a small dog who had problems in a swanky centre city (Sydney) appartment block complex.
Thanks for the information, Brian. For those with a subscription to The Australian, you can access the article here: Puddle sets off epic dog fight
The day her miniature schnauzer urinated in the lobby of her lavish Sydney apartment block is one of the most traumatic of Jo Cooper’s 30-plus years.
Hi I live in an apartment with my dog for a year and then the strata decided that the dog had to be under 17kg my dog weighed over when I told them I had been approved before I signed the lease the replied that I would be fined if I didn’t move. I was homeless for 2weeks before I found that apartment in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I have since found a house but had to move to Blacktown because of this could I have fought this?
Interesting how the legal system in NSW has taken upon itself the power to overturn well established bylaws that exclude animals from buildings designed for human (not animal) habitation.
I like animals (I once had a pet in a home with an extensive backyard) but not in the context of a shared space – ie a Strata – where rights and obligations (remember them ?) mix . Lawyers, by and large, are not competent to decide what should or should not apply to peoples lived experience.
The legal fraternity often have a fragile relationship with the real world and the true needs of people living in a Strata environment.
The Parliament should do its job and abolish the Tribunal that caused this absurdity to arise.
Pets are allowed in Victoria.
If Owners Corporation has a problem, they need to take the case to the tribunal to ban pet and provide a reason.
Only reason a pet will be banned if it poses a risk (let off loose by owner on common property); or too noisy (barks at night – though this could be overruled if owner sends dog to training school).
Reason for allowing pets – single, young people are no longer the main client. There are numerous old people, families with young kids who live in apartments now. Also good for mental health etc etc.
I am happy for pets to remain as long as owner/tenant is responsible pet owner.
If you have received complaint/s from only one resident, or but a few residents, about your having a dog, then find out what it is exactly that they are objecting to in your having a dog, and whether ALL of the complaints are of the same ‘nature’.
Paragraph removed – Admin
I have inherited a unit, that my cousin owned, (she passed in 2018) including her three cats, 1 of which has been there for 10 years, the others 4 years. It’s a unit with courtyard and yes the cats, generally live outside, but tend to stay in the boundaries, cause they are a little scared of strangers.
I have not had any complaints or letters asking me to remove the cats, but recently received a standard newsletter for the units, (all units got the newsletter) and in one small line, it said, Strictly no pets allowed.
I have seen numerous others in the complex, (which has over 200 units) walk in with smalls dogs,. cats in carriers.
So my question is, do I just continue living as we are and not say anything, until someone does say something, or do I bring it up with Strata and see what they say ?
I do have a hearing disability and found the cats are useful in alerting me if people are around or at the door, but they are obviously not assistance animals.
These units were built in 1997.
Hi, our strata is currently trying to take us to court over our small dog. We own the apartment and the dog is under 10kgs. There have been complaints from one apartment underneath us. Our neighbours have already stated that the dog doesn’t bother them. Do I have any right to keep the dog and not get taken to court?
Hi Astrid
We have responded to this question in the article above.
I am the new owner of a strata managed property that the previous owner had approval for a dog, does the approval still apply with me as the new owner? The strata manager is telling me that I do not have approval and only applies to the previous owner and any new owners need to get their own approval.
Is this standard ruling ?
Hi Ashleigh
We have answered this question in the main body of the post above.
what conditions can a person have a companion dog in an over 50’s village in NSW. The village has a no pets policy in it’s bylaws. If a person requires a companion dog and follows the requirement of the NSW registration rules regarding identifying the dog prior to 12 weeks old and registering it by 6 months of age. Does this involve online training for a period of say 2 years and would it be fair to say that the village owners should allow this dog under ? conditions as a tribunal hearing would most likely decide in the pet owners favour.
Hi Bruce
We have received this response from Leanne Habib, Premium Strata:
There is a scholarly article on this very subject: My Animal, my support, and my new home in a retirement village: disability discrimination, assistance animals and old age
In our view, the village may be able to exclude companion animals but not assistance animals.
Interesting is that the Making NSW #1 Again paper had option C for pets, which was a ban on all animals.
That option got dropped. Perhaps due to the High Court stating that by-laws are regulatory, not prohibitive.
Swan Hill Shire v Bradbury [1937] HCA 15; (1937) 56 CLR 746 (7 April 1937).
A case brought to the attention of the MInister of the day.
If an OC has a prohibitive position on pets then the review gives owners an opportunity to have a crack at an unreasonable (prohibitive) position. There is also the long held view that if the Parliament intended to tread on ‘fundamental’ rights, such as ownership of property, and a pet is property, then express language is needed. The power to make by-laws is very general and considering the authorities in relation to the need for express language to interfere with basic rights it seems any prohibitive by-law that denies basic ownership can be challenged.
Then there is the Cavoodle case from Victoria where Victoria’s equivalent of NCAT deemed a by-law prohibiting dogs to discriminate against dog owners.
So if an OC has a prohibitive pet by law it seems it is potentially ultra vires as it is not regulatory, it seems it treads on the basic freedom to own property and it seems it is discriminatory against pet owners.