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You are here: Home / Pets / Pets NSW / NSW: Q&A Owners Corporation Requests a Pet Bond Paid to Strata

NSW: Q&A Owners Corporation Requests a Pet Bond Paid to Strata

Published November 19, 2019 By The LookUpStrata Team 1 Comment Last Updated April 19, 2021

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A NSW tenant is wondering whether their Owners Corporation can have a bylaw requesting a strata pet bond of $500.

Question: I’m a tenant with a cat. The Owners Corporation has a bylaw requesting a $500 Pet Bond to be paid to strata. I thought pet bonds weren’t legal in NSW.

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I’m renting an apartment and I have a cat. My landlord has asked me to fill in a form for the cat, by request of the owners corporation.

The form states cats must be registered with the strata, however, it also contains a clause referring to a bylaw requesting a $500 pet bond.

My understanding is that pet bonds are not legal in NSW.

Who is required to pay the bond to strata? The owner or the tenant? A $500 bond seems unreasonable given the cat is not allowed to access any common areas.

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Answer: As a Tenant, you must comply with both your lease and the strata by-laws.

strata pet bond Pet bonds are not illegal and the strata legislation is silent on the matter.

Usually, the pet-owner would provide the bond to the owners corporation as security in case of damage to or soiling of the common property.

You may wish to try to negotiate the amount of the bond, however, even though the cat does not leave the confines of your apartment, if, for example, you have floorboards within the apartment the cat might scratch those or cause other damage to common property within your apartment or cause smells or accidents which might seep into the apartment below.

You are correct regarding residential tenancies and pet bonds in NSW. On their tenancy information pages, NSW Fair Trading states: Higher bonds cannot be charged for tenants with pets, children or for any other reason. It would be unfair that a Landlord could charge an additional bond over and above the 4 weeks (standard) bond already held by the Landlord.

As a Tenant, you must comply with both your lease and the strata by-laws.

So, although paying your Landlord a pet-bond is unlawful, you will still need to comply with strata requirements eg whether or not pets are permitted, pet application fee, pet bond (possibly), rules and regulations about the keeping of the pet and whether or not it may be on the common property etc.

Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: [email protected]
P: 02 9281 6440

These articles are not intended to be personal advice and you should not rely on it as a substitute for any form of advice.

This post appears in Strata News #302.

Have a question about strata pet bonds or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

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Read next:

  • NSW: Q&A Keeping Pets in Strata Units. How Many Are Too Many?
  • NSW By-Laws & Pets: What is harsh unconscionable or oppressive?
  • NSW: Q&A Can A Strata Bylaw Set a Size Limit for Dogs?

Visit Strata Pets Living in Apartments OR NSW Strata Legislation.

Looking for strata information concerning your state? For state-specific strata information, take a look here.

Are you not sure about some of the strata terms used in this article? Take a look at our NSW Strata Glossary to help with your understanding.

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Comments

  1. Avatarsteve says

    November 20, 2019 at 7:13 am

    this by law feels oppressive, id suggest not paying it and taking it to NCAT to decide. my guess is its an old by law written up under the old legislation not the 2015 act and a by law that is no longer ok under the new legislation could be removed.

    Reply

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