Question: Our owners corporation has introduced a by-law stating owners must carry pets on common property. Is this a valid and reasonable by-law? Some lot owners cannot physically carry their pets.
Our owners corporation has requested all owners carry their pets through the building. It has been a strongly anti-pet building for 40 years and the strata committee is very aggressive against any pets, so it took 2 years to get a by-law passed. In the interim, I purchased my pets and now they want me to sign the new by-law which was introduced sometime after I purchased the pets.
If pets were purchased before a pet by-law was introduced, can the by-law be enforced? Is it unreasonable to have a by-law stating owners must carry pets on common property? Some residents are physically unable to carry their pet.
Answer: An owners corporation can make a by-law prohibiting something that was previously permitted.
An owners corporation can make by-laws in ‘relation to the management, administration, control, use or enjoyment of the lots of the common property and lots of a strata scheme’ (see section 136 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015). This includes making by-laws which impose conditions and limitations around the keeping of pets, provided the by-laws does not offend the legislation.
Further, an owners corporation can make a by-law prohibiting something that was previously permitted. Therefore, provided the by-law is valid, I expect that it could be enforced.
However, I think that the by-law would have validity issues or at least would be challengeable for being ‘harsh, oppressive or unconscionable’ under section 139(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
The fact that the strata committee is seeking that you sign a copy of the new by-law would indicate to me that the committee is not necessarily confident in the by-law’s validity and/or enforceability.
This post appears in the August 2023 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Matthew Jenkins Bannermans Lawyers E: enquiries@bannermans.com.au P: 02 9929 0226