Question: A tenant has requested permission to look after a friend’s pet. Are the body corporate committee obligated by legislation to approve requests for a visiting pet?
A tenant has requested permission to look after a friend’s pet. Are the body corporate committee obligated by legislation to approve requests for a visiting pet? What ‘acting reasonably’ guidelines can the committee use when considering visiting pet applications from owners and tenants? Can a lot owner refuse/not approve a tenant’s request for a visiting pet?
Answer: An occupier is asking for permission to keep a pet, and the body corporate has to make a decision on that request.
It is subject to the by-laws of your scheme as to what approvals are needed from a body corporate perspective. If your body corporate has no pet by-laws at all, for example, then no approvals are needed. If your by-laws prohibit pets entirely, then no approval can be given, although that by-law is going to be invalid. We don’t think the permanency of the occupation of the lot by the pet matters. What matters is that an occupier is asking for permission to keep a pet, and the body corporate has to make a decision on that request.
An entirely different set of rules applies from the tenancy side of things. You are best to consult with the Residential Tenancies Authority for further details about that.
This post appears in the December 2023 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
Frank Higginson
Hynes Legal
E: frank.higginson@hyneslegal.com.au
P: 07 3193 0500
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
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