Question: Someone has been parking in my personal car park spaces for over a month. Our Building Manager refuses to assist. Who can help and how can I stop this person from parking in my space?
Someone has been parking in my personal car park spaces for over a month. Our Building Manager will not assist as he states it’s not his job because my car spaces are private property as opposed to visitor parking spaces that are common property.
Should the building Manager be assisting me? If this isn’t his job, who can help? What can I do to stop this person from parking in my space?
Answer: The building manager’s responsibility, powers & function involve common areas only.
Unfortunately, the building manager is technically correct stating that it’s “not his job”, as strata managers should not interfere in private matters. His/her responsibility, powers & function involve common areas only. Although it would have been nice if some direction was provided by your manager.
Firstly, you need to determine who is parking in your car space. Is it another owner or a tenant living at the property? These situations can be resolved if both parties are willing to reason and openly discuss the matter together. If the initial discussion/s fail, the manager “could” (although under no obligation) try and reason with the offender, if it’s an owner, on your behalf and see if some resolution can be reached. If the person parking in your space is a tenant, their property manager (real estate agent) needs to be notified that a breach has occurred and the tenant needs to be instructed to remove their vehicle immediately. Alternatively, you may wish to discuss installing a no parking bollard with the committee as a last resort. A lockable bollard within your parking space will stop anyone parking where they shouldn’t.
Then of course there’s the legal option. This can be painfully lengthy, not to mention, costly. Ultimately, you need to decide whether it’s worth the exercise.
These situations are never ideal, but open communication is always a good place to start.
Wishing you a speedy resolution.
Please note that the information contained in this article is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should obtain legal advice or instructions before you take any action or otherwise rely upon the contents of this article.
This post appears in the July 2022 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.
Guy Garreffa StrataPoint E: guy@stratapoint.com.au P: (03) 8726 9962