Dear sir/madam, I am responding to your call for ... - NSW Fair Trading

Dear sir/madam,
I am responding to your call for responses to your discussion paper. Thank you very much
for the opportunity.
It is a very important issue and a complex document. I would like to be able to respond in
regard to more matters than I have below, but I'm anxious to ensure that my most critical
comments are received in time. So I will send this now.
However, I am going to continue to comment on other sections, plus include the
demographic information you requested and will send another email in an hour's time.
Kind regards,
Terry Einfeld
p52 Chapter 5: Managing Disputes
Enforcing By-Laws.
This is the single biggest problem our executive committee has. We take our duties
seriously and attempt to maintain our building to a very high standard without incurring
excessive costs.
When owners or tenants breach by-laws (eg filling car spaces with junk, throwing rubbish on
neighbours balconies, making excessive noise, parking on common property, making
unauthorised alterations to their apartment that may have safety implications or devalue the
apartments as a whole), we contact them as best we can an informally ask them to desist.
We then order a 'notice to comply'. More often than not, they are ignored. Irresponsible
residents see the committee as a 'toothless tiger'. We can write to them as often as we like,
they don't care. As the members of the committee also work full-time, we don't have the
time or opportunity to attend lengthy hearings at the CTTT. We are also concerned about
spending the owners corporation's scarce funds on frequent legal disputes.
Recommendation: That executive committee (or strata or managing agent on their behalf) be
entitled to issue fines to those in breach of by-laws. These fines should then go back into
administration funds for the owners corporation as a whole. They should also be entitled to
remove access to facilities (eg. access to visitors car spaces which requires bollard key,
access to meeting room facilities etc) while the fine is unpaid or the breach continues
p55 Chapter 5: Managing Disputes
(d) Smoking
Smoking is not a huge problem in our building. Luckily, the design and construction of the
building seems to limit 'smoke drift'. The more obvious problem is people throwing (often
large numbers, particularly after a party) cigarette butts onto balconies below.
However, I believe that suggestions i,ii,iii and iv are valid. Residents should be made aware
of the effect of their smoking on others (particularly those with ill-health) and if consistent
complaints are received, it should be considered a breach of a by-law and a fine or other
restriction imposed.
Comment on the CTTT
The anecdotal evidence I have come across suggests that the CTTT is currently not a highly
respected body. Most people who have dealt with it (as individual owners or as committee
members/representatives of the owners corporation) have reported that it is cumbersome,

unfriendly, and largely ineffectual (unable to do anything). The composition and terms of
reference and code of conduct of this body perhaps should be reviewed also
Chapter 2: Governance
Participation
Tenant representation.
Tenants should be able to be invited to atttend agms and executive committee meetings as
observers and to put comments and questions. However, they should not be able to be
holders of office.
I do not believe that voting should be compulsory for all owners. A number of our owners are
non-English speaking or absent most of the time and would consider this an imposition. Most
owners also do not play an active part and are not interested in the day-to-day issues as
long as the building is being run well and fairly. Many would be too easily influenced by
particular committee members, if they were forced to vote.
Tranparency p.16
Membership of committees should not be open to 'anyone nominated by an owner'. My
experience is that these people do not have the same interest in the well-being of the entire
block, to the same extent as oowners do. A nominated person should be able to attend
meetings in the same capacity as tenants, as suggested above.