Strata Council taking no action
Talkstrata » Forums » General Strata Q & ASubmitted by skylandocean on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 05:10.
Hello,
I would appreciate any advice you could provide.
The unit above me has his 2 kids over every friday, saturday and sunday together with his sister's 2 kids total of four kids are around every weekend, you can imagine how it feels to have 4 kids running around all weekend in unit above you, this has been going on for months now and Strata council hasn't done anything about it, the problem is that no Starata Council memebr is available during the weekend to come and witness the extreme noise, on Saturday August 23rd the kids were screaming and running around on the balcony and all over I went to my next door neighbour and asked them to come and witness the noise, the middle aged couple came and accepted to be my witnesses, I also went to the third floor which is the unit above the noisy unit with the kids and asked them if the heard the noise and they said yes, I prepared a letter and documented the noise violation with the details and had the letter signed by the three witnesses and delivered it to the Strata Council but Strata Council still don't accept to fine the violator in spite of all the evidence and witnesses, I want to challenge the Strata council for incompetency, does anybody have any idea how I can go about challenging the Strata Council for incompetency?
your advice is much appreciated.
Regards,
Skylandocean,
Sun, 08/31/2008 - 00:19
Section 26 of The Act states that "the council must exercise the powers and perform the duties of the strata corporation, including the enforcement of bylaws and rules." If your bylaws include a noise bylaw, then council is obligated to enforce the bylaw. If there is no bylaw, then all council can do is ask the people to be more considerate.
You can go the legal route and sue the corporation for loss of peaceful enjoyment of your peoperty, considering you have presented council with a formal complaint and witness statements concerning the noise.
Have you had the offending owners come down and listen to the noise while the children are there? Maybe they just need a wake up call.
Its tough to fight with neighbours and then live in harmony afterwards.
Dad T
Tue, 09/02/2008 - 02:28
Thank you for your reply, you've been a great help so far, yes once I asked him to come and listen but he ignored it, he's a single father, the kids are with their mother during the week and with him only during the weekend, I think he didn't wnat to leave his kids unsupervised, the noise actually happens only during the day and at weekends but I work myself all week and weekends are the only time I can relax at home, I think one big reason why the council is reluctant to fine him is that the noise only happen during the day and at weekends but we have a bylaw regarding excesive noise and if I don't take a good rest during the weekend I'm not ready for work the following week, I'm considering to write a complaint against the strata manager to the Real Estate Council of BC.
best regards,
skylandocean,
Tue, 09/02/2008 - 02:43
Under the standard bylaws 3.1(b) An owner, tenant, occupant or visitor must not use a strata lot, the common property or common assets in a way that causes unreasonable noise.
Check over your current bylaws to see if it there too.
It may not be a problem with the Strata Manager if they deliver the letter to the council. If council does nothing about it, you have a problem with council.
Resend your letter again and quote the your bylaw(s) and that council must enforce the bylaw(s). Also request acknowledgement of receiving the letter from both the Strata Agent and council. This will place council on notice that they have to deal with the matter. Also keep copies of the letters.
Keep on sending letters/email everytime it happens and attend a council meeting and ask why they are not dealing with correspondence per the Strata Property Act.
CC
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Joined: 2008-08-28