Should an owners corporation enforce strata by-laws against a tenant who is in breach of their lease?

Should an owners corporation enforce strata by-laws against a tenant who is in breach of their lease?

Most landlords will try to avoid terminating the lease with their tenants provided that their tenants pay their rent on time and that their tenants keep the residential premises in a neat and tidy condition. In addition, landlord and tenancy law is quite complex, time consuming and can prove to be a costly exercise for a landlord especially if the landlord ends up in the Tribunal.

However, it is quite common for owners corporations of strata schemes and their strata managing agents to prefer that a landlord take control of and deal with a delinquent tenant under the terms of the lease as the landlord has the power under the lease to either evict the tenant and/or terminate the lease for breach.

In practice, strata issues such as noise, unauthorised building works, smoking, the keeping of pets, unauthorised parking in visitor car spaces and on common property are within the domain of an owners corporation. It therefore makes sense that an owners corporation is best suited to deal directly with the tenant as the strata by-laws are better equipped to deal with these sort of matters.

If you are a landlord, tenant or owners corporation that needs strategic advice with bylaw enforcement, we can help.

Please note that the information contained in this article is not legal advice and should not be relied upon. You should obtain legal advice before you take any action or otherwise rely upon the contents of this article.