QLD Can Apartment Managers Deny You Access to Your Legal Residence?

[VanHouse]

I'm renting in a pretty new high-rise apartment building. Most of the building is managed as a hotel/ airbnb by the on-site management/reception. The lift requires a security fob to access most floors.

We're all human, there are instances where I lock myself out. There are master keys for cases like this, for contractors, and for cleaning staff to do their job.

However, there is one very spiteful manager who almost always refuse to help in such a case. I am renting through a third party owner/agent, as opposed to some units where the contract is direct with the on-site management. He uses this as an excuse, saying that direct tenants have owners that pay body corporate which pays for services like this, implying that the owner of my unit does not pay body corporate?

So I show the manager my signed tenancy form on my phone, but he still says that is not enough proof.

Next, the manager taunts me into calling a locksmith and getting the whole lock replaced at my expense, ~$500. So when I get on the call with a locksmith, the manager stops me and says that won't work because he will not allow me and the locksmith upstairs because we could be anyone just trying to break in.

So I ask him, "So we're locked out of the apartment and everything in it, forever?", and he straight-faced replies "Yes."

Every time this happens, it only gets resolved if another (lower-ranked) manager happens to walks by and exercises discretion for us.

I'm really tired of this guy going on power trips at my expense.

Is there any law against persons illegally barring access to another person's legal residence? Or is there a relevant law that gives me grounds to sue for compensation (e.g. hotel stays for the duration of the case) and damages (lost wages from being unable to access work-related files on my computer) the next time he tries to pull this bulls**t?

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

This will depend on what state you’re in. Quite often this sort of issue d9mes up, but not usually to this level of spite, when annonsite letting agent gets upset when some of the units are not in their letting pool.

The thing is, they’re likely an on-site management and letting agent. And the letting locked out residents in is part of their management duties, which has nothing to do with the letting aspect. I suggest a complaint to the body corporate committee that this manager is unfairly discriminating against you simply because your owner is not in the letting pool.

 

[VanHouse]

Thank you, Rob. I am in Queensland, sorry for not clarifying earlier.

How exactly do I find the contacts to the body corporate committee?

The building I am in started with one on-site management which were the original developers, but has seemingly outsourced to another company, which is doing on-site management for a big chain of similar nearby apartments. However it also feels like an offshoot of the original. Now the websites of both companies have this building listed under their managed properties.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

Okay, firstly, sorry about the typos in my last post. I think I was being a bit too fat fingered on the iPad.

Given that you're in Queensland I can be a bit more helpful (as that's where I am, and the rules differ state to state). Here's some relevant points:

- Occupiers (i.e. tenants) have generally the same rights to use and access that owners do. You can be required to provide supporting documents to demonstrate you have the authority to occupy the lot - provision of a copy of the signed tenancy agreement should be sufficient (but I note your statement that it wasn't). In that case, tell your letting agent that the onsite letting agent is refusing to acknowledge your right of occupancy and let them deal with it. If they refuse to do so, report them to the Residential Tenancies Authority.

- Letting Agents are subject to a Code of Conduct written into the Body Corporate and Community Management Act (as Schedule 3 - BODY CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT ACT 1997 - SCHEDULE 3 ). This requires them to, for example: act honestly, fairly, and professionally, and act in the best interests of individual lot owners (i.e. not just those in the letting pool).

- A similar Code of Conduct applies to their role as managing agent (Schedule 2 - BODY CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT ACT 1997 - SCHEDULE 2).

- The body corporate - and the manager is a contractor for them and therefore an agent - cannot differentiate or discriminate between lot owners, intentionally or otherwise. That includes occupants.

- An occupant has just as much right to access and discuss issues with the body corporate committee as an owner does. If the letting agent is being uncooperative, request the telephone and mail contact details of the body corporate secretary and get in touch with them to explain the situation.

For some commentary on a similar type of situation, read the decision regarding 'Turtle Beach II' by the Body Corporate Commissioner : Turtle Beach II [2010] QBCCMCmr 440 (24 September 2010)

 

[VanHouse]

Thank you so much, Rob. That information has been really precise and directly useful! I have drafted a complaint e-mail to be sent out after moving out, and the manager has appeared to also sabotage my unit's air conditioning (it is central, and receptionists tell me that every other unit is working, and that I have to contact my own leasing agent), that has been added so now the RTA will hear about it too.