This article provides a list of Q&As about whether a car can be towed from common property in a strata building. These questions have been asked by lot owners, residents and visitors who have experienced problems with parking on common property in NSW strata properties.
Table of Contents:
- QUESTION: We have 8 units, with 2 carports. Residents are parking their cars on the shared driveway. Shouldn’t the driveway be kept clear to allow access to the vehicles that are parked in the carports & for any vehicles that might be making deliveries to any of the 8 units?
- QUESTION: What law now governs the towing of motor vehicles?
- QUESTION: Can I legally have a car towed that is parking in my strata units designated car park? The structure is 90 units in Newcastle NSW, 7 floors high with underground parking.
- QUESTION: We have a non resident who irregularly uses visitor parking while he commutes. He has no connection with our scheme. Are we able to tow his car and is it the best option?
Question: We have 8 units, with 2 carports. Residents are parking their cars on the shared driveway. Shouldn’t the driveway be kept clear to allow access to the vehicles that are parked in the carports & for any vehicles that might be making deliveries to any of the 8 units?
Answer: Parking anywhere on or obstructing the common property is likely prohibited by the by-laws applicable to your scheme unless the Owners Corporation has given express approval. The parking on common property without approval and obstructing other resident’s vehicles may constitute nuisance.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: info@premiumstrata.com.au
P: 02 9281 6440
This post appears in the February 2021 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Question: What law now governs the towing of motor vehicles?
Answer: From 1st July 2020, new laws regarding the disposal of goods abandoned on the common property came into effect.
From 1st July 2020, new laws regarding the disposal of goods abandoned on the common property came into effect.
The regulation of the treatment of abandoned goods in strata schemes has been transferred from the Strata Schemes Management Act, 2015 (NSW) (“SSMA”) to the Uncollected Goods Act, 1995 (NSW) (“UGA”).
The process for the removal of abandoned goods previously set out in the SSMA no longer applies (and has been removed from the SSMA). The UGA now governs the lawful removal of abandoned goods and provided that that procedure is adhered to, a person so disposing of uncollected goods (or in accordance with an order of NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (“NCAT”)) does not incur any liability in respect of such disposal.
Goods are deemed “uncollected” for the purposes of the UGA if an owners corporation reasonably believes the goods have been abandoned or left behind on the common property.
This post appears in Strata News #393
Question: Can I legally have a car towed that is parking in my strata units designated car park? The structure is 90 units in Newcastle NSW, 7 floors high with underground parking.
Answer: You cannot have the car towed as you need the consent of the owner of the car.
Generally speaking, no you cannot have it towed as you need the consent of the owner of the car (albeit the parking is unauthorised in your space).
In our experience, private individuals, police and local council have limited powers to remove illegally parked vehicles on private property. Police and councils have very limited powers with respect to vehicles on private land. Further, towing companies are reluctant to tow vehicles unless they can verify they have the consent of the owner of the car.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: info@premiumstrata.com.au
P: 02 9281 6440
This post appears in Strata News #370
Question: We have a non resident who irregularly uses visitor parking while he commutes. He has no connection with our scheme. Are we able to tow his car and is it the best option?
We are having some trouble with a man who uses one of our visitor parking spots.
He’s not a resident here nor does he appear to actually visit anyone in the building. I believe he uses the space for a commuter car park since our building is not too far from the local train station and the vehicle is only there 9am-6pm during the week. He doesn’t park there every day but at least once a week.
We have a sign that says ‘Visitor Parking Only’. It also states that offending vehicles will be towed away but in the case of this man, I’m not sure if we have a legal leg to stand on. Are we able to tow his car? Do we need to first give written notice? Is there anything else we can do about him or is towing really the best option?
Answer: As the vehicle is only parked one day at a time you will not satisfy the notice requirements needed for towing.
There is a procedure for towing cars set out in regulation 34, however, as the subject vehicle is only parked one day at a time you will not satisfy the notice requirements ie that the vehicle will be towed not earlier than 5 days after the notice was issued, if not moved.
STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT REGULATION 2016 – REG 34 Removal of motor vehicles: section 125 of Act
- This clause applies to a motor vehicle left on common property that is placed so that it blocks an exit or entrance or otherwise obstructs the use of common property.
- The owners corporation may take action under this clause if the owners corporation has placed a removal notice on or near the motor vehicle and the requirements of the notice are not complied with within the period specified in the removal notice.
- A removal notice must:
- not be less than the size of an A4 piece of paper, and
- be placed in a position or be in a material so that the contents of the notice are not likely to be detrimentally affected by weather, and
- describe the motor vehicle and state the date and time the notice was issued, and
- state that the motor vehicle will be removed if it is not moved from the common property or so that it no longer obstructs common property before the date and time specified in the notice (being not earlier than 5 days after the notice was placed on or near the motor vehicle), and
- specify contact details for a member of the strata committee, the strata managing agent or a delegate of the owners corporation in relation to the notice.
On a practical level you could install lockable bollards (with the proper resolutions). Alternatively, you may wish to contact Local Police as the car is trespassing on the common property.
Leanne Habib
Premium Strata
E: info@premiumstrata.com.au
P: 02 9281 6440
This post appears in Strata News #243.
Read next:
- NSW: Disposing of Goods Abandoned on Common Property – New Laws
- NSW: Q&A How Do We Stop the Abuse of Visitor Parking Spaces?
- NSW: New Resident Complains About Agreement. Do We Need a Parking ByLaw?
Still have questions like whether a car can be towed from common property, about strata parking or information about strata living in your state or territory? Visit Strata Parking OR NSW Strata Legislation
Looking for strata information concerning your state? For state-specific strata information, take a look here.
Are you not sure about some of the strata terms used in this article? Take a look at our NSW Strata Glossary to help with your understanding.
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without reg 34 or s 125, what avenues of reress for owners who have visitors park in their carspot are accessible?
Hi g
Take a look at this post with some possible solutions:
What is the best way to solve resident parking problems in an apartment building?
Good luck!
How can you guys say that this page has been updated as recently as July 2020 without mentioning that Clause 34 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 has been repealed? Also, a number of links in this article lead to dead pages.
What law now governs the towing of motor vehicles?
Thanks.
Leanne Habib from Premium Strata Pty Ltd has replied to this question in the article above.
I have a car in my under building car space , the car is not registered but it is clean and tidy , and doesn’t look out of place . I don’t drive the car but I want to keep it , it is not dangerous or not keeping within the look of the building other cars .. it’s within my car space . The strata committee have made a new bylaw they have the power to tie it away and threaten to do so . Can they do this .
Hi Leslie
Please see the question above: Question: I have an unregistered vehicle in my designated parking space. My neighbour has threatened to tow the vehicle. Can my car be towed?
STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT REGULATION 2016 – REG 34 Removal of motor vehicles: section 125 of Act
(1) This clause applies to a motor vehicle left on common property that is placed so that it blocks an exit or entrance or otherwise obstructs the use of common property.
(2) The owners corporation may take action under this clause if the owners corporation has placed a removal notice on or near the motor vehicle and the requirements of the notice are not complied with within the period specified in the removal notice.
(3) A removal notice must:
The interest here is the language used by the Parliament.
We have ‘may’ which is a discretionary term, then we have the combination of the ‘may’ with an ‘if’ which I will not interpret because that is for the courts.
The most interesting part is the ‘must’ of (3).
‘Must’ appears over 250 times in the Act. It can mean the OC has an inescapable obligation to act, an imperative, such as the must of s 106 which is the section about maintenance and repairs but then ‘must’ can also be simply a procedural term in which case non compliance with the ‘must’ leads to no real consequence. Such as the ‘musts’ found in section 1 of the Act that related to general meeting procedures (see Sher Global case for a good example).
The ‘must’ of Reg 34 (3) appears to be very much the same type of ‘must’ as the ones in Sher Global and if that is the case then there is nothing invalid about an action taken without complying with that ‘must’.
Someone needs to tow a vehicle without meeting with the ‘requirements’ of the notice and see what the courts (or Tribunal) have to say.
The real fun of the SSM Act and ‘must’ is you can’t know what a particular ’must’ means until after the case.
Good one Parliament!
A simple valve stem remover will fix intermittent parking.
We received the following question via email from a NSW Strata Professional after they read this post:
Is it enforceable to tow if there is no bylaw?
Leanne Habib, Premium Strata provided the following response:
Yes, vehicles may be towed from the common property. (Note that even if there is a by-law, such by-law may be unlawful).
Removal of offending motor vehicles is now governed by the STRATA SCHEMES MANAGEMENT REGULATION 2016 – REG 34 Removal of motor vehicles: section 125 of Act. This is the only lawful manner in which to remove motor vehicles in certain circumstances and the process must be adhered to strictly. Note that this section does not extend to vehicles parked in private car spaces.
34 REMOVAL OF MOTOR VEHICLES: SECTION 125 OF ACT
(1) This clause applies to a motor vehicle left on common property that is placed so that it blocks an exit or entrance or otherwise obstructs the use of common property.
(2) The owners corporation may take action under this clause if the owners corporation has placed a removal notice on or near the motor vehicle and the requirements of the notice are not complied with within the period specified in the removal notice.
(3) A removal notice must:
(a) not be less than the size of an A4 piece of paper, and
(b) be placed in a position or be in a material so that the contents of the notice are not likely to be detrimentally affected by weather, and
(c) describe the motor vehicle and state the date and time the notice was issued, and
(d) state that the motor vehicle will be removed if it is not moved from the common property or so that it no longer obstructs common property before the date and time specified in the notice (being not earlier than 5 days after the notice was placed on or near the motor vehicle), and
(e) specify contact details for a member of the strata committee, the strata managing agent or a delegate of the owners corporation in relation to the notice.
(4) The owners corporation may cause a motor vehicle to be moved to another place on common property or to the nearest place to which it may be lawfully moved, or moved so that it no longer blocks an exit or entrance or otherwise obstructs the use of common property, and for that purpose the owners corporation is taken to be the owner of the motor vehicle
(5) The Tribunal may, on application by the owners corporation, order that the owner of a motor vehicle moved to another place under this clause, pay to the owners corporation the reasonable costs incurred by the owners corporation in moving the motor vehicle .
(6) In this clause:
“motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in the Impounding Act 1993.