Residents of NSW apartments are another step closer towards being
allowed to legally keep a pet with the passing of a crucial law in parliament
last week.
The Legislative Council has finally agreed to amend the Strata
Schemes Management Act, making it illegal for strata buildings to unreasonably
ban the keeping of animals.
Last October, the Court of Appeal ruled in the landmark Horizon
building case that resident Jo Cooper was allowed to keep her miniature
schnauzer Angus after a costly four-and-a-half-year battle.
Leading strata lawyer Amanda Farmer, of Sydney legal practice
Lawyers Chambers welcomed the clarity brought by the new law, which will take
effect later this year.
"The lack of legislative reform
after the Horizon case caused a lot of confusion as many people mistakenly
believed the issue was settled from that point onwards,” she said.
"I’ve had a continual stream of
residents in the last four months telling me they don’t know what’s going on
and bemused that apartments still have pet bans.
"It’s
taken a while, but the passing of this new legislation now recognises the
changed community attitude towards the keeping of pets in apartments and is a
vindication for animal-lovers everywhere.”
Ms. Farmer said that, with the law soon to be in force, strata
committees should not be unreasonably refusing applications by residents to
keep pets.
"Enforcing a blanket pet ban and
refusing to allow a pet without a very good reason at this point is just
delaying the inevitable.
This law
will come into force soon, and when it does any by-laws or decisions about pets
considered ‘unreasonable’ will be of no effect.”
RealRenta has all
the tools that a property manager has, but at over ¼ the cost of a property
manager.
Join now and the
cost is less than a cup of coffee a week to manage your rental property
RealRenta also has a
free vision, so why not check it out
Jason Gwerder
Monday, 22 March 2021