Neighbour has put split system units on my side of boundary (on his wall)
- Thread starter nomadic
- Start date
Council said it's illegal but they can't do anything because it's a civil matter. They said I have to go through VCAT and I would win but I'd still have to go through the whole rigmarole and pay legal fees etc.
The problem is I live o'seas so it's a pain to attend to. If I was in Melbourne, I'd pop around and knock on the door to find out if it was the landlord or tenant who installed them and ask for the units to be repositioned on their roof.
I'm not sure if it's owner occupied or tenanted. I can pay $16 at council for a title search to find the owner's name and contact info but it wouldn't help if the tenant's were the ones who installed the units. The owner could live in Afghanistan and be unaware what his tenants have done. But it's a factory so it's likely the lease is commercial and the tenants have installed them.
I plan to post this letter to the address but can't send it registered mail because I need a name to address to. Does anyone think it would hold up if I got a mate to drop it into their letterbox? Can they counterclaim for trespass of goods if I remove them after a nominated time? Is 30 days fair or should I make it longer?
To whom it may concern,
I am the owner of [address] and it has come to my attention that someone from your address has attached two split system compressor units on my side of the boundary.
Please remove the two units, including the water drainage pipes, from my property within 30 days from the date of this notice. I suggest the roof of your property is a suitable location to relocate them.
If you wish to keep them in place, we can discuss a lease arrangement for you to rent this space, with the condition that both units are removed at the end of the lease.
Please contact me by phone or email if you wish to discuss this matter. If you do not remove these units from my property before October 10 2014, I will employ a tradesman to remove them and you will be invoiced the service charge.
Regards,
John Connor
You never ever concede an adverse intrusion into your property as that can give rise to an adverse possession claim.
Are you saying I shouldn't offer them the option to lease the space because it gives them more rights to access my property which can create further problems?
Should I remove the option for them to lease the space and only request the units be removed within 30 days?
Of course you should never let someone take your space without your prior permission. It is an intrusion against your property rights. We had this situation on our development site when the previous owner failed to enforce the boundaries. Ended up costing me lots of money - tell him to remove it or get someone to enforce the bloody law!
I would leave out the suggestion about the roof, as it's really not your problem where they put them, and if it turns out they can only put them on the roof by making a worse problem for you - maybe draining onto your property, or noise is worse, etc. - then you give them a comeback of "well, he said to put them on the roof!". Just tell them to remove them from your property and leave it at that.
With regards to the lease, I see two problems.
1) As Aaron correctly points out, it may create adverse possession issues.
2) You've already given the tenant a lease that grants them a right to exclusive possession of the property. Re-leasing some of your tenant's possession rights to the neighbours would be in violation of the primary lease.
just send the VCAT notice to the owner (it's their responsibility to keep their details updated), get someone authorized to appear for you in VCAT and get the judgement. Once that happens, you can basically enforce the judgement.
i had a case when the fencer built like 20-30cm into neighbour's boundary and as it was empty land, when the time came the neighbour decided to built, they just ripped off the fence. couldn't do anything abt it as it was the fencer's fault.
i had a case when the fencer built like 20-30cm into neighbour's boundary and as it was empty land, when the time came the neighbour decided to built, they just ripped off the fence. couldn't do anything abt it as it was the fencer's fault.
Of course I'd never let someone take my space without prior permission and that's what this thread is about -- how do I rectify this situation? I thought you were telling CHAOS I shouldn't offer them to lease the space.
Thanks, good point about not mentioning the roof to reposition them but I still don't understand your 1) point about adverse possession.
How much will that cost? Once I have the judgement I can then remove the units without fear of legal repercussion that I'm stealing or vandalizing his air con units?
Do you know the VCAT process? I'll pay you to do it. Send me a PM if you're interested.
Exactly. Never ever let anyone take your space and do not consent to it through a lease. It's just not how to do it.
Adverse possession means if the property intrusion is allowed to happen for a set period of time, they can claim that land as their own! Isn't that an issue you don't want to happen?
Ah ok so I shouldn't offer them the option to lease the space?
Just tell them to get their stuff off my property within 30 days or else I'll do it for them?
Thanks for the tip, I wouldn't expect they could claim my land as their own but it wouldn't surprise me with squatter rights etc.
You have to go through the proper process of course as you don't want to be charged with a criminal offence of trespass and/or damage to property.
Yes.
And please note the point I've already made that everybody seems to be missing: you've already leased that space to your tenant. You can't re-lease it to somebody else.
You have a right to ask for removal on the basis of a potential for adverse possession, but in terms of the immediate nuisance, it's really your tenant whose rights are being infringed.
Ok it sounds like a VCAT thing. I'll read up on the process later but hopefully I can lodge a claim from o'seas. If I win, does the other party have to pay my costs?
I can't believe I have to go through all this bollocks just to get their crap off my property. This stupid installation decision of theirs will cost us both time and money in the end.
Maybe I could send a guy around to remove the units. They would never know who removed them and if they did, what are they gonna do? Police are useless and will tell them it's a civil matter and go to VCAT.
Nah man - you need someone professional to represent you and then do all the other stuff, normally when you get a judgement etc like these the owner or tenant normally just removes them voluntarily. Similar to where a tenant gets evicted - i get the sheriff in to evict them. althought in this case an electrician might be involved.
Thanks, good post about infringing on my tenant's right to the property.
However the current tenant is moving out soon so a new one will be moving in while these units are likely still in place.
This place will be vacant for awhile though.. I've gotta re-stump the front 2 rooms, patch cracked plasterwork, paint walls, change carpet, do kitchen/bathroom and other stuff. If anyone's in Melbourne and can recommend some tradies that would be great. Property is in Brunswick.
So I gotta pay for a hearing, a lawyer and an electrician to complete this process? Or does the loser have to pay these costs? And I'm out of pocket in the meantime?
Not sure if you've mentioned this, but do you have a property manager? Get them to chase it up and appear at VCAT on your behalf. I would be keeping this VERY simple if I was you. Get the stuff removed from your side of the property. Don't go suggesting where it gets moved to or trying to make money out of this situation - just get them removed.
you don't need a lawyer at VCAT - you could get your Property manager or someone else to represent you. Being it seems like a straight case of where the ACs are and where your boundary's are.
the tenant's vcat cost are like $55. not sure what the cost of this dispute would be. You would have to document your case whereby you actually made an attempt to contact the owner (registered post) etc before lodging the dispute.
You would have to seek the costs like your time, PM's time, electrician's costs etc etc from the owner. Eventhough you get a judgement, it does not necessarily mean he would pay. i would be a bit wary in terms of the ACs beingremoved as they could say the electrician or whoever damaged the building etc.
Sounds messy, i would have thought a quick knock on the door to the next door could resolve it peacefully.