To Let sign (illegally) in common area - any sanction for EA

elcato

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Sign put up at the front of apartment (garden railings) without permission. Management rules state clearly no signs. I reported it to managing agent and they have come back to say they've have told them to remove. Problem is that two days later and it's still there. I know I could rip it down myself but is there anyone I can report this behaviour to from a legal point of view to make sure they get a sanction of some sort ?
 
Assuming it is in a common area owned by the managment company and is against the rules, then they (The Managment Company)
should arrange to have it removed.
I think you should however be willing to give them more than 2 days to do so?
 
I know I could rip it down myself but is there anyone I can report this behaviour to from a legal point of view to make sure they get a sanction of some sort ?
If it's a privately managed area then the management company (probably via their management agent).
 
The only sanction available that I can think of would be one of criminal damage if the erection of the sign did any such damage.
 
I think you should however be willing to give them more than 2 days to do so?
I presume you mean the EA ? They have people who can put these up very quickly but conveniently take ages to take them down. It would be nice to put the same fire under them both ways by means of a sanction such as a fine.
 
I'm assuming you are an apartment owner, and therefore a member but not a director of the Managment Company.
Also that the Managment Company has hired an agent to manage the complex.
Strictly speaking you should talk to a director of the MC., but the Agent might also deal with you.
If this is eg a For Sale Sign, I wouldn't be bothered with it as it surely will be temporary.
But if it's really annoying you I would follow up with an enquiry to a MC Director who hopefully will share your concerns?
 
Presumably the sign is advertising the sale of one of the apartments in the building. If so, it has been put up by an estate agent who is acting on behalf of the owner of that apartment, one of your fellow-members of the management company. Your options are:

- take it up with the owner concerned; or

- take it up with one of the directors of the management company, and ask him to take it up with the owner concerned.

In either case, the owner concerned can be asked to arrange to have the sign removed.

The management company may well tell you that there is a practice of allowing owners who wish to sell their apartments to advertise the sale of the apartment in this way. It's obviously good for owners in general to be able to sell their apartments as advantageously as possible, and allowing temporary signs of this kind seems to be common. If that's the view taken by your management company then they won't ask the owner concerned tor remove the sign. If you're not happy about that, your only avenue for seeking change is to work, as a member of the management company, to have the policy changed and the rules on signs strictly enforced. That may involve working with other owners who feel the same way as you; it may involve seeking election to the board of the management company so that you can have a more direct influence on the policy around signs.

If the management company does ask the owner to remove the sign, there's no sanction for having put it up, other than having to remove it. If the owner doesn't remove it, the management company can ask whoever they have retained to do the property management and maintenance to remove it, and the rules of the management company probably allow them to invoice the offending owner for the reasonably-incurred costs of doing this, But the cost is probably negligible.

There's no sanction at all for the estate agent involved. They're not a member of the management company and are not bound by its rules.
 
just beware of using words such as "illegal".

It may be against the OMC rules / management agents rules, but it would not be consider "illegal". So I'd avoid using such wording.

I can't see an issue in you taking direct action and removing the sign as it could be considered as litter and as a member of the omc you are ensuring the place doesn't have a littered appearance.
 
I can't see an issue in you taking direct action and removing the sign as it could be considered as litter and as a member of the omc you are ensuring the place doesn't have a littered appearance.
I doubt the EA would consider the sign to have been discarded, if it's secured it isn't litter and it remains their property. Removing without returning it to them undamaged could be considered theft, though one they aren't going to be too bothered by.
 
I would just remove it. I have lived in multiple apartment complexes and all of them had a prohibition on these signs.

The EA or letting agent is just chancing their arm. They know they cannot put the sign up in apartment complexes without consent of the OMC. Erecting these signs, especially a 'To Let' one, seems pointless to me.
 
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The EA or letting agent is just chancing their arm. They know they cannot put the sign up in apartment complexes without consent of the OMC. Erecting these signs, especially a 'To Let' one, seems pointless to me.
This is the nub of the problem. I am an owner and requested the removal via the agent as it is indeed against the rules. I was hoping I could somehow dissuade the practice by some law but it appears that there isn't any. Thanks
 
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