This tenant was forced to choose between wet clothes or a warning from building management.
A Redditor from Melbourne asked r/melbourne for advice after a sudden change in apartment washing rules resulted in their receiving a warning.
"The owners Corp rules state that you can dry washing on balcony," the user explained. "The building management has now sent a letter stating washing on balconies simply isn't allowed and that I will be issued a [breach] notice … What avenues are open for me to argue this?"
While the post says that the owners corporation rules allowed drying clothes on the balcony under certain circumstances, including if laundry was not left to dry overnight, building management seemed to be enforcing a policy of disallowing drying clothes on balconies.
This is unfortunate for the Reddit user (who didn't want to hang clothes inside their small apartment). Hanging clothes to dry can save quite a bit of money on energy bills. Build With Rise estimates you'll save just over $100 every year by air-drying your clothes. If you typically dry at a laundromat, you could be saving hundreds more by air-drying instead.
It'll reduce your carbon footprint, too, as air-drying clothes can reduce the average household's carbon footprint by 2,400 pounds a year, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.
This is just another instance of landlords preventing renters from making money-saving, sustainable choices. Another tenant had their garden destroyed by their landlord. Yet another was threatened with criminal charges by their landlord if they charged their electric vehicle.
While it's different from a rental scenario, homeowners associations can also be restrictive. Is an HOA stopping your journey toward sustainability? Find advice in our guide to change your community's bylaws.
Redditors in the comments gave the user valuable insight on how to approach the situation.
"The owners corp may have just had a meeting and changed the rules about hanging washing on balconies. … I'd be asking for a copy of the updated building bylaws (if you own). And if you're renting, it's the owner's responsibility to tell the rental agent to inform you of any changes," one user said.
"I think this is an intimidation tactic to be quite honest," another user commented. "When they issued you a notice, a copy of the registered rules of the Owners Corporation should have been enclosed referring you to the specific rule you have breached (so if there had been a change of the rules you would have been made aware)."
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