Monthly Archives: July 2012

A Spring, Texas, homeowners association has reversed its decision to make a family get rid of its 6-month-old kangaroo after learning the little joey is being used to help the family’s special needs daughter.

Jeni Dreis bought Mike, a red kangaroo, in February to be the main attraction in her new nonprofit organization, Downs Texas, a wildlife preserve that will also help teach vocational skills to special needs adults. According to Your Conroe News , Dreis planned on keeping Mike at her home until he was big enough to live outside safely at the preserve. She also wanted the young kangaroo to stay temporarily with the family as a way to help her 16-year-old daughter, Kayla, who has Down syndrome.

A month after Mike moved in, though, the family received a letter from their HOA, The Estates of Legends Ranch, saying that Mike wasn’t allowed to stay. The Dreises were surprised at the request; not only did the association allow up to three pets, but Mike also lived strictly indoors, away from any neighbors who might not want to interact with him. The letter claimed that the 10-pound kangaroo wasn’t a pet, nor could it be kept for business purposes, and that failure to remove him would result in a $5 charge added to the Dreises’ assessment.

After the Dreises took their dilemma to the media, the HOA gave Mike the green light to stay. The TM Daily Post reports that the board issued a statement saying the original letter should have never been sent, and that the association had been unaware that the kangaroo was only a temporary house guest that was being used to assist Kayla’s special needs. The Dreises are glad their daughter, who has bonded with Mike, can keep her new friend as planned, where he will stay for about a year until he moves to the 124-acre wildlife preserve the Dreises are building.
Article provided by: Community Associations Institute USA click here

A recent case where a man has become the first person in NSW to be charged with manslaughter over a backyard pool drowning death should be a wakeup call to everyone, including owners corporations and community schemes, who maintain a swimming pool on their property.

The sad situation of the child falling into this man’s pool arose due to an alleged broken perimeter fence, which was to act as the pool barrier. For up to twelve months it allegedly remained in disrepair which may have allowed the 2 year old boy to fall into the pool and drown.

Police have the power to charge a person with manslaughter over inadequately fenced pools and spas should they determine that adequate steps were not taken to prevent access, but this is the first time this has occurred.

Everyone should be alert to dangers around pools and spas and if you see something that can be a potential hazard always report it promptly to your building or strata manager.

The Minister for Fair Trading, Hon Anthony Roberts MP, recently launched the ‘Governing the Compact City’ report, which was prepared by the City Futures Research Centre at the University of NSW.
This report includes findings from multi-year research, drawing on the experience of 1,550 NSW strata owners, strata managing agents, and peak body representatives. The report comprehensively details the challenges faced in effective strata living and provides an evidence base to inform future reforms in this area.
The report was supported by the Australian Research Council, in partnership with NSW Fair Trading, NSW Land and Property Information, Strata Community Australia, the Owners Corporation Network of Australia, Macquarie Bank and Lannock Strata Finance.
The three main aims were:
1. to explore the role, capacity and effectiveness of owners corporations,
2. to explore the capacity and effectiveness of strata managing agents, and
3. to assess how well residential strata works from a strata owner’s point of view.
More information:
Executive Summary
click here
Final Report
click here