ASSOCIATIONHELPNOW

Questions and Answers About Community Association Law

We do not have the ability to fine. Residents refuse to remove their scooters from hallways. Generally, something in the hallway would be removed by staff. Do we have to allow residents to store their scooters in the hallway because they are disabled? May we take these scooters away ourselves?

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First, why is there no ability to fine? Even if there is no provision for that now in the Governing Documents, the (Pennsylvania) Board can enact a fine policy/rule/regulation that is effective going forward.

Next, as to the underlying issue, the residents storing their scooters in the hallways. If that is prohibited by your Governing Documents, and they are not disabled, then enact a find policy (per the preceding paragraph) and enforce it. If one or more of the residents is disabled, then you need to discuss what a reasonable accommodation will be, one that helps that person with their issue and that also keeps the hallways safe for everyone else. If there is no good reason they leave the scooters in the hallways, other than not wanting to take up space in their Unit, then I suggest that is not medically-related (regardless of the need for the scooter) and they should be required to take them into their units.

Sara A. Austin
Austin Law Firm LLC
226 E. Market St.
York, PA 17403
717.846.2246 phone
717.846.2248 fax
saustin@austinlawllc.com
www.austinlawllc.com

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Hallways are general common area. Board has complete authority in that area. Therefore, the scooters can be taken away by the board at any time without warning.

I cannot see how a disability would require a scooter needing to be stored in the hallway. It can easily be stored in the unit instead.

Rinaldo Acri
ACRI Commercial Realty
290 Perry Highway, Suite 1
Pittsburgh, PA 15229-1864
(412) 459-0111
rinaldo.acri@acrirlty.com
www.acrirlty.com

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I would recommend a rule that does not allow storage of personal property in hallways or storage of any items outside any units in common hallways. The rule should be kept fairly generic so that the Association can disallow any person property stored in common areas.

David Hellmuth
Hellmuth & Johnson, PLLC
8050 West 78th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55439
(952) 746-2107
dhellmuth@hjlawfirm.com
www.hjlawfirm.com

How should an association handle reports of possible hoarding?

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Boards, depending upon state law, are generally permitted to access an owner’s unit in the event of an emergency, which would include, but not specifically be limited to, situations where damage to the common elements is imminent and life safety issues. So, if a violation report has been registered with the board of a life safety issue or of possible damage to the common elements, the board arguably would have the right to access the unit in question.

Entering into a party’s unit without express permission is always problematic, though; so, I would recommend that if the board is informed and believes that a violation has occurred that it should request in writing permission to enter. If entry is refused, unless the Board is informed and believes that a life safety issue exists which is imminent, I would recommend that the board institute a declaratory judgment action to request the court to declare that the association is entitled to entry, which the unit owner in question has denied.

Patrick O’Dea
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP
BNC Bank Corporate Center, Suite 300
3751 Robert M. Grissom Parkway
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
843.946.5631
patrick.odea@nelsonmullins.com
www.nelsonmullins.com

Our Board is trying to lease out an abandoned unit in our condo community. we cannot reach the owner/bank/lender. A Court rendered a decision in our favor that the owner owes the condo almost $50,000 in delinquent monthly common fees. what, if anything, could we pursue?

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The Association can pursue the unit owner for the judgment. This would involve locating a bank account or some other assets/property that could be garnished or sold to satisfy the judgment. [Read more…] about Our Board is trying to lease out an abandoned unit in our condo community. we cannot reach the owner/bank/lender. A Court rendered a decision in our favor that the owner owes the condo almost $50,000 in delinquent monthly common fees. what, if anything, could we pursue?

My building’s super is also a shareholder. He also serves on the board. I think this is a conflict of interest, as he is basically his own boss and has a voting bloc that approves anything he does. Is this a conflict of interest? I cannot get some of my fellow shareholders to realize this.

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[Read more…] about My building’s super is also a shareholder. He also serves on the board. I think this is a conflict of interest, as he is basically his own boss and has a voting bloc that approves anything he does. Is this a conflict of interest? I cannot get some of my fellow shareholders to realize this.

We have been told we could be sued for age discrimination if do not remove the rule and signage that no one under the age of 16 was allowed to use the pool without an adult. Is that true?

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[Read more…] about We have been told we could be sued for age discrimination if do not remove the rule and signage that no one under the age of 16 was allowed to use the pool without an adult. Is that true?

Do we need the approval of all homeowners to add their contact information to a community directory that will be shared with all the members? What can a shared directory contain? Names, home addresses, phone, email addresses?

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[Read more…] about Do we need the approval of all homeowners to add their contact information to a community directory that will be shared with all the members? What can a shared directory contain? Names, home addresses, phone, email addresses?

We have a homeowner that has started up an email address using our associations name. He is using it for the upcoming election with some advice for people regarding the ballot. Is that a misrepresentation of an email coming from the association? When homeowners get it they are thinking that it is coming from the management company and the Board of Directors. This has caused a lot of confusion about the upcoming election.

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[Read more…] about We have a homeowner that has started up an email address using our associations name. He is using it for the upcoming election with some advice for people regarding the ballot. Is that a misrepresentation of an email coming from the association? When homeowners get it they are thinking that it is coming from the management company and the Board of Directors. This has caused a lot of confusion about the upcoming election.

When a condo collects a judgment via wage garnishment, does the condo also need to provide “credits” towards that judgment in the amounts of the regular monthly maintenance fees that the Unit Owner is paying each month? In other words, does ANY new payment that is made have to be applied to the judgment balance (i.e. payments applied to oldest outstanding balance)? Or do monthly maintenance fees count towards that month’s maintenance fees, and the wage garnishments apply against the judgment?

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[Read more…] about When a condo collects a judgment via wage garnishment, does the condo also need to provide “credits” towards that judgment in the amounts of the regular monthly maintenance fees that the Unit Owner is paying each month? In other words, does ANY new payment that is made have to be applied to the judgment balance (i.e. payments applied to oldest outstanding balance)? Or do monthly maintenance fees count towards that month’s maintenance fees, and the wage garnishments apply against the judgment?

We have owners would like to install a pellet stoves in their units. There is nothing mentioned in the governing docs, but we have architectural control. The building inspector said they would require approval from the association before issuing a permit. Townhouse residents are nervous about these kind of stoves. Would the recommendation of an engineering inspection in regard to safety be called for?

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[Read more…] about We have owners would like to install a pellet stoves in their units. There is nothing mentioned in the governing docs, but we have architectural control. The building inspector said they would require approval from the association before issuing a permit. Townhouse residents are nervous about these kind of stoves. Would the recommendation of an engineering inspection in regard to safety be called for?