Condominiums

All condominiums -- private democracies -- operate under a set of governing documents. You can read yours (CC&Rs and By-laws, plus any board resolutions) to better understand the rules that govern your condominium pool in Florida.

The Florida condominium law serves as a template for all condominiums in the state. Your governing documents are particular to your community, and they are based on Florida law.

If your governing documents do not define pool operations, you can hire a Florida association-savvy attorney to help you interpret the Florida law that may apply to pool operations.

condo

Regardless of your location, a villa is a style of residence: condominium is a form of real estate ownership without a definition of the residence style.

Your question is answered by federal accessibility laws, which may dictate handicap access, depending on the use of the building.

Further, your state condominium law and your governing documents may recommend or dictate the number, location, and assignment of handicap parking spaces depending on the density of the complex.

Your best answer is available from your local association-savvy attorney who will help you understand the requirements in your case given the details, above.

Your answer depends on what 'private' use you expect of the limited common area that is dedicated to your unit.

Limited common areas are subject to inspection by the association or its agents, maintenance, and insurance, and perhaps more, according to your governing documents.

If you want to film action movies on your deck, store street drugs in your garage or other 'private' acts, be aware that these may be banned, discovered, or disallowed by your association's declarations.

If you want to decorate your private hallway that you share with only two other units of the seventy in your association, your governing documents should be clear on this use.

You are best advised to discuss your 'private' use with your managing agent, or a board member, so that you are confident that your 'privacy' is understood and agreed upon.

Read your governing documents to determine who owns the door, who is responsible for maintaining it and how maintenance and access are defined.

In this case, your garage, its door, overhead lights and fan, attic space, cement pad and so forth may be defined as 'limited common area' that is owned by the association in common with all other owners, but dedicated to fewer than all the owners.

In this case, as well, since you are the only owner who 'uses' the garage door, the association may repair or replace it and charge your account.

When you want to combine two neighboring condominium units, you have certain obligations to your association to review this plan for purchase and any remodeling work you propose before executing any formal documents.

You can work with your board or property manager to most fully understand your requirements and the approval process necessary before you proceed.

For example, there may be allocated interest issues. As well, if you plan to punch through the floor/ceiling between two units on different floors, or modify the structural walls between two units on the same floor, there will be considerations involved.

In USA, and possibly in other locales, condominium is unique to a form of real estate ownership. A condominium community is governed by a set of governing documents that usually defines a board of directors who operate the corporation, and more.

In a cooperative society, there is no implied definition of real estate ownership, and the over-arching foundation is that everybody agrees about everything.

A condominium can be regarded as a private democracy, where owners vote on some items, and board votes generally define action that is taken by the corporation.

It depends on the type of lien and the state where the condominium is located. You are best advised to hire an association-savvy attorney to help you.

If you are a vendor filing for unpaid work, you have a different set of issues than if you are the association filing a lien for unpaid assessments.

Generally, a condominium is a collection of multi-family units and an HOA consists of single-family units.

However, this generalization is not always exact.

Both are ownership styles of real estate, where owners own individual units and own common areas in common with all other owners.

Read your governing documents to determine the qualifications for sitting on the board. Usually, election to the board is reserved for unit owners, and each board member must own at least one unit. Ownership is represented by a 'name on the title or deed to the real property'.

If each family member owns a unit, there may be no issue. If, however, the family members share the same unit, then the issue arises that each unit only has one vote, and this is true, too, of board members.

Finally, it's a good idea for family members who qualify to vote individually to be able to demonstrate impartiality when voting in an association when/if multiple members occupy board seats.

Your governing documents could specify the interest rate.

Your governing documents can make this clear. Every condominium's definition of the ownership boundaries is different from every other property's definition.

Because of fire codes, if you're referencing the frame and crawl space exclusively above your unit, it's possible that they are referred to as limited common elements -- or common elements, depending on legal phrase used by the developer and the attorney s/he hired to craft your governing documents.

Condominium real estate ownership is a particular form of ownership: every 'unit' owner owns a unit and also owns the remainder of the 'community' property in common with all other owners.

A 'unit' can be an apartment, a retail space, or a stand-alone building. It can be a boat slip, a warehouse unit and so forth. It can also be a single family home.

'Community' assets can be a high-rise building and its land, a series of multi-family buildings and the land upon which those buildings sit, a collection of amenities, such as a club house, a pool, a golf-course, or the land upon which a single-family home sits.

Otherwise, a single family home is owned by an owner, who also owns the land upon which the house sits. The owner's name is the only name on the title in addition to whatever mortgage lender is involved, if any.

Your broker and real estate attorney can help you obtain the certificate you want.

A time share condominium is a scheme under which individual owners can purchase the use of a condominium by the week, usually in a resort or other vacation destination. Buyers do not own any fee interest in the until. They own the right to use it for a certain time period. For example, a friend owns a three week time share in a beachfront condominium in Nassau. They have assigned weeks every year. Another friend owns a four week time share through a major resort hotel chain that can be used in numerous resorts around the US.

Swimming pools are defined as "common property" which is supported and maintained by the general assessments that are levied on all the condo owners. Condominium law does not specify how the the pools should be operated, or even that a condo must have one. Those decisions are left to the Boards of Directors of the individual associations.

You can find the regulations for your pool in your governing documents.

You don't indicate in your question whether you have a court action or are contemplating one.

If owners are already in court in an action against the association, the key will be documentation and proof and your governing documents -- which are based on your state's condominium law. Your attorney can counsel and guide you about what to collect.

If you haven't filed an action yet, be aware that there is work people can do without spending money to clarify situations.

Your association is made up of owners elected by other owners who volunteer their time to serve as the board of directors of the association, which is a business: it's the business of protecting, preserving and maintaining the real estate assets that your private democracy owns in common.

The first step any board member must take is to read and understand the governing documents. It's the 'constitution' and 'bill of rights' that governs the operation of the community.

(If your association is new and your association remains under the control of the developer, that's a question that hasn't been asked.)

The first step any homeowner must take is to read the governing documents. When owners complain, the complaint must be legitimate under the unique guidelines for that community.

Your governing documents set out the process whereby owners can change the governing documents, vote board members off the board and so forth, usually by a majority vote or super majority vote of all owners -- not just those present at a board meeting.

If you have a particular complaint, please ask a more specific question.

My parents used to live in a condominium but they bought a house two years before I was born.

In most states, the developer commissions a set of governing documents that are made available to every buyer.

Once the documents are in place, depending on the operational issue, a different set of owners' vote may be required to modify existing documents.

Modifications to CC&Rs usually require a higher percentage of members' votes than do modifications to the By-Laws.

According to Community Associations Institute, the latest number available, for 2009, indicates that there are 60.1 million residents in 24.4 million housing units located in 305 association-governed communities in the United States.

Your governing documents will advise you whether or not you curb your membership rights when you pay your assessments late.

For example, you may or may not be able to vote in association business, or your rights and privileges to some key amenities may be restricted or stopped.

Your governing documents will make this clear.

The state law may limit the number of month's past due assessments can be recovered.

Your association's attorney can answer your question directly.