Housing Associations

Read your governing documents to determine the location and size of any for sale sign allowed in your community.

The association may be able to restrict its placement and size, but forbidding it could be considered unreasonable.

If you own a unit in an association, and formally the association does not allow rentals -- with a section in its governing documents detailing specifics --you may occupy the unit, but you may not rent it.

Your treasurer, president, or association manager can help you review your Reserve Study, or other source of funding for your reserve account.

Typically, the reserve account covers major asset replacement or repairs, for elements such as roofs, windows, elevators, asphalt and so forth. It may also cover amenities, such as pool, club house furniture -- depending on your association's assets.

Your governing documents should be clear on this issue.

If no assessments are collected by the association, how can the association recover? There is rarely 100% coverage by a master insurance policy on a condominium community.

This is one of the great reasons to purchase an HO-6 condominium owners' policy with assessment coverage, so that in the case of a disaster, your assessments are paid by insurance.

You may be referring to an inclusion in the purchase/sale agreement documentation packet which details the status of the unit and documents the status of certain business aspects of the association. The packet is part of what a new buyer signs for when buying property within an association.

The 'resale certificate' is usually produced by the management company, and states the financial status of the unit being sold; i.e., is there a lien on the title; special assessments payments remaining, monthly assessment amount, and possibly more.

The certificate also states the percentage of owner/occupied units, unsold units, rental units, any anticipated special assessments, where the association is in any construction defect negotiations/ litigation/ repair process, constitution of the board, and more.

You can ask your property manager to give you a preview copy of the 'resale certificate' (it may have another name) appropriate for your unit, so that you can clarify any status issues you may have with your unit's resale profile.

Your question assumes that the deed holder and the owner are two separate people, one or both of which have their name on the deed.

Or, the deed is held by a bank, or other entity.

Association assessments are the responsibility of the owner listed on the deed, whether the owner or deed holder is a resident or not.

Almost anyone involved in an association could be involved in litigation. HOAs are businesses, made up of owners who pay vendors, live next to other neighbors and so forth. Any and all of these could be involved. In this situation, attorneys are assumed.

Cat Condos are a form of cat scratch that can be used in your home for your pet felines. These can be purchased from specialists shops or from general pet stores. There are also online shops that Cat Condos can be purchased from. Even shops such as Argos stock a few designs.

The exact year of construction for the Seacrest Condos in Hilton Head may vary depending on the specific building within the complex. Generally, the Seacrest Condos were built around the late 1970s to early 1980s.

There is no standard for common interest ownership communities: your master insurance policy determines coverage criteria.

The insurance industry's standard for your geography may also apply, according to where the mold occurs in the building.

Your board and association manager are best equipped to answer your question.

Read your governing documents to determine the process required to make this change.

It is possible that if only three board members are elected, the number -- for the duration of those terms -- automatically becomes three.

Be aware, however, that a three-member board may be hampered in its ability to 'do the work', given busy lives, illness, non-resident owners and so forth. When even one member is not available for a meeting, and the two remaining directors cannot agree on a vote, then, the matter must await a new meeting, the presence of the third director and a new vote.

When two members are not available, no work can be done.

Legal is the interesting term in this question, and may be beside the point. Best practices dictate that at least, this is unfair.

If you're paying 100% of the electric bill, you can bill the association for the remainder of the bill that represents other owners' use.

Your monthly assessments pay bills for communal services, and if this is the communal electric service, assessments should pay for this electricity.

Your first step should be to separate your electric use from other owners' use, so you can pay your fair share. Or convert the name on the electric account to the name of the association.


Generally, however, in condominiums, fixed fees are paid by assessments; use-based consumption is paid for individually.

Yes.

Read your governing documents to determine the association's process for accessing limited common areas -- such as your deck, your dedicated garage, your attic -- only accessible through your unit. Generally, notice is required unless in case of emergency, when no notice is required.

By refusing access, you hamper the association's ability to do its job, which is to protect, preserve and maintain the real estate assets that all owners own in common. Usually, this means roofs, exterior walls, doors, utility delivery systems behind the walls and so forth.

It is entirely appropriate that you pay a fine, because by denying access, you have cost all owners additional expenses to perform the work required.

Work with the board to determine whose responsibility is to repair and whose responsibility it is to pay for the repairs.

The board will work with the broker who handles the master insurance policy.

Your governing documents are definitive about who pays for what.

Generally, if a repair benefits some but not all of the association's members, then some, but not all of the association's members pay for the repair. This may or may not be true in your specific case.

All members own all the real estate assets involved in the community, and are required to pay -- either by assessment contribution to reserves, or by special assessment -- for repairs, except as specified in your governing documents.

Members who refuse to pay if they are required to pay, can be fined by the board, or the board can file liens on their units for the owed amounts.

The board may be limited to listing the unit numbers and not be permitted to list the names, under the privacy laws that govern the location where the condominium is located.

In Hong Kong, for example, non-paying owners' names are listed on bulletin boards.

Owners who do not pay their assessments enjoy the resources of the community while not paying for them. The board has the responsibility to collect these debts. Listing the unit numbers in the financial reports is appropriate from a financial perspective, since the association's income is assessments, and unpaid assessments must be account for.

The Illinois Condominium Act serves as a template for your governing documents, which is where you'll find the guidelines for the answer to the question that you asked.

If your association is also a corporation, the answer may be there.

Look for a section with Removal of a Director in the title.

The timing of a board-member removal is rather like death: there's never really a convenient time for it. But in both cases, demise can also be welcome.

It is probably good that a property manager be involved as they have a different perspective than everybody else. They may be biased toward certain things but everyone else would balance them out.

If the association has obtained some kind of judgement against you in a court of law for monies owed, the state collections statutes apply to actions that association can and cannot take to collect the money owed according to the judgement.

If the association is participating in a bankruptcy process as the petitioner, the association needs your participation.

If, however, your unit is being foreclosed upon, read your governing documents to determine whether or not you still qualify to participate as a director -- your ownership now being overshadowed.

The pet policy at Shadow Lake Village condos in NJ may vary. It is advised to contact the property management directly to inquire about their specific pet policy and any restrictions or requirements they may have in place for residents with pets.

You may need to seek the advice of your tax attorney, the trust attorney or other advisor for the answer you seek.

The clear answer is yes, if the special needs trust is the titled owner of the real estate that is subject to the assessment.

Your answer lies in the state law that governs condominiums. Your governing documents may address this issue, and they may not. In any event, the state law is usually superior to your governing documents. (An association savvy attorney in your locale can help you make this determination.)

Certain records of an association constitute private and confidential information available only to board members. These records usually focus on delinquencies, bankruptcies, personnel issues and so forth. No individual owner should be allowed to inspect these records, since such inspection would violate the privacy of others. (Your association's audit contains some of these records.)

If you find a section of state law that governs condominiums, or the corporate structure under which your association operates that gives members/ stockholders/ owners access to complete audit records, you can cite the section in a letter to the board requesting access to the information you want.

You may be limited to reviewing the records in person during the business hours of the vendor in charge of storing the association's records, and you may be restricted to viewing only, not copying such records.

Another option is to run for a board position, and serve as a volunteer board member, which then gives you access to the data you want. This personal investment of your time may also help you better understand the finances of the association through which you own your real estate assets.

Yes, a homeowners association (HOA) board member can be removed. The specific process and causes for removal can vary depending on the HOA's bylaws and state laws, but some common reasons for removal include violation of fiduciary duties, misconduct or unethical behavior, financial mismanagement, failure to fulfill board responsibilities, or a breach of the HOA's governing documents. It's important to consult the HOA's bylaws or seek legal advice for the specific requirements and procedures for board member removal in a particular HOA.