HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - May 1, 2020
Published: Fri, 05/01/20
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COVID-19: When to Enforce Condo/HOA Rules, and When It's Not Cool to Enforce
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In this tip, we offer advice on whether you should just let owners run amok and stop enforcing your rules. (Short answer: No, but…)
The issue arises as a result of news reports of health care workers and first responders asking their HOA if they can park an RV in their driveway—against the rules—as a place to stay to avoid risking transmission of COVID-19 to family members living inside the house.
Should boards ease a rule like that temporarily? Are there other rules that should also be eased?
Our example is the exact one at a client of Brad van Rooyen, founder and senior member of Tampa, Fla.-based HomeRiver Group and its national specialist for community association management and the president of Home Encounter.
"One of my associations here has an ER nurse in a COVID-19 ward who's borrowing a friend's RV for this purpose," he explains. "A few people in the association are saying that allowing it is ridiculous. But right now, Florida boards have emergency powers. That means basically that the board has the ability to do a few things without a membership vote.
"There's no playbook for this," contends van Rooyen. "This ER nurse isn't somebody who wants to park the RV in the driveway for the weekend because they want friends to stay with them. But even in that situation, I might advise the board to ease up. If owners are working in emergency services or places like grocery stores, I put them all in the category of being on the front lines. And I think boards should give them some grace and leverage when boards can do that.
"Also, one of our counties, Pasco, passed a code enforcement provision suspending restrictions on RVs in this kind of situation," he reports. "They said, 'We're not going to come out and ticket, and we're not going to follow up on any complaints about RVs being parked in driveways until the end of April. That provision may be extended."
A similar request came to a client of Andrea L. O'Toole, a Walnut Creek-based principal at Berding Weil, a law firm that does only community association law throughout California.
"They have a request by an ER doctor who wanted to convert his garage into living space because he wanted to quarantine himself from his wife and children," she explains. "The association has a rule that you have to park vehicles in the garage; owners can't park them in their driveway. He asked for a waiver and the board was inclined to give it to him but called me first. I said who cares at this point? If other people also need to use their garage for health and safety reasons, let's let them do it."
The key to rules in COVIDworld, says O'Toole, is flexibility. Find out what it means to be flexible in your rules enforcement in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4110.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Upcoming Event
COVID-19 and Your HOA, Version 4: A Free Update for HOA and Condo Boards on How to Navigate and Prepare for Operational Challenges in Your Community from the Coronavirus
***Due to overwhelming demand, we are presenting an encore presentation of this webinar, which will include expert speakers from 4 states and the latest updates.***
Thursday, May 14
2:00 p.m. Eastern
Learn more or register now:
https://www.hoaleader.com/products/covid-19-update-and-prepare-may-14.cfm
This webinar is free, as a service to our community.
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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COVID-19: What Condo/HOA Boards Should Know About Virtual Meetings
It's only a little bit of an overstatement to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the whole world to shift to online meetings. Your board is likely no different. Here, our experts explain what you should know now that your abrupt adoption of virtual meetings is underway, along with general dos and don'ts.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/COVID19-What-CondoHOA-Boards-Should-Know-About-Virtual-Meetings.cfm
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COVID-19: How Condos/HOAs are Handling Dues and Collections
Our experts are getting lots of questions about whether boards can waive dues for suddenly unemployed homeowners, use reserves to help such homeowners, or take measures to ease to collections. We report what our experts are advising on the collections front.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/COVID19-How-CondosHOAs-are-Handling-Dues-Collections.cfm
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The Coronavirus and Condos and HOAs: 8 Tips for Boards
Because condos are dense population centers and HOAs often have common facilities at which residents gather, it's important for board members to understand whether and how to respond to the risk of COVID-19. Our experts explain whether they're hearing concerns over the illness and offer eight tips on how to deal with this health challenge.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Coronavirus-Condos-HOAs-8-Tips-for-Boards.cfm
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