EV Charging Stations: How Your Condo/HOA Would Fund and Install One
HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week -
July 7, 2023
An HOAleader.com reader asks how much it might cost to install an electric vehicle charging station, whether there are grants to help fund installation, and whether a community could make a profit on their
use.
In this week’s tip, we get answers. Our experts say their clients more often deal with individual owners who want to install an EV charging station rather than the association installing the station for the
community.
"Florida has laws that require a board to approve an owner’s request to install an EV charging station if an individual owner wants to install it in a limited common element parking space or garage," explains Jennifer
Biletnikoff, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff, who has represented condos and HOAs for more than 15 years.
"When an owner is asking to install, that’s obviously in condos," she adds. "In HOAs, nobody cares
if an owner wants to do that.
"The law was also expanded to say that if an association wants to install an EV charging station, it doesn’t have to go through the process required for a vote for a material alteration," states Biletnikoff.
"The legislature is encouraging their installation. So that will give boards more freedom to install EV charging stations without having to worry about getting an owner vote."
Illinois also allows boards leeway in such installations.
"Illinois passed legislation on this recently, but it applies only to new-construction HOAs, condos, co-ops, and townhomes, not to the existing market," reports Sima L. Kirsch, a principal at the Law Office of Sima L. Kirsch P.C. in Chicago, who specializes in representing small to medium condo associations and serves as a mediator for condo disputes.
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President