HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - June 1, 2012
Published: Fri, 06/01/12
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Is This Board's Waiver of Its HOA's Rules Wise?
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In this week's tip, we ask whether a board's acquiescence
to an owner's rule violation is a good idea. (Hint: No.)
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "A homeowner replaced
his roof and chose a color that isn't in compliance with
our replacement standards... The board chose to ignore the
homeowner's negligence and opted to have each of the
adjoining townhomes in his section match his noncompliant
color when the time comes for them to replace their roofs.
Their reasoning is that the homeowner can't afford to
replace the new roof, and they don't believe it will
affect the property value."
Our experts say that boards should enforce their HOA's
rules unless there's a really, really, really good
reason not to-and that's hard to find.
"Most covenants say that boards can decide not to
enforce all the provisions all the way, and there's
nothing owners can do about it," explains Jeff Vinzani,
an attorney in Charleston, S.C., who represents
associations. "But in this case, people are actually
violating the HOA's covenants. In South Carolina,
home owners that the board tries to enforce rules
against in the future could argue the board has no
such authority because, in essence, it has unclean
hands."
Vinzani once lived in an HOA that had a similar
problem. "I lived in a neighborhood with twin homes,
like duplexes," he recalls. "The board allowed one
party to paint one side of a house and didn't require
the other owner to paint his side. The new paint wasn't
quite the same, and the other side's paint was
chipping off. One owner thinks his side looks good,
and the other owner says, 'I could have just touched
up my paint, but now I can't because my paint won't
match.' Those owners were sort of at each other
after that."
"When you've got standards, they've got to be
enforced," agrees Jed L. Frankel, a partner at Eisinger,
Brown, Lewis, Frankel & Chaiet PA in Hollywood, Fla.,
who advises community associations. "If you don't enforce
them as to one person, you can't enforce them as to
anybody. The reasoning behind not enforcing them doesn't
really matter. It's very important when you have color
and other architectural restrictions the association
cares about and wants to enforce that these rules be
applied across the board."
However, some issues aren't so clear cut. Learn more
about the tough cases and what our experts think of
this board's decision in our new article,
When Can You Waive Your HOA's Rules?
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/724.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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New Federal Rules Just Gave Condos/HOAs Big Win
On March 15, 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
published its final rule on transfer fees, handing community
associations a big victory. Here's why the rule from a seemingly
obscure regulatory agency matters to you.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/New-Federal-Rules-Just-Gave-Condos-HOAs-Big-Win.cfm
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Distributing Minutes: Can Your HOA Save Money?
Does your HOA print and snail mail meeting minutes? If so, is
it required to do that, or would email or posting online or in
a common area do the trick and save your HOA money? Here's some
insight.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Distributing-Minutes-Can-Your-HOA-Save-Money.cfm
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Is a Rule Prohibiting HOA Dues Increases Valid--or Smart?
A California board member has recently complained that his
board increased dues in spite of an HOA rule that prohibited
dues increases. Can an HOA pass a rule or an amendment to its
governing documents prohibiting dues increases? What would be
the wisdom (if any) of such a rule?
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Is-a-Rule-Prohibiting-HOA-Dues-Increases-Validor-Smart.cfm
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Can an HOA Board Go Into Executive Session to Dodge Controversy?
Discussion Forum Follow-Up
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "I participate on a board of
managers (BOM) for an HOA in New England. The complex consists
of 12 buildings and 140 units. The BOM (for which I am one of
five) are authoritative and condescending at times to unit
owners. We are involved in litigation with an adjoining marina
and have several collections and foreclosure challenges as well.
We are attempting to hire a new management company as the
previous company (for the past five years) has resigned after I
exposed them for billing improprieties. There was also a
conflict of interest as it was the son of one of our board
members..." Here, our experts give our reader some insight.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-an-HOA-Board-Go-Into-Executive-Session-to-Dodge-Controversy-Discussion-Forum-FollowUp.cfm
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Should This HOA Board Member Resign?
This week's tip addresses a foreclosure-related question from
an HOAleader.com reader: "We live in a small townhouse
community of 17 units. The vice president's townhouse has been
in foreclosure for over a year. The association is named party
to the foreclosure lawsuit. Association annual dues appear to
be paid. The association has been reluctant to notify the
homeowners of this foreclosure listed on county records. My
question is whether the vice president is required to resign
his post due to a statute or conflict of interest."
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Should-This-HOA-Board-Member-Resign.cfm
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