HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - August 31, 2018
Published: Fri, 08/31/18
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You’re Really Fighting Over This? Owner Refuses to Pay $176 for a Smoke Detector
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In this week’s tip, we address a tale that will probably sound familiar: You had to do something; owners are supposed to have reimbursed the association for doing that thing. An owner refuses, giving a bogus excuse.
Sounding familiar already? In this case, we’re addressing a question posted by a reader on the HOAleader.com Discussion Forum about when to file a lien against an owner. The story is simple: The law required new smoke detectors. The condo told owners it was installing them. It installed them. An owner now says she won’t pay because she didn’t get notice.
There are a number of issues here, and the first is bad news for the owner:
* No-notice entry is acceptable for safety
In a nutshell, the governing documents provision that permits associations to enter to handle health or safety matters really wipes away the notice issue the owner is relying on.
“If this association has the ability to go into the unit when it relates to safety, that means I’ve gone into the unit to install this smoke alarm, and where was the owner when I did this?” asks Bob Kmiecik, a partner at Kaman & Cusimano LLC, which represents associations throughout Ohio.
“If I as an owner didn’t get notice of this, then why have I got workers drilling holes in my ceiling? I, as the owner, am on notice, so I don’t buy that argument.”
Nor does Robert E. Ducharme, founder of Ducharme Law in Stratham, N.H., who specializes in representing community associations. “There’s no problem with an association going into a unit with reasonable notice, and they don’t have to have a reason because certainly the health and safety permission fits here,” he says.
“When this owner claims she didn’t have notice, that notice requirement probably won’t carry too much weight because it’s a health and safety issue and probably a violation of the municipal ordinance not to have made this change,” notes Ducharme. “The association has a right to enter with reasonable notice or no notice if it’s for health and safety reasons.
Still, Ducharme would make sure notice is clear on the association’s rights. “In the notice I’d have provided to owners, I’d have said, ‘That’s your choice to not let us in, but if you don’t, we’ll be there with a locksmith, and we’ll assess the cost of the locksmith to you, too,’” he explains. “In rare situations I’ve called the police, too. I’ve shown the police the letters we’ve sent and our governing documents, and I’ve told them, ‘I’d like you to be here just in case.’”
That’s just one reason the owner will lose this battle.
Get more information, including tips on when and how to file a lien, in our new article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/3781.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Condo Owner Refuses to Pay for New Smoke Detector: Lien Her?
An HOAleader.com reader asks, Maryland state passed a law that all smoke detectors more than 10 years old had to be replaced. The board of directors researched and got bids for replacements. Owners were notified by email explaining price and schedule and billing procedure and asked to respond if questions.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Condo-Owner-Refuses-Pay-for-New-Smoke-Detector-Lien-Her.cfm
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Board Member Poaches Condo Common Area, and Board Approves; But Maybe It's Fine?
In this week's tip, we answer a reader's question about how to handle a board member planting in a common area and the rest of the board's after-the-fact approval of that violation.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/public/Board-Member-Poaches-Condo-Common-Area-Board-Approves-But-Maybe-Its-Fine.cfm
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A Board Member's and a Board's Simple Decisions Could Have Damaging Effects -- Or No Effect At All
Looking for a way to lose trust for the board within your community? If what this HOAleader.com reader writes is true, we may have found the answer: How is an unbiased decision reached by the board of directors when a director's garden is already planted in the condo common grounds, and written permission is requested after the fact?
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Board-Members-Boards-Simple-Decisions-Could-Have-Damaging-Effects-Or-No-Effect-At-All.cfm
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Appellate Court Upholds Jury Decision Against Condo Owner Demanding a Dog-Free Elevator
An Illinois federal court has upheld a jury's finding that a fear of dogs wasn't a disability that warranted a condo's accommodation of an elevator free from dogs.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Appellate-Court-Upholds-Jury-Decision-Against-Condo-Owner-Demanding-DogFree-Elevator.cfm
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