Condo Association Problems Come With Declining Real Estate Market
Q: I live in a condo community that I purchased in 1989. The association and community were fine for many years, but about 5 years ago things really started to change.
The condo homeowner association board is being way ‘too frugal’ with our money, to the effect of not getting landscaping done. The condo community looks horrible in some areas.
More importantly, the condo homeowner association board does not enforce the rules (like residents picking up after their dogs) and the situation is out of hand.
The condo property manager and board do not enforce the rules and only give lip service. Do I have any recourse other than hiring a lawyer? Can I stop paying my fees as one way to protest? Any suggestions or assistance you provide would be appreciated.
A: The worst thing you can do is to stop paying your monthly assessments in some sort of formal protest to the board. That’s only going to get you (and perhaps your credit history, if your condo board reports your lack of payments to the three major credit reporting bureaus) into big trouble.
You should first figure out if you’re the only one who is bothered by the lack of care for the community grounds. You should chat with your neighbors and see how they feel about it.
If you find that your neighbors and friends in the community are as upset as you are, you should start attending board meetings and bringing it up as an agenda item.
Then, volunteer to get involved. Sit on the “community landscape” committee (or offer to start it if it doesn’t already exist). Get your condo neighbors together and offer to make some changes.
You can also run for the board to undertake the changes that need to be made to keep your condo property in top shape so it is attractive to as many buyers as possible.
There are two other things that might be going on. First, in many condo properties across the country, a high level of foreclosures and non-payment of monthly association fees could mean that the condo homeowner’s association board has to cut back on upkeep and maintenance expenses simply to avoid running into the red.
Another possibility is that the board is not getting the service that they are paying for with the management company. It’s possible that the board needs to fire the condo building management company and find another company that will actually do the work they’re supposed to do.
You might also find out that the association’s financial condition is weak and that the association does not want to raise dues now but also can’t spend the money they would otherwise want to or need to.
It’s easy to criticize, but it’s much more constructive to jump in and try to help out. If you don’t feel like helping out, you should think about selling and moving somewhere you’ll have more control over the exterior maintenance of the property and less stress.
We moved into our 6-unit condo building last July. There are 6 garage spaces, one for each unit. There are two gates, one for each three-car bay. The gates operate independently from one another.
So, in practice, when one gate is being activated (opened) by the user, should there be any obstacle (e.g., a vehicle) in its path, that gate will not stop, as there are no mechanisms for it to do so. This is what just happened to my wife last night, as she was exiting the garage, and an incoming neighbor activated her side of the gate.
There are no signs posted on the gates that warn us of the fact that the gate will not stop once activated, nor were there any documents provided when we moved in to let us know about this.
From inquiring with other residents, this has happened before, and the parties involved were not allowed to bring the matter to the attention of the association during meetings.
My wife is now being told by the treasurer (who is the person who activated the gate) that she should have waited until her side of the gate was completely opened, and she had ensured that the gate on the other side was not activated. In addition, we are being told that the association cannot be held responsible for covering any expenses associated with the repair of our damaged vehicle. At best, the treasurer is offering to ‘help out’ with our deductible.
I believe this situation amounts to the treasurer simply dismissing what we believe is a serious security concern. It is our understanding that these gates were installed after the building was built and the first tenants occupied it, which make us believe that the condo association is simply trying to cover itself and exonerate itself from any wrongdoing.
What are our options?