Articles

Homeowners can be optimistic about taxes, thanks to a measure that would create a new deduction. U.S. Representatives Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) have introduced a measure that would allow homeowners in community associations who earn $115,000 or less in annual income to deduct up to $5,000 of their community association fees and assessments from their federal tax liability.

In Florida, a plane club may be grounded as a battle between a handful of homeowners and a RC plane club in Escambia County continues. The recreational club, which attracts model plane enthusiasts, has been called out as a nuisance by homeowners in a community adjacent to the field where they fly planes. Some people feel conflicted as they understand the homeowners’ concerns but think that the plane club is a local tradition and has been a great source of fun for more than 14 years.

Facts: Several homeowners in a planned community kept hens on their lots. The association informed them that this violated the association’s covenants. The covenants disallow “animals, birds, or poultry” on residents’ lots unless kept as “recognized household pets.” The owners claimed that their hens met the recognized household pet exception. The association argued that the term “recognized household pets” isn’t defined in the covenants, which were, therefore, ambiguous.

Facts: After the owners of a unit hadn’t paid assessments for several months, a condominium association filed a forcible entry and detainer action. At a trial, the association presented testimony from the president of its board of directors and an employee of the management company. They both testified that the unit owners had been given the required notice that the assessments were past due and that, if they weren’t paid, the association would take possession of the unit.

Facts: A condominium building association attempted to foreclose on two liens against a unit in the building. The liens were for unpaid common area charges. The unit owner asserted that the association was required to comply with a state property law, which requires that this type of action be carried out in the same manner as an action to foreclose on a mortgage. That is, a notice must be served with the summons and complaint.

If your community is like most, you rely on a variety of outside contractors or vendors to perform services. For example, landscaping, plumbing, or electrical work are commonly farmed out to vendors who send their own choice of workers. This means that individuals will be in your community whom you don’t know anything about—and who potentially don’t respect the association’s members or rules.

Group “re-lamping”—that is, replacing the bulbs, or “lamps,” in a certain area, such as common areas, according to a set schedule—is more efficient and less expensive than replacing them separately as they burn out. That’s because group re-lamping saves labor costs and improves lighting for members. Most managers replace bulbs as they burn out, but this approach wastes employees’ time.

If your community is like most, you rely on a variety of outside contractors or vendors to perform services. For example, landscaping, plumbing, or electrical work are commonly farmed out to vendors who send their own choice of workers. This means that individuals will be in your community whom you don’t know anything about—and who potentially don’t respect the association’s members or rules.

Paying a contractor up front to do work for your association isn’t a good idea. If it does a shoddy job, your only recourse would be to sue the contractor for not living up to the agreement. But this can be costly. And it’s avoidable—if you protect yourself from subpar workmanship or a failure to finish the job. Having the contract state that the association can make “progress payments” as the contractor moves ahead with the work, and including a “retainage” clause, is a way to encourage a contractor to complete the job to your satisfaction.

Q: Several unit owners in the condominium building I manage are longtime cigarette smokers. I’ve fielded an increasing number of complaints from nonsmoker unit owners, some of whom are claiming the cigarette smoke is affecting their health. The board has been working with our attorney on whether and how to create a smoking ban inside the building. In the meantime, one of the unit owners has moved out and is planning to sue the association because she can’t live in her unit while it’s filled with secondhand smoke.