Articles

An administrative judge in Maryland recently ruled that the board of directors of a Maryland HOA violated state fair housing law by denying a resident’s request for a reserved parking space as a reasonable accommodation for her disability, according to the Maryland Civil Rights Commission.

The bigger the community association, the more likely members will form social clubs–for reasons ranging from recreation to promoting philanthropic goals. While social clubs can enhance the quality of life for your members, they can also pose serious risks for you and the association.

In anticipation of hurricanes or winter storms, your association may have obtained, or asked the board to consider investing in, a backup generator for the building. If you manage a residential community, owners may approach you about whether they may buy an individual generator for their own home, or if they already own a generator, they may ask you about guidelines for using it.

When it comes to daily life in an association—whether it’s a condominium building or a community of standalone homes or townhomes—there will always be some members who love association life and some members who realize too late that they don’t enjoy being bound by community rules. Community management expert Paul D. Grucza has over 33 years of experience turning the love-hate relationship between associations and their members into a more harmonious union by building a bond among owners, boards, and management staff.

For some members, part of the appeal of living in a planned community is the feeling that they are part of something bigger than themselves and having the opportunity to interact with other members. That’s why it should come as no surprise that the larger the community association, the more social clubs there are likely to be. A group of members can form a club for any number of reasons, from recreation to promoting philanthropic goals. These clubs can create a sense of community and greatly add to the quality of life of your members.

It’s important year round to take measures to conserve energy in the community and educate members about how they can also help with energy conservation. But it has the added bonus of helping to minimize the typical heating complaints that many managers hear every winter.

Facts: A couple living in a planned townhouse community granted a limited power of attorney to their daughter to allow her to vote on their behalf at association meetings and to communicate with the association when necessary. The power of attorney essentially gave their daughter the same rights and privileges as if she owned their townhouse.

A homeowner is being fined by her California association for taking out her lawn, despite requests from local water agencies for residents to do so. A severe drought has affected the area and the homeowner felt that planting mint, which requires very little water to survive, where there once was turf would temporarily solve the problem. But the board of directors demanded at least 25 percent grass. The homeowner planted the mint and is now being fined monthly.

Q: Along with several other new members, I’ve recently been elected to my association’s board. We’re hoping to start enforcing community rules that the old board let slide. What’s the best way to go about doing this, or has the association waived its right to enforce these overlooked rules?

Boards should strive to set fair rules and enforce them consistently and effectively. But that’s not always easy to do. Sometimes boards let rules slide because it takes less effort, especially if only minor rules are being disregarded by members. But this creates a huge problem for an incoming board that realizes once it enters office that its predecessors haven’t enforced community rules.