Departments

FACTS: An Ohio homeowner’s association fended off a lawsuit from a resident who objected to its handling of a reasonable accommodation that allowed her next-door neighbors to fence their yard to protect their young daughter from a water hazard.

Both families lived in single-family homes with backyards that abutted a lake. Community rules banned residents from putting up fences, plantings, or enclosures in backyards without prior written consent of the architectural committee.

Facts:  A townhouse-style condominium resident who was living with the owner of the unit, his mother, tripped and fell on the sidewalk in front of the townhouse. He claimed that the fall was due to the sidewalk being “uneven.” He sued the association in a premises liability lawsuit, asserting that it had been the HOA’s responsibility to fix the sidewalk. The association asked a trial court for a judgment in its favor without a trial. The trial court ruled in favor of the association.

A Santa Fe homeowners association hopes that mediation will lead to a settlement that would exclude horse riders from using the association’s network of trails. A local ranch owner who has used the trails for 25 years—long before the community was built—is arguing that a so-called “word of mouth” prescriptive easement from a county official allowed her to ride in the area regardless of future development.

Inevitably, in any homeowners association or condominium, there will be community-related conflicts. The bad news for associations when a dispute arises is that going to court can be extremely expensive, and the association might end up paying for litigation costs in the end. The good news when a homeowners association is asked to resolve conflicts is that there are ways to avoid costly legal battles: Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can address issues that don’t truly require a trip to court.

As the manager of a homeowners association, you’ll inevitably have to evaluate requests for accommodation from members. A common request is for support animals—that is, animals that provide support for all types of disabilities, including emotional support. Unfortunately, there may be claims of discrimination if requests are denied. In some cases, associations that have been scared by these claims have ultimately tried to avoid litigation by giving in and granting the request after a drawn-out process.

A white man who challenged a black family’s use of a gated pool in a North Carolina planned community resigned from the homeowner’s association board. After the board member, who also was the community pool chairman, asked a mother and her son to produce identification verifying that they were residents of the community, a verbal altercation began. The board member called the police, who diffused the situation.

Inevitably, in any homeowners association or condominium, there will be community-related conflicts. The bad news for associations when a dispute arises is that going to court can be extremely expensive, and the association might end up paying for litigation costs in the end. The good news when a homeowners association is asked to resolve conflicts is that there are ways to avoid costly legal battles: Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can address issues that don’t truly require a trip to court.

Q: The association for the community I manage is a nonprofit corporation where all lot owners are members of the corporation. The association recently decided to assess higher maintenance fees for those lots that have better and nearly sole access to some of the community’s amenities. The vote was taken at our annual meeting and the board followed all requirements under the governing documents to adjust the fees.

Facts: The restrictive covenants and bylaws for a homeowners association set out that no homeowner should “decorate, change or otherwise alter the appearance of any portion of the exterior of a dwelling or the landscaping, grounds or other improvements within a lot” unless approved by the association’s architectural review board (ARB), to “preserve the architectural and aesthetic appearance of the development.”

Proper and timely maintenance of every feature in a planned community or condominium is key to keeping things running smoothly. But members will inevitably have a wide range of attitudes toward their own maintenance obligations. On one end of the spectrum will be members who understand that, depending on the governing documents, they have maintenance obligations that are not the responsibility of the association. On the other end, you’ll encounter members who either don’t understand their obligations or don’t take them seriously.