Recent Court Rulings

Facts: Condominium unit owners owed several thousand dollars in unpaid assessments, including their share of the cost of a special assessment. The special assessment could be paid by unit owners in a lump sum or split into a several-year monthly payment plan. The unit owners had opted for the payment plan. The unit went into foreclosure and a board member bought it. Under the bylaws, outstanding amounts for unpaid assessments were transferable to new unit owners. The member refused to pay the monthly special assessment amounts. The association sued her.

Facts: The management company for a homeowners association sent a letter to a homeowner who was delinquent after failing to make several monthly payments to the association. The letter was a notice that the association, pursuant to its governing documents, held a lien on the homeowner’s property in the amount of the past-due payments. The notice was written on association letterhead, and had the association’s name printed above the signature line.

Facts: A homeowner owed $150 in past-due fees to the association. The association sent her a bill for over $1,000. It then pursued a homeowners’ association foreclosure sale. The homeowner sued the association and its management company for wrongful foreclosure, bid rigging, and unfair debt collection practices, among other claims. The association and the management company each asked the trial court to dismiss the claims.

Facts: After a fire due to clogged dryer vents damaged a member’s unit, the other members in a condominium building were required to provide proof, in the form of a receipt from a cleaning company, that their dryer vents and ductwork had been cleaned. A unit owner had documentation that she had complied with the requirement, but she didn’t submit the receipt to the association before the announced deadline.

Facts: A homeowners association was responsible for the maintenance of the community’s common areas, including sidewalks. A snowstorm with freezing rain led to the accumulation of ice on the sidewalks and streets within the community. A landscape contractor salted the roadways, but the association didn’t request that the common sidewalks and walkways also be cleared after that particular storm. A homeowner slipped on ice on one of the sidewalks.

Facts: A condominium member sued his homeowners association and its property management company for claims arising from water damage to his property. The member’s disabled brother also lived in the unit. The member alleged that the association’s failure to make repairs amounted to disability discrimination in violation of fair housing law, and negligence. The association and the management company asked a magistrate to dismiss the lawsuit.

Facts: Condominium unit members observed excessive moisture in their unit, which was causing damage to the unit and its contents. They reported the problem to the association. Over the course of several years, various experts were brought in to assess the problem. Ultimately, it was determined that a moisture barrier over the concrete floor slab would solve the problem. The association didn’t provide a barrier; it claimed that the members were responsible for the repair.

Facts: An association told the buyer of two foreclosed properties that he was responsible for unpaid association assessments incurred on the properties prior to the sale. The association claimed that a recently passed state statute gave it the right to demand payment from the buyer.

Facts: A state statute requires a Kansas condominium association to keep detailed records of receipts and expenditures affecting the operation and administration of the association and other accounting records for five years and to make those records available for examination and copying by a unit owner—subject to some exceptions. The statute allows certain records retained by an association, such as “individual unit files,” to be withheld from inspection and copying by members.

Facts: A buyer purchased two properties at foreclosure sales in communities maintained by an association. The association later demanded payment for any and all unpaid association assessments, including those that came due prior to the buyer’s ownership, under threat of a claims lien foreclosure. The buyer paid the past-due assessments for both properties by check, noting that it “paid under protest and with full reservation of all rights and remedies.”