Enforcement and Disputes
Pet restrictions in governing documents are valid and enforceable. An owner in violation of the restrictions can be forced to give up his/her pet.
Statutory law explicitly prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, gender, religion, familial status, national origin, and disability. The law against discrimination is so broad that any occupancy restriction could be interpreted as discriminatory, including limits on the maximum number of occupants in a home. The only limitations that are clearly valid and enforceable are those that track the language of local and state health codes, and those that establish a project as senior citizen housing.
The governing documents contain detailed property insurance requirements. In condominium projects, these typically require that the association obtain property damage insurance (sometimes called casualty insurance) for everything located on the property except the contents of the units. These policies usually cover damage to interior walls, floors, and ceilings within units, but do not cover damage to cabinetry, plumbing and electrical fixtures, appliances, wall and floor coverings, and furniture. The individual owners are responsible for insuring the contents of their units, and may also be responsible for payment of the Association’s insurance deductible in some circumstances.
In planned developments, the governing documents usually require the association to insure all portions of the property which it is obligated to maintain. But in some cases, the individual owners are required to insure everything on their lots even though the exterior surfaces of the homes are maintained by the association.
Maintenance, Alterations, and Defects
A homeowner association is required to regularly inspect the portions of the property it maintains as part of the reserve study process.
The allocation of maintenance responsibilities between the individual owners and the association is usually determined by the governing documents, and varies widely from project to project. A step-by-step procedure for determining responsibility is discussed above under the heading “What portions of the property are individual owners obligated to maintain?”
In most condominium projects, the association is obligated to maintain the following elements of the property:
- All exterior elements including siding and roofing (but not windows and doors);
- All foundations and other structural elements;
- All landscaping, exterior lighting, drives, and walks;
- All interior common areas including lobbies, hallways and stairs (except stairs connecting levels within units);
- All portions of the plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems serving more than one unit or located within the common elements; and
- All fire protection alarms and equipment located within the common elements.
Where exterior areas such as decks, patios or yards are included as part of a condominium unit or assigned as limited common elements, association maintenance obligations vary widely, and no generalizations are possible.
In most planned developments, the association is obligated to maintain the following elements of the property:
- All common area;
- All exterior surfaces of homes, including roofing, siding, trim, decks, balconies, exterior stairs, railings, window frames, and door frames;
- All fences and exterior, nonstructural walls;
- All landscaping on each lot; and
- All fire protection alarms and equipment except smoke detectors within homes.
As discussed below, association maintenance obligations change when an element or area is damaged by negligence, or because of the malfunction of an element that an owner is responsible to maintain.
Incorporated associations are legally required to have at least a chairman of the board or president and a secretary. There may also be one or more vice presidents, and a chief financial officer or treasurer. Unless prohibited by the governing documents, one person may hold more than one of these offices however, the same person cannot be both the president and the secretary. The officers are typically not required to be directors. Unincorporated associations need not have officers.