As summer ambles on and the pandemic lingers more homeowners are making changes to their homes than ever before.  While this is often a good thing, it can turn ugly and litigious very quickly. No one likes to be told what they can and cannot do to their home! This is especially true if your association does not have proper rules and procedures in place to regulate homeowner changes. HOAs and Condos alike should have ARCs or ACCs  (architectural review/control committees) set up to ensure that any work done is consistent with the community, does not reduce neighbors' home values, and does not jeopardize or impede any common areas/elements or limited common areas/elements. 

Ensuring that your community has procedures in place within your governing documents –in your Declaration and described in more detail in your Rules and Regulations- will help minimize homeowner disputes and reduce Association and Board member liability.  You can read that as fewer headaches and less money spent!  Your requirements should be specific enough to minimize the risk or allegation of inconsistent treatment of owners while also being general enough to ensure the Association can stop an owner from painting their home lime green with purple trim or ripping out a load-bearing wall in their condo.  If that sounds difficult to draft, you would be right.  This is something that should be discussed with your Association Attorney so they can help fine-tune the language in your governing documents. 

Sincerely, 

Samantha Brown

sbrown@barkermartin.com

For more information, see Sam's WSCAI Article here.