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Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Daniel
Vasquez
Published October 1,
2008
It seems that no matter how long you have lived with
rules, something baffling always comes up.
You've been sending me lots of interesting questions, such as these below.
Keep them coming.
Harry Weber, of Fort Lauderdale, writes:
I live in a condo and wanted to get a motor scooter to help offset the
very high gas prices. The president of our condo told me this was against
the rules and the only way was the rules could be changed with a quorum of
the owners. He also told me the condo has not been able to get a quorum in
more than 15 years and getting one would be almost impossible.
"Don't
take his word for it. Read your own documents," said Chandra Parker
Doucette, a Boca Raton attorney who represents unit owners.
That's good advice in general, whenever a board member tells you something
that doesn't sound right.
When vehicle or parking restrictions are contained in the recorded
governing documents, it takes a formal amendment to change the provision,
Doucette said. "Read your declaration and/or bylaws to determine the
correct procedure and percentage required for approval of an amendment.
Don't assume simply because people don't come to meetings that you can't
make changes to your governing documents.
"Many documents [and the non-profit corporation statutes] provide for
approval by written consent. If your neighbors will support you, the board
should undertake the legal work necessary to update your documents,"
Doucette said. "Amending your governing documents can be a
time-consuming process that could bring unwanted changes and additional
assessments for legal expenses for many in the community."
Georgeann
Amodeo, of Delray Beach, writes:
I live in a 55+ community with 360 units; 34 units are unoccupied.
Before the vacated units' maintenance is divided among the remaining
residents, discussion has been had with respect to eliminating the 55 age
restriction. However, I cannot find regulations, statute or law governing
what replaces the age elimination. For example, can we impose
rules/restrictions for no pets or children under 18 years? Robert
Kaye, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represents associations, says you can
change the 55-plus age designation, but if you do, the association can no
longer exclude children under 18.
"What is commonly referred to as a 55+ community is in reality a
community that meets the requirements of the exemption to fair-housing
protections to the classification of families with children under the age
of 18 years, and allows the community to exclude residency by such
individuals," he said. "For a condominium to change that status,
the unit owners will need to amend the governing documents to remove this
restriction."
Andre
Velian, of Coral Springs, writes:
My 80-year-old mom gave me full power of attorney over her affairs. I
started to attend her condo board meetings at Margate Gardens. They are in
need of board members. I applied but was turned down. I was told board
members must be an owner. I am of the opinion that a person with full
power of attorney has full rights of the person they represent.
"If the condominium documents preclude non-unit owners from serving
on the association's board of directors, one acting under a power of
attorney from a unit owner is also precluded from serving on the
board," said Yeline Goin, co-executive director of the Community
Association Leadership Lobby, which represents boards in Florida. If your
association's condominium documents require board members to be unit
owners, your power of attorney would not be sufficient to allow you to be
a candidate for the board.
Daniel
Vasquez can be reached at:
[email protected]
or at 954-356-4558 (Broward) or 561-243-6686 (Palm
Beach County). His condo column runs every Wednesday in the Local
section and at www.sunsentinel.com/condos.
You also can read his consumer column every Monday in Your Money and at www.sunsentinel.com/vasquez
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