Condo associations are overstepping their
duties amid the coronavirus pandemic, experts say.
The Miami Association of Realtors are receiving complaints
from members daily saying condo associations are disrupting
the lease and sale process, said Daniel Guerra, the vice
president of sales for Fortune International Realty and the
Association’s 2021 residential president. Some condo
associations are halting virtual approvals, move-ins,
move-outs and interviews of potential residents.
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Such actions fall in a gray zone because
they are unprecedented, said Alessandra Stivelman, a partner
at the Hollywood-based law firm Eisinger Law. “An
association’s burden to justify the need and reasonableness
for a restriction would be hard to prove.”
Said Guerra, “Many associations do not have policies in
place to complete virtual applications, interviews, and
approval,” Guerra wrote by email.
“We need to create uniformity — so that all management
companies and associations can have policies, systems, and
technology in place to safely complete the approval and
move-in process. We emphasize that real estate services are
addressing the most basic need right now: housing. We can’t
be ‘Safer-At-Home’ if we aren’t in one.”
For now, approvals and move-in are being handled on a
case-by-case basis, he said. But some Realtors and would be
residents have had to turn to attorneys to resolve the
matter.
If it does go before a judge, said Stivelman, the condo
association may not prevail because it is hindering the
homeowner’s chance of leasing his home and earning income. |
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Coronavirus has changed the way we live. Gone are the
tourists, shoppers and laborers leaving us with a very empty
landscape.
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“How can you reasonably say to an owner
you’re not doing interviews because they have been done in
person and don’t want to do a Zoom call?,” she said. “They
need to keep reevaluating their policies.”
