Live in a home governed by a condominium, co-op or homeowner’s association? Have questions about what they can and cannot do? Ryan Poliakoff, an attorney and author based in Boca Raton, has answers.
Question: Our HOA sent out a letter on July 1 asking for payment on an assessment for more than $12,000, to be paid in full within 30 days.
Forget for the moment that it is an assessment for the roofs of the townhomes and not our villas, or that six out of the seven board members who voted that the roofs should be redone (despite that only a few are in disrepair) are townhome owners! Forget also that when we replied to the letter inviting us to contact them if we need assistance, we got zero response.
Is there no recourse or protections for homeowners who cannot afford to cough up $10k+ with this outrageous lack of notice? Does the law not allow for payments towards large assessments? Signed, D.L.
Dear D.L.,
None of the relevant Acts discuss special assessments in any detail. Generally speaking, it is up to your governing documents to establish the board’s right to pass a special assessment, and any restrictions that may exist.
I have seen governing documents that require assessments to be approved by the membership, or that only allow assessments for very specific purposes. Similarly, your governing documents (probably the declaration of covenants, but perhaps the bylaws as well) will describe when assessments are due and how they must be paid. However, I can say that the vast majority of documents that I see give the board very broad discretion to establish the payment schedule, if any; and it would not surprise me at all if an assessment requiring payment of such a large amount in a short period of time was entirely legal.
It could very well be that, due to poor prior maintenance and a lack of advance planning, the board really has no choice — if it needs money immediately and the project is urgent, the only other option would be to borrow the money and to assess owners to pay back that loan over the course of its term (with fees and interest included). In fact, that is the most common solution to this problem. But that solution is not mandatory, and unfortunately if this board feels it needs to impose a huge assessment on short notice, and if the governing documents give them that power (which is likely), there’s not a lot that you can do except try to get your own loan so that you can pay the amounts due over time. This is a good reason to carry a home equity line of credit if one is available to you, even if you never borrow from it.
Barring that, I would consider re-approaching the board, perhaps with a mass of other owners, to ask them to approve a reasonable payment plan that allows them to pay for the project without causing you hardship.
And if that fails, and if a great majority of the community oppose the assessment plan, you could always try to recall the board and install a new board that will rescind the assessment or institute a payment plan for everyone (although, it could very well be that the condition of the property will not allow for delay; in which case a recall to stop the assessment is likely detrimental to the welfare of the community as a whole).
Veteran suffering trauma could get service dog without expressly getting PTSD diagnosis
Question: I just want to comment about your reply to the veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As you said, you can’t visibly see it. Neither can the doctors.
As a veteran who has had PTSD since the 80’s, I can tell you no VA doctor ever diagnosed me with this; but trust me, I have it. If they admitted I have it, then they would have to pay me disability for it, so of course they rarely diagnose anybody with it.
The VA told me I had to bring my PTSD down to one single incident, so I did. I told them how I almost got blown up along with my whole squad, and even then, they still denied me. They won’t help me with any of it. Maybe that’s the case for this guy too, and now he must deal with a stupid condo association. Signed, J.B.
Dear J.B.,
First, thank you for your service, and I’m sorry to hear about the difficulty that it caused you. PTSD is a real and serious condition, and I can appreciate that talking about the trauma that caused it can be extraordinarily difficult. But despite this, a housing provider would have the legal right to ask questions to verify your disability and need for an assistance animal.
With that said, I want to note that your doctor would not have to expressly say you have PTSD and talk about the incident that caused the condition. All the doctor needs to verify is that they are treating you for a mental health condition that affects one or more major life functions (such as sleeping), and that you require an animal to allow you the full use and enjoyment of your home.
And, even if the VA doctors are not willing to say that, I can say from experience that there are a hundred doctors out there that will diagnose your condition and recommend an assistance animal to you at a moderate cost.
Ryan Poliakoff, a partner at Poliakoff Backer, LLP, is a Board Certified specialist in condominium and planned development law. This column is dedicated to the memory of Gary Poliakoff. Ryan Poliakoff and Gary Poliakoff are co-authors of “New Neighborhoods — The Consumer’s Guide to Condominium, Co-Op and HOA Living.” Email your questions to condocolumn@gmail.com. Please be sure to include your location.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Residents shocked by HOA roof bill — pay $12,000 by end of month
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