Transition, Fair Housing Act and Tort Immunity Seminars for Community Associations
I along with Mary Barrett have just finished conducting a series of educational seminars for South Jersey Chapter of New Jersey CAI, and another for property managers from a large nationally known property management company.
When we met with the South Jersey CAI, we discussed the topic of "transition" and what its meaning is for members of a Board. The discussion ranged from the control to the homeowners of an Association, to negotiations with the Developer over construction deficiencies found during the investigative phase of the transition with the Developer. Transition in a community association happens in two ways. First, when the homeowners take control from the Developer and this control is "transitioned" from Developer. The second transition occurs when the Board negotiates with the Developer over defects in the site found by the Association's engineer.
The second property managers seminar included a discussion about the impact of the Fair Housing Act on community associations, as well as tort immunity.
Fair Housing Act issues deal with various individuals typically living in an Association who need a "reasonable accommodation" in order to maintaining a reasonable lifestyle within the community. Examples range from the person who needs a designated handicap parking space due to a specific handicap, to the individual who needs to have a ramp built to their particular home to accommodate a wheel chair.
Tort immunity is a New Jersey statute that enables a community association to insulate itself from certain bodily injuries(typically those considered caused by "simple negligence") if they go through a certain procedure top have their membership adopt an amendment to their by-laws.
Here is a link to the agenda for our presentation on transition. If your board or management company would like to discuss transition issues, tort immunity, Fair Housing Act requirements or other matters which impact associations, please feel free to contact me to discuss scheduling an educational seminar.
It was my understanding that people with disabilities, living in condo,were entitled to special accomodation, including the common elements (per NJ State Condo Act). Is this true?
Doreen -
Thank you for your question.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) is the enabling statute in play here, and not the NJ Condominium Statute. The FHA does require certain accommodations to be made to a handicap individual, and some of those accommodations could be at the cost of the Association, although generally the cost is borne by the individual who requests the accommodation.
Important to recognize that each request can be fact-sensitive, and the outcome may be different in each case based upon the facts. If you have any further questions on this subject, feel free to give me a call at 609-896-9060.
A. Christopher Florio, Esq.
Dear Christopher,
We have a condo that has two sparking spaces and they are numbered on the site plan and on the deed and they are exclusive and an easement for these spaces are on the deed. I am disabled also. I wanted to know if they can re-asign this to another owner that is handicapped to. The Association did that and now it says until she vacates the unit. The Declaration and Chapter 356B says it can never be transferred, re-assigned etc unless two owners agree and file it at the Registry of Deeds. Thanks Dot
Dot-
First, I am saddened to hear you are having this problem.
Assuming all you have communicated is true, the Board can not assign your space(s) without your approval, let alone the rest of the members of the Association. Unless there is a reference in the governing documents that allows the Board to do so, what you have advised makes it seem clear to me that the space(s) you have is exclusive to you, runs with the unit(meaning its sole use is conveyed during any sale to the party buying that particular unit), and that you have the sole right to the use of the space(s).
Hope this helps.