Virginia Condominium & Homeowners Association Lawyer

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION SWIMMING POOLS

Time:  3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Location:  VB Central Library Auditorium, 4100 Virginia Beach Boulevard, Virginia Beach

THIS IS A FREE PROGRAM sponsored by the Southeastern Virginia Chapter of the Community Associations Institute.

Does your Virginia Beach Association have a Swimming Pool?

Q.:       I am a member of an HOA and I have submitted a community request form to have the exterior wood trim of my home repaired or replaced. I have a vinyl and brick townhouse, but the exterior trim is all wood and parts are starting to rot. In my request form I have provided pictures of the rotting wood and areas needing repair. Our association is responsible for all exterior maintenance and replacements, including the roof. I am now being told by the Board of Directors that they will only pay $400 to $600 and the rest will have to be paid by me. This boils down to a special assessment.  Is this practice legal and if it is, did it have to go before the community for a vote? Can the Board impose this change in policy by themselves?

A.:       You pose an interesting question involving the limits of the power of the Board of Directors. The first place to start to determine the propriety of the action of the board is your recorded association Declaration and Amendments to that Declaration. 

HOA declarations generally spell out the maintenance responsibilities which are often divided between the association and the homeowners in an HOA. HOAs vary in the manner in which maintenance responsibilities are addressed, especially in townhome style communities.   Some communities require that the homeowner handle all of the exterior maintenance, but require that approval be obtained for any changes to color or materials to be applied to the exterior before work can begin.   Other communities place the entire responsibility for exterior maintenance, including landscape maintenance, on the association. Others fall somewhere in between these two concepts. In recent years it has become more popular to put the responsibility on the association so as to insure regularity and uniformity of repair work which generally enhances the appearance of the neighborhood and the value of the properties in it. 

Q. I have a few questions regarding storm water basins within developments. Our subdivision was established in 1995 and at that time the City was just starting to implement measures to comply with the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. The City required new subdivisions to implement storm water retention measures. The subdivision plat shows the ponds on individual lots. In order to ensure these ponds were maintained, the Declarant implemented Homeowner Declarations stating the ponds and embankments are designated as Common Areas and are to be maintained by the Association. Does the homeowner have any real claim to these areas since they are essentially required by law to be in place? Could the lot owner fill in the part of the bond on his property? If the Association is responsible for them as Common Area, shouldn’t they provide liability insurance to protect all members? Finally, is there any reprieve for the owner for the taxes which they must pay on the property?

A.  You pose some good questions that we have heard before about drainage facilities, which are usually referred to as BMPs (a term we could explain, but it wouldn't clear up much!). For purposes of this answer let's just call them ponds. Without examining your documents we cannot provide finite answers and your documents do sound a bit unusual. Usually it is clear that the ponds are situated on various lots as shown on the subdivision plat or they are on common areas, often designated as preservation areas. The maintenance issue is most problematic when the ponds are located on parts of several lots with no indication of who is to do what. This has not been the methodology of the cities in the past seven years or so; rather, the ponds are generally designated as common areas and there is a plat notation on the subdivision plat which requires the formation of a homeowners association (HOA) to maintain the pond and the area around it.