Condo Media - August 2014 - 48

by Nena Groskind

FEATURE

Updating Condominium Documents

I

n the world of food, there are few
sensations more enticing than
the smell of freshly baked rolls or
less appealing than the taste of
stale ones. A community association's
governing documents can become
stale, too - not as quickly as bread,
to be sure, but the effects can be even
more unpleasant. Changes in attitudes,
demographics, economics, and laws
can make a community's covenants and
rules less relevant, less desirable, and
possibly unenforceable over time. Unlike diamonds, governing documents
aren't forever - or they shouldn't be.
But how often should they be updated, and what changes are likely to
be required? We asked an attorney and
an association manager to offer their
perspectives on those questions.
Gary Daddario, Esq.
Partner, Perkins & Anctil
If the condominium's
organizing documents
(covenants and bylaws)
are drafted properly
in the first place, they
shouldn't have to be updated "all that
48

Condo Media * August 2014

often," Daddario says. And that's a
good thing, he points out, because a
super-majority of the owners (two-thirds
or more) must usually approve any
changes. "That's a difficult process,"
Daddario says, and one that associations
generally try to avoid if they can.
Unfortunately, he notes, the documents in many older communities were
not drafted as artfully as they should
have been. The provisions most likely to
need revision: Those governing pets, late
fees, and fines are all areas that Daddario
thinks are best addressed by boards
through the rule-making process. For
example, the $10 fine and $15 late fee
established 20 years ago aren't likely to
have much of an impact on owners today. And attitudes toward pets (pro and
con) are likely to change as the makeup
of a community changes over time.
Daddario suggests that associations
amending older documents add language giving the board broad authority
to make changes in specified areas. This
will ensure that additional amendments
"won't be needed for a good long
time." He recommends specifically
adding provisions:

* Authorizing the board to address
"administrative matters" and leaving
it up to the board to define in the
rules and regulations what those matters include.
* Allowing the board to impose fines
for rules violations and late fees for
tardy payments and authorizing it
to establish those fee schedules and
adjust them, as needed.
* Stating that pets are generally allowed "at the board's discretion" -
preferable to a blanket provision in
the covenants that either allows pets
or restricts them.
While he thinks boards need reasonable flexibility to operate effectively,
Daddario also emphasizes the need
for restraint. "You don't want to go
too far," he says. "You want to be fair
to owners. You don't want to create a
governing regime with an all-powerful
board that no one wants to live under."
Some issues - particularly those affecting how owners can use their units
or what they can do in them - are best
Condo Media - August 2014

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