Condo Media - October 2019 - 63

troubled unit can be assessed back to
the unit owner, after hearing. Under
Section 3.20 of the Act, the board
must hold a covenant enforcement
hearing and give the unit owner notice
and opportunity to be heard as to
whether they did in fact violate the
condominium's rules and regulations.
If a violation is found, fines can
issue up to $100/day plus attorney
fees ($500/day for a commercial
condominium). Additionally, the
association can require the unit
owner to abate the violation and if
they do not, the association can, and
sometimes must, do so itself and assess
the costs back to the unit owner. In the
event of a tenant being the offender,
the tenants are bound by the rules
and regulations of the association and
any act or omission by a unit owner's
tenant would be attributed to the unit
owner. Further, if a unit is bank-owned,
the bank is treated the same as any
other unit owner.
Based on the foregoing, the board
not only can do something, but it has
an obligation to do something. In the
above example of the "buzzing" unit,
the association has an obligation to
determine the cause of the buzzing-
both the noise and the flies. Once
determined, the sound and pests must
be remedied. For violations that involve
nuisance to other owners and/or health
and safety, as in the above example,
rather than make the unit owner remedy
it by a date certain, the association
should remedy the violations and charge
the costs back after the hearing. The
Act and the condominium documents
mandate that the board access the
unit for inspection and bring it into
compliance with the declaration
and rules of the condominium and
applicable city and town ordinances.
Failure to do so will result in the board's
dereliction of its duty to properly
maintain the common and limited
common areas of the condominium.
■ MARY-JOY HOWES, ESQ.,
IS A PARTNER WITH THE LAW
FIRM GOODMAN, SHAPIRO &
LOMBARDI, LLC AND CO-CHAIR OF

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THE CAI RHODE ISLAND LEGISLATIVE
ACTION COMMITTEE (RILAC).

October 2019 CONDOMEDIA

63
Condo Media - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - October 2019
