Condo Association Management Blog

There are other charges that goes up such as the water bill.

I work for a property management Company and am on the Board at the Condominium I live at. It was always my understanding that move-in fees were designed to dissuade renters. As long as the current renters are exempt (meaning the owners don't have to pay the fee retroactively), then I see nothing wrong with if it doesn't contradict your by-laws. If the unit owners don't like it, they can vote to override the fee (again, check your by-laws for what the procedure is for that).

Unless this move-in-fee is in your condo docs it is unenforceable. Unit owners have the absolute right to lease their unit unless bylaws restrict them from doing so. In addition, unless owners are also charged this same fee, a formal amendment would be required to impose these fees. Move in fees should be uniformly enforced to avoid a possible claim of unlawful discrimination. Housing court would kill you guys.

I would recommend you request to discuss this fee at one of the upcoming board meetings which you'll attend. 
 
You need to find out why the board felt that raising the fee would be necessary. 
 
I see couple of reasons why this could be happening. One, of course, is to deter renters. Of course this hurts you as a landlord, but it might be very beneficial for the rest of the owners. Assuming majority of residents are owners they probably don't want to have too many renters. Buildings with a high percentage of rentals tend to be not as well maintained, it's harder to sell, refinance, and often even insure. 
 
Another option could be because the building needs additional money. The board possible felt that rather than raising assessments on everyone and creating a hardship for all owners they can collect fees from businesses. While this might seem unfair it's certainly not illogical and not wrong. 
 
I don't think class action law suit is a practical or realistic solution. 
 
Ruth, I respectfully disagree with your statement. If governing documents allow for general fees and allow the board to set them it is absolutely withing their right to change the amount. 
 

I live in a small condo complex--20 units--and we have been plagued by renters, most of whom are college students. They are noisy and often bring hoards of friends to the pool and leave it a mess, including the pool rest rooms. We have 3 units rented to students. They often have to be "reminded" of the rules, constantly, which they promptly forget. They have 4 cars to park and they often park them along the driveway which is a no parking zone. We are considering charging a move- in fee. We've been told there is no law against it. What would others suggest we do other than charging a move I fee? We do complain to the owner's and the infractions continue putting an undue burden on the board and causing distress to the owner residents.

Louise, 
 
here are few ideas that you might want to consider. All of them would require CC&R amendments 
 
- Implement a limit that units may not be rented for a term of less than one year. Many college students only rent while the school is in session. 
 
- Implement a rule that units may not be rented to roommates. Consult an attorney for proper wording so it's not discriminatory. It will not solve the problem completely, but might help. 
 
- Require that any rental contract includes a language that all tenants must obey CC&Rs and rules and regulation. This puts a landlord on notice that he needs to enforce this. 
 
- Limit the number of guests in common area. For example only two guests are allowed per unit in the pool area. This will have affect on all owners, but will help with your problem 
 
- Include a language that will allow the board to evict a tenant causing nuisance 
 
- Ensure that your CC&Rs allow you to impose fines for rules violations. Make sure that they are steep while not ridiculous. My recommendation to all my clients is to start low but make them go up: 
first violation - warning 
second violation - $25 range (very low but sends a message) 
third violation - $100 (higher and sends a stronger message 
forth and subsequent violations $500 to $750 range. (Hopefully it never gets there. Remember that fines are to deter violations not to supplement income) 
 

Here's the issue with the initial post- it's Tia's opinion. Tia, Move-in fees despite what you may THINK, are put in place to protect a Condominium Association or Apartment building from damages caused by large furniture, etc. Therefore, owners and renters pay the same fee. The alternative to charging a higher move in fee would be to increase condo fees, which if that were to happen, is even worse for owners because they NEVER go down (and I’m sure we’d see you post on here again complaining of the increase). The move-in fee offsets the possibility of the association having to budget for this which could possibly increase the condo fee. The move in fee is typically part of an Associations Rules and Regs (unless it’s in the docs) which means it can be changed without a 75% unit owner vote.

In my HOA, there is a $200 move-in fee to cover the administrative costs of a move. Also, there is a $100 damage deposit, refunded if the move doesn't cause any damage to the building.

Thanks to Jeff Ross for the helpful comments.  
 
Louise

Jeff Ross is spot-on and I would like to add to his suggestions. Our board does not recognize the renter as having a legal relationship with the community. Any infractions, damage, communications are done strictly through the homeowner. The owner of the unit receives all correspondence and fines, if any. We also don't allow the owner to use the community amenities (like the pool or cabana) as long as the renter uses them. We don't assess move-in fees but after reading some of the comments, I think it is a good idea. One of the biggest problems we run into (in our 133 unit condo development) is the large items the renters leave hidden behind the trash bays when they move out. I think a fee would defray some of the cost of hauling the items out to the landfill. Our board hesitates to make renting difficult in these hard economic times because we would have units sitting empty if the owners couldn't rent them out.

Renee wrote: " Our board hesitates to make renting difficult in these hard economic times because we would have units sitting empty if the owners couldn't rent them out." 
 
Having empty units is not nearly as bad as having bad tenants, IMO. Maybe it would make the non resident owners sit up and take notice of what bad tenants are doing to the complex.

One of the big issues against renter's is they do not have a vested interest in the property, they are simply occupants. By having a property with too many renter's and not enough owners actually living in the units makes it harder to get and keep FHA Certification and it also makes it harder for those who may want to purchase a unit to get loan approval. What do your condo documents say regarding rentals? We added a seperate amendment to our bylaws specifically regarding renter's. It's also harder to evict an tenant in some states unless they break a law. All communication should go directly to the owner and not the occupant because legally the owner is responsible for the unit. We added also added a rental addendum for all non owner occupied units so everyone knows the expectations. If the fees don't get paid the owner and occupants are not permitted to park on the property. 
 
In our state, the Board of Managers reserves the right to make and enforce rules and regulations regarding parking and activities in the common elements.

Steve, 
 
 
 
you seem to have an issue with most everything your HOA does or doesn't do. I have seen questions on this blog from you everyday. With your constant issues I would seriously consider selling your unit(s) and free yourself from your miseries of ownership. Go buy a detached SGH without an HOA. This blog is not just a place to constantly complain.

Hey Chris, did you even read the post I made? And LOL TIA is Thanks in advance. Read that in your owner's manuel.

I am president of my assoc and we have a $175 registration fee for any lease. You will find as you reapply for FHA approval that a lease and lease rider will be required. The fee itself is legal, but the fee amount is in question. The guiding thought by law is the fee within reasonable limits to pay for the cost of maintaining the leases. Otherwisew it can be seen as profit and will be struck down in court. Your lawyer can give you a clearer view.