Question:
I am on the board of a small (16 units) condo complex. The size of the complex creates problems of its own that larger complexes may never experience.
Here is an example of one insoluble problem.
Our CC&Rs do not allow short-term rentals, but we've had a hard time enforcing this. Two owners have been doing end runs around the rules. For instance, presenting the board with a one-year lease, only to have the tenant suddenly have to "break the lease" after one or two months.
Sometimes they are actually in residence only for a week. It is very hard to police this activity and enforce the rules.
They don't care about fines and won't pay them, which were set too low in the CC&Rs. We can't foreclose on unpaid fines, only unpaid dues.
The board has tried to make changes to the bylaws that would give us some teeth in dealing with these scofflaws, but our hands are tied because we have so few owners. We already have six units being rented out.
These owners will never vote for further restrictions on rentals and they represent 45% of all unit owners, so we can't make any changes in the CC&Rs or the bylaws.
A few other owners also won't vote for any rental restrictions because they plan to rent out their units in the future. So our hands are tied.
When the CC&Rs were written, no one thought of the problems we would have 25 years later. If we had a large complex, say 100 units, we might get enough votes to tighten the rules, but with only 15 units, our hands are tied.
The patients have taken over the mental hospital. Any suggestions?
Answers (3)
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