Our condos have a wonderful feature: tandem garages. And if that’s not enough, the garages are so narrow that once inside, there’s only enough room to open doors on ONE side of the car.
So, ever since the beginning, there has been a war going on between the HOA and most of the residents (both owners and renters). Seems the HOA has a big thing about residents parking ONLY in their garages. Most of the residents, like everyone else in America, use part of their garage for storage.
Problem is, once you store ANYTHING in these narrow, tandem garages, there is no longer room for 2 vehicles. Usually there’s enough outside parking for everyone–occasionally, on the weekend, you might have to hunt for a spot. But the HOA Board is adamant–and they’ve issued the following edict:
“Garage is full and cannot accommodate 2 vehicles: Will result in 3 non-fine warnings per year. 4th violation will result in a $10 fine. 7 days after 4th violation, $20 fine. 14 days after, $25 fine. Every 7 days thereafter, $25 fine until remedied”
Does the HOA really have the power to dictate how I use my garage?
IANAL but I have belonged to several HOAs and served on the board of one.
Is the garage considered part of the condo, or limited common area? Common area is property that is commonly owned by all owners. Limited common (if I recall the term correctly) is common area that is dedicated to the use of a single owner. In my condo, my balcony was considered limited common area, so the rules could dictate things like you can’t use the balcony for storage.
If the garage is considered part of the condo I do not know whether an HOA can dictate usage within the condo walls in the area exclusively owned by the owner.
If it is limited common then they can.
There must be some underlying concern here, possibly limited parking outside of the garages? In my condo only some residents had garages, and because of the severe limitations of parking you were expected to park in your garage if you had one (etiquette, not rules).
BTW an HOA is not us vs. them–YOU are the HOA! You don’t say if you are an owner or a renter but if you are the owner, you can campaign among the other owners and put a rule change in front of the board.
I ask, because I think they worded this thing badly (for them). While it appears that they are trying to address parking vehicles elsewhere than in the garages, the note only addresses what use one is putting one’s garage to.
Also, what does it say about owners who only have ONE car, keep it garaged, and use the other stall for storage?
I think you have a valid gripe based on what you’ve written here, but I’m no lawyer, and ultimately IMHO it is difficult to predict whether a challenge would be successful, no matter what its merits.
Well, of course, in theory, you’re right. But–in practice, the overwhelming majority of residents here just aren’t interested. There was recently a ballot sent out addressing the parking rules, but they couldn’t even get enough votes for a quorum!I attended a few Board meetings early on, but the folks “in charge” are like a bunch of Mrs. Kravitz clones…I couldn’t stand the busybody aspect of it all.
I’ve spoken to a bunch of people in my building who think these bylaws are ridiculous–but nobody wants to mount a revolt. I guess we’re getting the government we deserve if we can’t be bothered to get people to go to the meetings.