Taking pictures of inside of garage

Started by DelmarD • 7 replies • 1584 views

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DelmarD (Georgia)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Hello,

I'm new to this board and my communities HOA board. We have an issue of people parking in the streets instead of their garages. One resident has items in his garage and I know this because one of our board members drove by and took pics of inside his garage. I live in Georgia, is it against the law for the HOA to take pics of inside of the garage? I feel it's internal and not external so it could be against the law. Thanks for any input.

AugustinD
Posts: 5,144

Posted:

First, what do your governing documents say about garage use? Some HOAs nationwide require that garages be used for vehicle storage, as opposed to exclusively storage of things that are non-vehicles.

Else if the garage door is open and the contents may be viewed easily by merely driving by, then I think the law would say it's legal to share a photo of the contents with at least the HOA board and manager. The Board might even be said to have a fiduciary duty to properly document any violation in this matter.

Thank you for volunteering to be on a board and run your nonprofit HOA.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Regarding legality of the issue - you need to check with a local attorney.

I will share that our attorney advised us not to enter private property when doing inspections and stay on common area (sidewalks, streets, common land, etc.). Pictures were allowed providing they were taken from the common area.

Similar to google maps, if you have your garage door open when someone takes a picture, that picture may be shared.
Same goes with having the drapes open, etc.

NigelB (Texas)
Posts: 254

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DelmarD on 05/06/2017 7:20 AM
Hello,

I'm new to this board and my communities HOA board. We have an issue of people parking in the streets instead of their garages. One resident has items in his garage and I know this because one of our board members drove by and took pics of inside his garage. I live in Georgia, is it against the law for the HOA to take pics of inside of the garage? I feel it's internal and not external so it could be against the law. Thanks for any input.

I doubt it, as long as whoever took the photo was legally in a public place (assuming the street) there is no violation. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy if activity or whatever is being photographed can be observed from a public place.

The question then becomes should the HOA be doing that kind of thing - I say no.

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

Do you mean there is no driveway, only a garage directly off the street?

Who cares what's IN his garage?

The CAR belongs there, according to your bylaws or CCRS, right?

Have your local police dept. ticket the car.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SueW6 on 05/07/2017 1:25 PM
Do you mean there is no driveway, only a garage directly off the street?

Who cares what's IN his garage?

The CAR belongs there, according to your bylaws or CCRS, right?

Have your local police dept. ticket the car.

And by what LAW can the Local Police issue a ticket??? The police cannot regulate "private contracts".

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

If there are NO Parking on Street signs posted on the street, then the local municipality police dept. can patrol the street and issue tickets IF they are asked to do that.

Our subdivision asked the police to patrol more, since speeders were causing problems.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SueW6 on 05/10/2017 2:50 PM
If there are NO Parking on Street signs posted on the street, then the local municipality police dept. can patrol the street and issue tickets IF they are asked to do that.

Our subdivision asked the police to patrol more, since speeders were causing problems.

Potentially that depends on the State and the State Laws or Local Government Laws. You are in a different State than the OP so what you have said may not apply in the OP's State.

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