Access By Power-of-Attorney

Hoatalk.com members: If you were on the board of a condominium, and an elderly member in pretty clear decline asked that his power-of-attorney (POA) be allowed to enter the gated grounds, using the elderly member's gate card, to help him move and get the property ready for sale, how would you recommend the board respond? The access requested will include the POA being able to be on the grounds when the elderly HOA member is not on the grounds. The paperwork for the POA states that the POA will be able to act on behalf of the elderly HOA member for all matters involving real property (and, as it happens, everything else). Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'd ask that the elderly resident provide a copy of the power of attorney to keep for the association's records. Then the board should communicate in writing with the resident and the person with POA notifying them that the request has been granted and spelling out what the board understands the acting POA's role will be.

I'd assume that the person acting for the resident has the same rights as the resident, but limited by his role. (Would the person acting for the elderly resident have any right to use the amenities like a pool? A question for the HOA attorney, but I don't see that this would be necessary for him to perform his duties.)

If anything changes, then that should also be communicated in writing to both parties.

This probably seems like a lot of paperwork, but since Fair Housing and other civil rights laws come into play here, it's best to dot the i's and cross the t's (and have written evidence of having done so).

Thank you, John, Cathy and Shelia. Will do.

John, it's one of those condos where the manager and board harass people they do not like. This particular elderly resident has been in the manager's cross-hairs ever since the elderly resident several years ago succeeded in compelling the condo to comply with the law on HOA records reviews and other basic matters.

Just curious. Would you require all of this if someone hired an outside pet sitting/walking service, or if someone hired someone to clean their house when they weren't home? Or even a friend to come over and water their plants while they were gone.

Sounds to me like those would fall under the same access issues as the POA for the elderly resident.

Pat, some context: the condo is way strict about access. Management and the Board would never permit someone to have a gate card just so they could, say, water the plants. A member loaned his gate card to his plumber and got fined. There are security cameras on the front gates, and management can and will check who is using the gate card and whether the vehicle matches what is in the HOA's records. The neighborhood has seen burglaries in the past.

Cathy, I appreciate your reminding me that this is potentially either an age or disability discrimination issue. I think a reasonable accommodation here is, after providing a copy of the POA papers, granting the POA use of the gate card.

I will try to keep the thread updated with the outcome.

The Golden Rule is the best advice I can give you under the circumstances: reflect on how you would like to be treated under these facts, giving due weight to the reasons why the Association has such a strict access policy, of course.

If you have an on-site property manager, perhaps he or she can require the gentleman to coordinate all trips to the property with him or her in advance.

//JZ2, I happen to favor a strict access policy. It promotes safety. Of course, I also want the policy to be compliant with Fair Housing law.//

I agree as a general rule, but you need to have a willingness to consider exceptions in exceptional cases. It appears that is precisely what your property manager did here.