Hi... I need some great ideas on this issue.

Hello there,
I have posted before regarding this issue but its not resolved.

Our HOA has underground parking.. Owners hold title to their own spaces. There are two disabled spaces owned by the HOA. Our rules state no guest parking which include the parking spaces for disabled. Very clear.

We have two known disabled owners, one who has lived here for 14 years. one about 3. Both use these parking spaces due to mobility issues. Not disputing the disability. They are both well known to our complex.

About 6 months ago an owner moved his terminally ill relative into our complex. All of a sudden there is a 3rd car needing disabled parking. Our street parking is a disaster as most urban areas are. The third party is an owner. He proved registration to both vehicles which are in the parking space at anytime.

Last night he was caught on video pulling into the parking space, no passanger and parked in the disabled parking space. within a half an hour you can see him pulling out and letting his live in guest take the space. No exchange of placard which means he held the space for this person. They parked there legally with his second car- and terminally ill mom as a passenger.

This is the issue. We have two known owners who are knowingly displaced by this activity. The owner who is the 3rd party is not having communication nor open to talking about it. I am on our board. Our board is quiet about this. The didn't even know our own CCRS about the parking space and that city police can not intervene as its private parking until I told them.. and gave them material to read.

I asked the management about this for any idea. Their comment is that "its an owner to owner" issue and we can sue.. She further stated that HOA do not fatly under ADA or HUD- which is incorrect. It's HUD that would address any disability requests to HOA. HOA's are not exempt from disabled rights..

Suggestion, advice? I am already in touch with the city to see if we can request a disabled spot for street parking, but that won't really solve our issue.. It would make it a disabled public parking.

If there hasn't been a complaint, it may not be necessary for the board to get involved. For all you know, the others may have talked to this owner and came to some sort of understanding.

You said the rest of the board weren't aware of this, and the same could be true of the rule. Start with some education and see what the issue is - maybe there is another solution no one's thought of. That said, it may be your colleagues are also aware of the terminally ill relative and don't want to push some who is probably going through a rough time. Remember that if/when you talk to this owner - and YOU will likely be the one who will have to do it if no one else will.

Is there a reason you can't designate a third space for disabled parking? As Augustin said, Fair Housing laws require 2% of spaces to be set aside - so if you're currently under that, you'd need to reserve one or more additional spaces anyway, even without the current kerfuffle.

Yes, the owner with the terminally ill relative is a jerk, but it sounds like that unit could have a disabled parking designation anyway if it's occupied by a terminally ill person. Just do it, and let karma sort out the jerk.

Interesting problem. What are the odds that FHA laws would grandfather a community that couldn't comply? Federal law trumps local law, so....

Since the spaces are deeded to individual owners, why isn't the owner with the ailing relative parking in his own space? Or does the relative have their own car in that space and there is no room for guest parking? Where do other guests park? On the street? Elsewhere? The problem owner is being a jerk, but the real issue is insufficient parking space for the community. I don't know if the OP can do this, but the association may want to consider updating their parking restriction, if any. If parking is limited, then every unit gets two parking tags (for instance) and anyone without a tag has to find parking space on the streets. If an owner has three vehicles, tough - it's on them that they choose to live in a place that doesn't fully meet their needs.

I do disagree that the OP's issue would be an owner-to-owner problem. Ordinarily we would treat it as such if someone were just parking in another person's spot, but when Fair Housing laws come into play, then the association can be liable for not taking action in cases like this. So we wouldn't ignore this.

At the very least, we would start documenting the problem (photos and videos) and we would send violation/information letters stating the obvious and that the association will enforce this. In the event this escalates and one of the owners who is disabled complains, the association wants to have a paper trail showing good faith efforts to address the problem. They still may get fined, but with luck a judge won't be tempted to throw the book at an association that's trying to do the right thing.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.