Out of HOA Tennis players

Started by DennisG7 • 12 replies • 846 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

DennisG7 (Georgia)
Posts: 155

Posted:

As the newly installed HOA President/Board member in January I've run into a very headstrong member that plays tennis and is the "chair" of our tennis community. We are a small HOA, 189 homes, and it's been discovered that our HOA tennis players can only field about 50% of the men's and women's team that plays on a area sanctioned team. I'm told the teams have about 12-16 people on them, one woman's, one man's. By doing the math that means we have about 6-8 HOA members on each team and about 6-8 non HOA members. The Tennis Chair has not provide me with names and numbers of the men's and women's tams. (I have a feeling that perhaps more than 50% are non residents.)

I thought the HOA had been charging non-members a modest $25 fee/per year to play on our teams and use our facilities. I discovered this past week that it fees had been suggested a couple of years ago but it was never implemented. When I approached the Tennis Chair about the dues I was told "I will not charge anyone to play. "They are my guests and I can invite guests to play. If you charge guests using the pool then I'll charge players on the tennis teams."

I was stunned but now I'm faced with pushing this issue or just leaving it alone.

The Tennis teams are sanctioned by our local Area Tennis Association and have scheduled matches throughout the area. I've got no problem having a visiting team coming to play free of charge but I've had many non tennis members complain that non HOA members should pay to play. Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.
Dennis G7

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Agenda item for next BoRd meeting.

Board meeting.

Vote to institute per person fees that are agreeable to the Board.

Don’t make it a big deal, just use the Board process.

DaveP8 (Oklahoma)
Posts: 47

Posted:

How much time and effort is it worth for maximum $400?? Seems petty.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

By opening your facilities to outsiders, you increase your HOA's liability if anyone were to be injured and sue you. In addition, your courts may now be considered public facilities, which means you must comply with ADA requirements.

Not to mention the fact that homeowners who do not use the courts are subsidizing outsiders' use of your facilities. Charging the outsiders for their use is most definitely appropriate.

So... talk to your insurance agent to make sure you're adequately insured, review ADA requirements to see if you comply, and then put this on the agenda of your next board meeting.

This is not a trivial thing.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Dave, please see Cathy's response. She is absolutely correct. This is and/or can become a BIG deal.

Perhaps the tennis teams would like to obtain their own liability coverage, and then also sign, individually, hold harmless docs?

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Dennis

The Tennis Chair has a point that they are guests such as would be ones guest at the swimming pool. Any insurance issue would be the same. Unless getting complaints from other owners, I would sheelve the issue for now.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Hmmmm .... yeah, but like having 10-15 "friends" at the pool several times a week.

Do the non-HOA members practice at the HOA courts, as well?

Do they ever take time on the courts away from those that are members of the HOA?

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

I'm not a lawyer, but I think you can make a good case that having a guest over to play tennis is different from hosting a tennis league. One is casual and random while the other is organized, which implies some differing level of responsibility.

If this were my community, we'd be running the issue past our attorney. If you don't want to pay an attorney, you should at least get an insurance professional's opinion. And George's suggestion of requiring a signed hold-harmless agreement is a good one. Whenever I've participated in any organized physical activity, I've had to sign such an agreement (and the agreements usually contained the phrase "up to and including death", just in case I was missing the point).

DaveP8 (Oklahoma)
Posts: 47

Posted:

I stand corrected.

However, by charging outside HOA players, isn't the tennis facility now public? Seems to be similar to an HOA swimming pool.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DaveP8 on 03/03/2020 10:46 AM
I stand corrected.

However, by charging outside HOA players, isn't the tennis facility now public? Seems to be similar to an HOA swimming pool.

I recommend talking to your HOA's lawyer about this since most of us here are not lawyers. Is the charge the thing that makes it public, or is it the fact that the HOA knowingly allows outsiders to use its facility? Does it make a difference if everyone is charged a use fee, not just non-members?

Aside from this, I urge you talk to your insurance agent to make sure you're adequately insured since you'll have people engaged in physical activity where injuries can occur, and hosting a league is a different beast from occasional causal play by members. You'll also need to make sure you maintain your facility in top notch condition - somebody who gets hurt is going to look for reasons to sue the HOA whether or not the HOA could have prevented the injury.

MarshallT (New York)
Posts: 414

Posted:

Cathy has made some excellent suggestions.

Once you have the information you need to proceed, make sure you let the member who plays tennis know why certain decisions have been made. They may not be happy with the changes, but they should be able to understand why the changes have been made.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

What do your CC&Rs say about who is allowed to use the tennis courts? Members, certainly, but who else? Guests? Visitors? Tenants? Invitees? The exact language could be important. If invitees have the right to use the recreational facilities then it might not be within the board's power to charge them anything.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

One running argument in associations is must a guest(s) be accompanied by an owner at all times?

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

✓ Ask follow-up questions
✓ Share your experience
✓ Get expert advice
✓ Access 350,000 discussions

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here