Easements and voluntary board members

Started by JohnG46 • 3 replies • 378 views

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JohnG46 (New Jersey)
Posts: 4

Posted:

I live in a community in New Jersey. Couple of questions.

We have a community club that started claiming it is mandatory for all property owners in the Original development. There are also other sections in our community that were never part of the original development.(nothing in their deeds) Property owners from these outside areas are currently sitting on the Board and voting in the association. So we have members on our Board that can't be forced to pay assessments and can't have liens on their property if they don't pay the dues but they are voting on decisions that bind the property owners in the original development. They can vote to have my property assessed for a major repair or to put a lien on my property for non payment of dues and they can leave the association at any time with no penalties at all. How on Earth can this be allowed? Voluntary members in a mandatory association?

If I have an easement in my deed to use common property, and I don't pay my dues, (not in good standing) can the association block me from using the common property? Do they have the authority over language in my deed?

Thanks

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,062

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnG46 on 04/30/2020 3:43 PM

We have a community club that started claiming it is mandatory for all property owners in the Original development.

Doesn't matter what is being claimed.
What do the governing documents specify?

Quote:

Posted By JohnG46 on 04/30/2020 3:43 PM

If I have an easement in my deed to use common property, and I don't pay my dues, (not in good standing) can the association block me from using the common property? Do they have the authority over language in my deed?

Typically, an Association may deny common amenities and use of common areas for lots that are not in good standing PROVIDING you still have ingress and egress to your property. For example, if your development was gated and had two gates (one for members and one for guests), they could force you to use the gate for guests.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

I agree with TimB4: read your governing documents. Pay special attention to sections describing the HOA and its membership, as well as homeowner rights and obligations. Also read your bylaws that talks about the board, who is qualified to be a director, and its obligations to enforce your CC&Rs. You might want to do some digging to see what sorts of deed restrictions are on the properties that you say are outside of your HOA. It's not that unusual to allow non-members to sit on an HOA board, but I also question the fairness of decision-making in the hands of those who have no skin in the game.

HOAs are legal entities and their actions are governed by state law as well as the recorded governing documents of the HOA. The board can't just make it up as they go along - they must abide by the laws as written. They also cannot make changes to any of the CC&Rs without the approval of the membership.

So... research first. Depending on what you find, there may be more steps you can take.

JohnG46 (New Jersey)
Posts: 4

Posted:

The documents pretty much say if you're in good standing, you can use all the Club has to offer like beaches, boat ramp, docks and attend club social functions. If you don't pay your dues, you can't use anything at all. So how can they claim they have common interest property that benefits the community? It is also a State owned lake with a State owned dock and boat ramp that allows anyone in the world access to and use of the lake. So going by the analogy above, there is a members only gate (for members in good standing) and then there is a PUBLIC gate that allows anyone public access. How can they claim their gate is a benefit to the community and a reason we should all have to pay mandatory dues to maintain a gate that has no benefit over the public gate? To use the gate analogy for my original question: IF my deed has language saying I have an easement to use the members gate, does the association have the authority to keep me from using the members gate if I don't pay my dues? And to complicate things a little more, If there is language in my deed to use some "trails", the association can't even prove it clearly owns the trails. So technically, they can't even stop the public from using the members only gate. What a mess.

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