Mandatory inspection of condos

Mandatory inspection of condos?

The minutes say the following:

"We discussed the broader issue of short term rental owners operating without HOA notification/fees.
A motion was made and approved to take pictures of all unit doors and living rooms to archive for HOA management purposes during a mandatory inspection. Motion carried 4 to 1."

The master deed says:
"Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein contained, the Association has a right of entry into any Unit in order to perform emergency repairs or to do other work necessary for the maintenance of the Condominium."

Is it okay for HOA to enter for a mandatory inspection? If it is not related to repairs?

Personally I don't think taking pictures is "work necessary for the maintenance of the Condominium". If I were an owner, I'd fight it. I certainly would not proceed without confirming with the association attorney that they agree that taking pictures is a valid reason for accessing units.

The association won't already be in the unit.
It will be a special "mandatory inspection" for the sole purpose of taking photos.

I am not in your state, but my first reaction is NO WAY I'm letting them in. The reason is not for maintenance purposes.

If the Board is concerned over abuse of short term rentals they need to figure out another way to approach it. Many uneducated Boards just believe that they have more rights than they do and all it takes is a Board vote.

Another thing - if this is related to a concern about short term rentals, there may be other ways to get verification of that. Maybe the board's needs to talk to the homeowners who aren't living in the unit and ask who is living there, reminding them of the short term rentals prohibition

If neighbors have concerns with all sorts of strangers moving in and out, they could talk to the owner-landlords and perhaps report their concerns to the property manager and board for follow up. This is where I'd keep the complainant's identity confidential unless things go legal and then I'd need them to testify.

Thanks for the responses.
Here are some answers:

Short term renters:
Currently anyone who rents for less than 30 days is considered a short term renter (airbnb, vrbo, etc.) It was voted about five years ago to amend the documents to allow for less than 30 days, if they pay a yearly registration fee to the Association. (This actually saved the Association as money was running dry. It also increased our property values since owners are making great income airbnb-ing)

Other solutions:
I believe there is a much simpler solution from the HOA instead of mandatory inspection of all units.

There are 144 units.
They are receiving the yearly fee from 120 units. So they don't need to worry about those. There should be no reason to take photos, imo, if the unit owners are paying.
So that leaves 24 units in question.
10 units live here (including myself, 2 BOD's, 4 that have lived here forever, and 3 month to month renters.) All known to live here by the BODs, and those are not in question.
So that only leaves 14 units in question as to whether they are running as a short term renter without paying the annual fee to the Association.

Instead of doing a mandatory inspection of everyone's units, and taking photos of the living rooms and keeping them on file, they should reach out to just those 14 units.
(I personally find it invasive for the property manager to come into my living room and take photos. I have a home office in my living room.)

Mandatory inspections:
We have an annual fire sprinkler inspection every year, which happened last month. The PM entered all units. So she would have seen those 14 units in question. But instead they are saying ALL units need to have photos taken of their living room. I find that intrusive and unnecessary.

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So the question is really down to the variance of 14.
Can those units be entered by the Association to observe if they are short term renters.
The replies seem to be steering towards no.

Or if they enter ALL units, can they take photos for their files if they clearly see that there is no short term rental violation? Such as my unit.
The replies seem to be steering towards no too.

(I also don't know how the living room is the indicator of who is or isn't a short term renter.)

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Personally I will just say NO, to them entering my unit if there is no other maintenance. And see what they do.

However, since I am running for the Board, I wanted to see thoughts from the 'other side'.

So far this seems like a bad idea. And just an ad-service that the PM is going to charge for.

I'm confused. If you already know the home is listed in airbnb or you found a short term rental ad don't you already have the proof you need? What value does a picture of someone's current personal belongings add to this?

I think the airbnb'ers post minimal identifying information (e.g. no street address) and only give details to people who contact the landlord/hotel room owner directly.

Here is a free legal opinion:

https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/right-of-entry

Your numbers are helpful. The realities of your situation have sunk in for me. I expect this condo will always be way top-heavy with rentals.I agree, as long as you can stand the many board votes favoring the landlords.Hackneyed but true, "There's the rub."

I wonder if these landlord-owners care all that much about the property deterioration. Their bottom line calculations may indicate that loss of rent is minimal compared to the cost of an increased assessment to build up reserves and pay for the annual operating expenses.

I do not need details. But I am picturing a condo association in Nashville or similar, with lots of tourists and transient folks. For me, such a COA is no longer suitable for owner residency. The landlords have won, and completely legally.

I completely agree.

Out of the math that I posted. Those 14 unit variance can also be looked up on Metro's site as a permit is needed from the city to operate as a short-term. If they have a permit with metro, but aren't registered with the Association, then that is a violation, with a specific hefty fine. That brings the number of questionable units down to just a few. No need to go into everyone's unit and take photos of their living rooms.

To point two and three. Agree. If I knew the units in question, as someone who lives here, I could easily tell if they are short term renters or not by the traffic.
It is very much like living in a hotel. It is all noisy parties, damage, etc.