Clubhouse Usage, Rentals, Liquour and Pool

We are a 106 unit townhome community in Charleston SC. Our clubhouse was initially build to be the country club house for a local golf course but after some problems the golf course did there own thing. Point being we have a nice sized clubhouse with very little usage.

First I was hoping for some input as to how we could better use our club house, maybe giving example of how you are using yours.

Secondly, we would like to rent our clubhouse out more but there has been some debate as to whether to allow alcohol usage. We are incorporated, but there some concerned with the personal liability of people using the club house, drinking and then driving. Can anyone comment?

Third, we have a very nice pool which sits outside the clubhouse and there has not been any allowance of people using the pool while renting the clubhouse. Can anyone comment?

Finally, so far we have only rented to good standing homeowners. We would like to maybe rent publically. We would of course need to have good procedures to monitor the applicants but is there any big issues preventing our HOA from doing that?

I will appreciate your comments!!

William:

I would be careful with allowing alcohol use in the clubhouse. If you are going to do it I would make the rentor obtain a liability insurance policy for a couple million dollars that names the association and its homeowners as additional insured. You should seek the advice of your attorney on that.

As for renting to the public, sure it can be done, but can be a lot of work. If you are serious about it there are a few things you should consider. First you need to survey similar properties or businesses and find out what they charge and use that to create your rental structure. I am of the opinion to make it a little high, remember, with any rental all is not pure profit, some will go to maintenance and cleaning. I would also get with your attorney and adopt a standard contract to use that would protect the association, never deviate off of it. Third you would need to decide who the point person will be that books and deals with the contracts, that could get timeconsuming. Finally I would add to every rental contract a per hour fee for a supervisor. I would think you could use that to pay one of the homeowners to watch the group and assist them as needed. Of course all of this should be discusses with the homeowners and have their blessing stamped on it, after all they are the ones that will be affected.

WilliamS1,

Nice post. Your clubhouse is a potential revenue producer, you don't want it to become a liability. Check with your insurance carrier regarding alchohol and waivers. Also check with your borough's board of health regarding the posting of rules and regulations and "NO Lifeguard on Duty" signs at each door that allows access to the pool. Not posting these signs may present a liability for an association.

My clubhouse has 3 points of entry, two of which (gym, and front door) have electronic swipe pads that allow limited access when a coded key is passed over it. We call these keys FOBS, they have a code on the back that corresponds to the unit owner's name so you know who's coming and going. Each unit gets one FOB, replacement is $50.00. Check with our local security company (ADT or Stealth) perhpas. They should know about keyless access pads.

Only members in good standing can rent our clubhouse. We do not permit members to use the pool when renting the clubhouse. Most often people rent at night or during the day when the pool is open. We do not want the hours of the pool to extend into the evening past 8:30pm pool hours, and do not want those residents using the pool during the day to deal with partygoers. Renting the clubhouse to non-residents, or allowing anyone other than members in good standing or their guests to use our pool is out of the question. The only time we rent our clubhouse to non-residents is if the event is for the benefit of eligable mortgage holders.

We charge the residents a $100 fee to rent the clubhouse, plus a $250.00 refundable deposit for damages, and cleaning if not done by the renter.

Best of success!!
GeraldT1
NNJ