Patios

When our small community was built 15 years ago, many of the residents who moved here were from the adjoining small town and were either lifelong friends or related in some manner. Those of us who were not natives of the small town or related were outsiders.

For years, it was the understanding of the folks that porches and decks were the responsibility of the homeowner. (we provide all exterior maintenance) Everyone was fine with that....because everyone was one big happy family....! However, there is nothing in our documents that specifically says that.

Thus, a new homeowner has moved into the community....not related....not friends.....he has brought up this issue and is refusing to pay his share of the porch roofing. He is correct in his position. No doubt about it.

However, we (the board) are facing the task of clearly defining what is meant by "Patios" since it was loosely interpreted but never officially clarified in our documents to include decks, sunporches, enclosed porches, seasonal sunrooms.

This will entail amending the covenant article which speaks to "patios" as an exclusion from HOA maintenance.

I could use some guidance on how to do this. Do I amend the entire article of the covenants or do I amend the article's one word of "Patios" and clarify its meaning?

As an example....Article III, Section 2 paragraph 1 excludes patios from exterior maintenace as part of the maintenance responsibilities of the association. Patios shall be defined as and shall include any deck or decks, sunrooms....etc., etc.

This is to be discussed by the board in a meeting next week, and the language will be presented subsequently to an attorney for review....and then presented to homeowners for vote.....but, given that I am tasked with the development of language initially, I need suggestions as to how to approach development of the language.

Unfortunately, my board isn't going to be of much help. I look to this forum so many times for insight as to how others handle situations and to help direct my thought process. As another poster on the forum has commented, this website is of enromous help!

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

I strongly suggest you follow that advice... it was excellent.

draw a definition of a patio, just a starting one, write it down. then, look at it. have other's look at it. submit it here, and ask for ideas. Ask how someone can get around the wording. Test it. Each person who tests it will give you ideas on how to define it better, stronger, and make it say what you want it to say. Everyone who has an opinion on it can help you make it better.

Joyce - I am not a professional in this field, just a homeowner on the board of our HOA. Our buildings are townhouses built with 4 units per building so if your property is individual homes my comments might not apply.

You might try looking at the original plans for the buildings. If the board doesn't have a copy, you can probably get a copy from the developer or from the contractor or from the public authority in charge of approving building projects. You will be amazed at how clearly and easily some questions can be resolved. You may find that the areas you are trying to define are actually marked or named on the architectural drawings. You can use a reference to the drawings by stating, . . .as described and marked on the site plans dated. . ."

We recently had a board member raise a question as to what the word "courtyard" meant in our governing documents. The issue was that the Association was not responsible for work in the "courtyard" of each home. The board member tried to argue that homeowners with fenced back yards (although all the fences have gates to adjoining yards) had created courtyards and the Association should not pay for lawn mowing of these areas.

Our property manager made the argument that putting up fences restricted the area and somehow took away rights granted to all homeowners for lawn care in areas other than the "courtyard." The board member insisted that we get a legal opinion on the matter.

Fortunately we got a copy of the original plans from the developer and there was a clearly marked, "COURTYARD" in front of each unit AND each unit had fences between the backyards with gates to allow access for maintenance, cable and utilities. Without these plans we would have incurred unnecessary legal expense and had a lot of unhappy homeowners as well. These drawings will also be helpful in case of loss by fire, flood or wind damage where your board will have the sort out what is the HOA's responsibility to repair or replace and what is the homeowner's.

So, try to get as much history on your place as you can find.