A Few Random Questions

I live in an HOA with 102 attached townhouse units. We have a serious parking problem and the BOD has come up with some parking regulations that alot of residents think are just too invasive. I'd like to get some opinions.

First - The BOD wants proof of residency to provide you with a parking permit. The only proof of residency allowed is Vehicle Registration. We have over 50% rentals and at least 1/2 of them are military since we are within 50 miles of 3 military facilities. Do other HOA's require this strict of an application process? This would require the Renter to tag their vehicle in MD and change their lisence. The state law allows them to keep their vehicle registered in their home state or allows them up to 1 year to change. Can the BOD override the law?

Second - The BOD wants to issue a maximum of 2 parking permits, but only 1 permit per properly registered vehicle at the residence, using the method above. Some of our renters (yes HUD) and other people who purchased their homes with government funding feel like this is a discrimination of their familial status, since they are single and only own 1 vehicle. Is this a viable argument?

I think that's it for now. Just would like to know how other HOA's would handle these situations.

In MD, Active duty military in neighboring states or DC do not have to get a MD driver's license either. But in order to register a vehicle in MD, it must be state inspected, which can be very difficult and depending on the state in which you purchased your vehicle, MD charges you 6% excise tax on your vehicle. This is the reason most military don't register their vehicle in MD if they aren't staying. For example, you live in Delaware and you just bought a $60,000 car and now you have been stationed in MD and to register your vehicle you must pay $3600 to the state of MD. And then in 9 months when you get relocated...you don't get that money back. This of course is a drastic example...but can happen!

They would want a 2nd spot for a non-live-in overnight guest, such as a boyfriend or even an out of town relative. Or for example, my neighbor is a divorced mother with joint custody. She travels for business and while she is away her ex-husband comes and stays at her home, to not disrupt her son's school schedule. The new regulations would not allow her to give her extra permit (a hang tag) to her ex-husband and he would have to park on the street. The only issue with this is that the street parking is very limited (maybe 15-20 spaces for 102 units) and guests and sometimes residents end up having to park over 5 blocks away.

There are 102 units and only 168 parking spaces, and 15 units have garages and driveways.

This is what my neighbor sent me. According to the Fair Housing Act, a tenant or owner of a federally funded home cannot be discriminated against based on familial status.

She thinks that just because she is single, and her neighbor is married, that they should not be treated differently. And they are, as she is only getting one permit and the married couple gets 2.

Glen - our CCR's state "no more than one parking space per unit."

Part of the new parking regulations says that aall parking is for residents only, which is why they are requiring proof of residency for a permit. IMHO this is in violation of the CCR's, but I haven't gotten a legal opinion yet. By making all 168 parking spaces for residents only, they are not assigning 2 spaces per unit, but they are giving guaranteed access to more than one parking space per unit.

While I have some sympathy for the registration of the car issue for military, it's not huge.

I was stationed in Maryland (Ft. Meade) and if where I lived said I had to register my car in-state to obtain a parking spot, so be it. I could still have my out-of-state driver's license. So I pay some taxes on it. Some of those taxes are going back to my salary anyway.

I'm just saying, it's not that great a hardship on the military.

I do think they will be getting into problems if they try to limit the second tag.

If one unit gets two tags off one proof of registration, they all do.

Period.

Just my opinion.

If this were my HOA, i would require proof of residency. I would suggest good paperwork that would prove it, but i would not limit the proof to X or Y. DMV records, fine. Mail addressed to you at the unit, utility bills, etc... probably fine too. Heck, invite me over, and give me a tour of the home.. i can document that as proof too, if it meets my standard.

on the second issue, i don't see it as a violation of the FHA or as discrimination per se, but I absolutely would challenge it based on the fact that I pay the same dues to the HOA as the other group does, so i should get the same benefits. If i get less benefits, I want less dues. If we both pay $100/month for parking (and the contract i signed says we get 1 spot for that money), and they get two spots while I get one, i am going to complain.

Personally, I would assign every unit 1 spot, and then make the others for visitors, or set up an auction or something to assign them without prejudice.

to clarify, we would be okay with a utility bill...but not MVA records or a copy of our Loan paperwork. I think that's a little to invasive.

The board's problem is how do they issue a permanent windo sticker to a revolving guest. Our suggestion was 1 window sticker and one plastic tag ONLY for people with 1 vehicle.

The subdivision is short 7 spaces in 1 court, and 5 spaces in another to make 2 per unit.

Even if they take away the 2nd permit from the FEW people that only have 1 vehicle...it doesn't meet the defecit.

IMO...and the same as my neighbors...if taking their 2nd permit, which they have had for 10 years now is not going to 100% fix the problem, then don't bother!

We're getting ready to implement parking passes in our community - the amount of parking isn't the problem as much as people (or their friends)parking in the wrong spot or cars taking up two parking spaces (our community provides for one space per unit).

We announced the new policy in November and it takes effect in May. We have a list of homeowners, so they were to come to the next three board meetings, provide their names and we'd check against the list before giving them the pass. They also had to sign a form stating they agreed to comply with the community rules.

Since we have a considerable number of renters (that's another story), we said the homeowners (NOT THE TENANTS) were responsible for picking up the pass and forwarding it to their people. They're also responsible for retriving the pass when the tenant moves out. If homeowners can't attend the meeting, they can write our manager and request the pass. We have them numbered, so we know which unit receives what and the number correspond to the parking lot numbers.

Some people have more than one car, and we've told residents it's up to them to decide which car gets the permit - if there's a car parking in a numbered space, it needs to have a permit and the number must correspond to the space, otherwise it will be towed. We've working on an agreement with a local towing company to post their signs in the lot and they will make periodic sweeps to ensure compliance.

We'll see how well this all works later on this year.

Right now, our fee to replace lost or stolen passes is $5, so we'll see how that goes. If there's evidence of the passes being abused, a $20 fine might be useful