Fees pile up, but who’s getting richer?
Question: For many years, owners in my association could buy and sell their home without paying a fee. But for the last 10 years, each board of directors has tacked on fees for moving in or out. Each time, the board justified the action, saying the association needs the income. Now a management company collects the fees, and the income no longer comes back to the association. Is it legal for the board to charge moving fees?
Answer: Boards do what owners allow them to do, including imposing fees and other extra charges. Such charges, including move-in or move-out fees, are nothing more than a method of generating income, not for the association but for the management company.
The association is not allowed to charge more than a reasonable fee to change its records. The management company shouldn’t charge additional fees for updating its records because that’s part of its job under the contract with your association.
As for the amount, charging more than $50 is unreasonable. Excessive fees do nothing for the association except antagonize the titleholders who have to pay them. These fees should be stopped or paid to the association.
Lawyer gave board some bad advice
Question: I recently prevailed in a Small Claims Court action against my association’s board of directors for failing to respond properly to a subpoena. The judge asked the directors where the subpoenaed items were. The board’s defense consisted of a letter to me saying the association’s attorney instructed it to destroy the items that had been subpoenaed. The judge awarded me $500. What do I do now?
Answer: Circulate copies of the letter and the judgment to every titleholder in your complex. It appears the attorney counseled the board to act illegally, making the lawyer potentially liable for punishment by the State Bar of California.
Download a complaint form from the bar’s website (www.calbar.ca.gov) and file it along with a copy of the lawyer’s letter to your board that was presented as evidence in the Small Claims action.
Send questions to P.O. Box 11843, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 or e-mail noexit@mindspring.com.
