Homeowners associations: Board can set rules for safe use of facilities

Question: I live in a town house with a tennis court. Children also live here and use the courts to run around in and underneath the nets, treating it as a playground. These children do not play tennis and they are not accompanied by adults. I complained to the board but was informed there is a new California law that prohibits discrimination against children. I am not discriminating against them, I just don’t want damage done to the court or complex, whether caused by an adult or a child. These children are allowed to play on the courts at night and leave the lighting on at great expense to owners. Why is it the children can do what they want and don’t need to follow the same rules as adults for fear of this new child law?

Answer: Whatever “law” your board is referring to needs to be distributed and explained to all the homeowners, especially those who play tennis. Just as the association can establish rules for the safe use of its swimming pools, so too can it establish rules for the safe use of the tennis courts, including banning children from the courts unless they are playing tennis or accompanied by a parent or other responsible adult.

Allowing children to run amok and unsupervised in an area not designed as a playground subjects the association and the parents of those children to potential liability if anyone gets hurt. Discrimination under the law is well defined based on the circumstances and parties involved. Here, the failure to act by the board is not designed to protect children and adults from potential injury, liability and/or discrimination. Your board’s excuse, discrimination, simply does not apply in this circumstance.

Adults who allow their children to use the common area tennis courts as a playground should be informed that doing so might be a violation of association rules and/or the covenants, conditions, and restrictions and warned that should anyone be injured as a result of their lack of supervision those owners will be held liable for damages.

Putting restrictions on the use of the tennis courts is the board’s job, as is protecting owners from potential liability and lawsuits.

One solution might be to lock the tennis courts and provide a key only to those owners and/or residents who want to play tennis. But regardless of the solution chosen, allowing children to use the tennis courts as a playground is a breach of the board’s fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the association and its titleholders.

Send questions to P.O. Box 10490, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 or e-mail noexit@mindspring.com.