Page 7 - CooperatorNews New Jersey Fall 2021

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COOPERATORNEWS NEW JERSEY
—FALL 2021
7
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Legal
Q
A&
Disclaimer: Th e answers provided in this Q&A
column are of a general nature and cannot
substitute for professional advice regarding your
specifi c circumstances. Always seek the advice of
competent legal counsel or other qualifi ed profes-
sionals with any questions you may have regard-
ing technical or legal issues.
Relying on Verbal Authorization
Q
On March 31, 2020, aft er call-
ing my HOA, I was given verbal
permission to replace my roof,
which was leaking. I signed a contract to
replace the roof on April 15, 2020. Now the
board has sent me a letter with a $500 fi ne
for not getting a permit and doing ‘nones-
sential’ work during COVID-19. All I have
to prove their permission is phone calls on
my cell—no texts or voicemail, just a re-
cord that calls were made. Is this enough
to fi ght their actions?
—But Th ey Said I Could
A
“Th e owner complains that
he was given verbal authori-
zation to replace the roof by
his homeowners association (HOA),” says
Anne P. Ward, of counsel with Ehrlich,
Petriello, Gudin, Plaza & Reed, PC, with
offi ces in Newark and Morristown, “but
was surprised to be subsequently fi ned by
the HOA’s board of directors for: a) fail-
ure to obtain a (municipal?) permit and, responsible for adhering to municipal re-
b) doing non-essential work during the quirements, and must obtain necessary is still subject to restrictions adopted dur-
COVID-19 pandemic. Th e owner does not permits. An HOA is powerless to waive ing the pandemic under the state’s police
say who told him it was acceptable to re-
place his roof. Did this authorization come tions make it clear to applicants who seek
from the property manager or the manage-
ment offi ce? Did this authorization come state and municipal requirements are a place itself at risk. I suggest that the owner
directly from the board? Given the dates prerequisite to the HOA’s permission.
referenced, the owner apparently started
construction during the pandemic.
“My answer to the question is twofold: advise an owner that ownership is subject understanding of his obligations and the
an owner must always refer to his associa-
tion’s governing documents to learn the pa-
rameters of the association’s power, as well documents upon purchase of a unit. He is ment may not prevail in light of the fact
as the specifi cs of his own obligations in assumed by law to be on notice as to their that there is no proof of the authorization
every circumstance. And it is always pru-
dent to have any authorizations reduced virtue of the purchase.
to writing by the source, along with details
describing the limits of the authorization.
“To begin, an HOA and its property scribed by an owner’s obligation to comply
are always subject to state and municipal with municipal ordinances. Here, there
ordinances. Th e HOA is not exempt from was apparently a need to obtain a munici-
those obligations simply because it is gov-
erned by its own rules and may have dis-
crete regulations governing construction of state or municipal restrictions placed
on the premises. Hence, an owner is always on work during the pandemic. A work au-
such requirements. Indeed, most associa-
permission to perform construction that by these laws and it must enforce them or
“Moreover, it would be the rare govern-
ing documents which do not specifi cally or elimination of the fi ne based on a mis-
to state and municipal laws. Every owner fact that he entered a contract to replace
is automatically subject to the governing the roof, as a result. However, this argu-
contents, and has agreed to be bound by and because an owner is deemed to be on
“Th erefore, any authorization (verbal
or otherwise) by an association is circum-
pal permit prior to construction. In addi-
tion, the construction apparently ran afoul
thorization issued prior to the pandemic
power.
“As stated earlier, the HOA is bound
communicate with the board or its counsel
about all this. He can request a reduction
notice of applicable law.”
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