Page 5 - NJ Cooperator Summer 2020

NJCOOPERATOR.COM THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR — SUMMER 2020 5 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Legal Q A& Visit us at ARMANAGEMENTCO.COM and call us today. Mount Arlington: 973.398.6609 Morristown: 973.605.2775 facebook.com/armanagementco linkedin.com/company/armanagementco Better Community Living Starts Here Getting Access to a Contract Q I pay HOA fees for landscaping. Not all areas of the development are the same—some streets just have ornamental trees and a minimal amount of leaves falling. My block is swamped with leaves on the ground that begin in Septem- ber, but I cannot get management to send the landscapers to keep walkways clear. How do I get copies of the contract between the HOA and the landscapers? How can I document or build a case on my own without lawyers? Are there any laws that I can refer to if I want to see bids, details of the work provided, or a schedule of days landscapers should be working, and also the work that they did/ should do? I would like to fi nd a way to per- suade management to provide more atten- tion to certain areas when necessary. —Seeking Transparency A According to Vanessa Pena, an attorney with Griffi n Alex- ander, headquartered in Ran- dolph: “A unit owner is entitled to copies of Profi t Corporations Act N.J.S.A. 15A:5-1 et. various documents that are held by the asso- ciation and its managing agent. Among these be permitted to inspect executed contracts at the Business Judgment Rule and upheld documents that unit owners are entitled to with contractors who are responsible for per- view are copies of executed agreements be- tween the association and the contractors it property. An association’s refusal to permit hold from inspection any documents that in has chosen to perform work for the com- munity. Depending on how an association’s such refusal to be contrary to the Business pending or anticipated litigation or contract governing documents set forth access to Judgment Rule, which must be followed by negotiations. Th is distinction would pre- these documents, a unit owner can request the board to assess requests for the review of clude an association from allowing contracts to schedule a time to inspect agreements associated records. Under the Business Judg- that have been made with contractors, which ment Rule, a board’s actions are protected as tions to be withheld from inspection. should include the type of work to be per- formed and the timeline and hours by which bylaws, or the Master Deed; and (2) are not ever, it is not the unit owner’s individual the work must be performed. Typically, an fraudulent, do not constitute self-dealing, responsibility to go aft er a contractor. Th e association would require that this request and are not unconscionable. (See be made in writing and allow the association a certain amount of time (i.e., 10 days) to set up a time for the unit owner to inspect the Refusal to allow an association member to unsatisfi ed with the work that is being per- documents. “While there is no specifi c statute stat- ing that a unit owner is entitled to inspect seen as unconscionable by a court. executed contracts between the association and its chosen contractors, interpretations of however, the board may have more authority the New Jersey Condominium Act N.J.S.A. in limiting what an association member may 46:8B-1 et. seq., and the New Jersey Non- seq. suggest that association members should (App. Div. 2001), the Appellate Court looked forming work on the association’s common other things, authorized the board to with- such access may result in a court deeming ‘its reasonable business judgment’ involved long as they are: (1) authorized by statute, the Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Home- owners’ Ass’n. , 192 N.J. 344, 369 (2007)). the common property. If the unit owner is inspect a contract that has already been dis- cussed, negotiated, and executed could be alert the association’s management of the is- “In terms of inspecting contract bids, board of any concerns.” access. In Mulligan v. Panther Valley Property Owners Ass’n., 337 N.J. Super. 392, 307-308 an amendment to the bylaws that, among and/or bids that are still undergoing negotia- “Notwithstanding this information, how- association, not the unit owner, contracted with the landscaper to perform services for formed, the fi rst step to take would be to sue and attend board meetings to notify the continued on page 18