Q. During the warmer months, owners in our multi-dwelling building have noticed a few e-bikes/scooters with lithium batteries around our community. At night these e-bikes/scooters seem to be housed in owners’ or renters’ dwellings. Since our building is stick construction, we have concerns that these vehicles could explode and cause a fire.

Does the board in a condo community in New Jersey have the authority to write a resolution banning these e-bikes/scooters with lithium batteries from dwellings and all common areas of our property? Please advise on any information you may have on these vehicles that run on lithium batteries in New Jersey communities.

            —Concerned Condo Community

A. “The concern is understandable,” says attorney Steven Mlenak, partner with the Roseland office of law firm Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis, LLP, “and this is an issue with which many associations are wrestling. Unfortunately, the answer (as you’d expect) is ‘it depends.’ Associations should carefully review the powers vested in the board to determine whether it allows such rules to be implemented. While associations will generally find that they have the authority to adopt such rules for common areas, it is much more difficult to do so inside units. Such a restriction would often need to be accomplished through an amendment to the master deed/declaration. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule. For example, many associations have provisions that empower the board to promulgate rules to abate any use that would cause an insurance premium to rise. If the association’s insurance carrier has such a policy in place, it would empower a board to adopt such prohibition in the units. Similarly, if the municipality in which the association is located adopts an ordinance prohibiting the storage of lithium batteries inside a residence, the association could adopt a rule enforcing the local ordinance.

“Of course, the above is not intended as specific legal advice and associations should seek counsel from their attorneys as to their specific rights under the governing documents.”