Q: In my townhouse community on Long Island, the board requires us to have exterior and window inspections of our homes performed by an outside company. If the inspectors find deficiencies, we are given time to correct them, otherwise we face higher fines. Based on our experience, we assume that defects will be highly discretionary. Residents own their homes and the small plots of land on which they are located. This means we must give inspectors permission to enter our properties. Our governing documents already provide a mechanism to deal with obvious signs of neglect in individual cases, but not these mass compulsory inspections. We generally keep our homes in excellent condition. Do we have to comply with this and is it even legal in New York?
A: The bylaws and bylaws of your townhouse community will determine which measures fall under the board’s responsibility.
Homeowners’ associations have elected boards of directors who have a fiduciary duty to their members and are tasked with putting the members’ interests first and acting in good faith. Boards often have broad powers to carry out their tasks, depending on what is contained in the community’s documents.
Many homeowners associations state bylaws that exterior maintenance, including window repair and replacement and weatherproofing, is the responsibility of each homeowner.
Under New York law, a board’s decision to conduct a community-wide field inspection and hire an outside vendor to perform it is protected by the business judgment rule, provided the decision to inspect was made for legitimate business purposes. was authorized by the bylaw, applied to all homeowners and was created in good faith, said Nancy Kourland, a partner at Lasser Law Group who practices on Long Island.
“It appears here that the authority is fully capable of engaging a professional inspection company to assist them in carrying out community-wide inspections of all outdoor areas,” Ms Kourland said.
If you dispute the inspector’s findings, you can hire your own inspector and use that report as a negotiating tool with the board about the extent of the repairs.
Even if you find that the board doesn’t have the authority to order these inspections, you’ll have to decide whether you’re willing to fight them, said Andrew Lieb, a New York attorney who handles real estate litigation. Complying with inspections will likely save you thousands of dollars in a potentially expensive and lengthy legal battle. You could also use the situation as fuel for your own board campaign or that of a like-minded neighbor.
A homeowners’ association is a democracy, but living in one means subjecting yourself to some interference, Mr. Lieb said: “You sign up for it.”
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