Question:
Hello HOA MGMT,
I am seeing if you can help.
Our issue is centered around what is in fact common land & who pays for general maintenance on the common land.
– Our board is made up of 3 ppl. The overall association is 11 units located on 6.33 acres.
– Unit A (3 dwellings), Unit B (2 dwellings), Unit C (2 dwellings) & Unit D (4 dwellings)
– The association is a PUD formed in 1978.
– We have the original Declaration of Covenants & Restrictions that states what common land is.
The issue is centered around walls that support the driveway down into one of our parking lots; and the retaining walls that surround the parking lots of the remaining units. The retaining walls are vintage 1978 kerosene rail road ties that are decaying at an advanced pace. They all need to be replaced.
Here lies the rub. 2 members out of the 3 that sit on the board feel that the repairs to the walls are not on common land. I feel that all area in the PUD outside of each of our dwellings is common land. The two board members say, in their ‘opinion’, the walls are not part of common land and therefore they do not have to pay for the walls to be repaired/replaced. In their ‘opinion’, they say the walls that are closest & adjacent to each unit are the responsibility of that aforementioned unit dwelling. For instance, Unit D has four units. The two members of the board are saying that it is our (Unit D) responsibility to repair/replace the walls that are adjacent to our units. Units A, B & C will pay for the walls that need to be repaired & replaced next to their units.
Does this make any sense?
– Chris
Answer:
Your site plan, floor plan, or community plat should shed some light on this matter. This plan/plat should depict which areas are general common elements. Furthermore, your CC&Rs and bylaws should tell you who is responsible for maintaining these elements.
As per Section 356-B:17 of the New Hampshire Condominium Act:
“I. The declaration may allocate to each unit depicted on site plans and floor plans that comply with RSA 356-B:20, I and II an undivided interest in the common areas proportionate to either the size or value of each unit.
II. Otherwise, the declaration shall allocate to each such unit an equal undivided interest in the common areas subject to the following exception: each convertible space so depicted shall be allocated an undivided interest in the common areas proportionate to the size of each such space, vis-a-vis the aggregate size of all units so depicted, while the remaining undivided interests in the common areas shall be allocated equally to the other units so depicted.
III. The undivided interests in the common areas allocated in accordance with paragraph I or II shall add up to one if stated as fractions or 100 percentum if stated as percentages.
IV. If, in accordance with paragraph I or II, an equal undivided interest in the common areas is allocated to each unit, the declaration may simply state that fact and need not express the fraction or percentage so allocated.
V. Otherwise, the undivided interest allocated to each unit in accordance with paragraph I or II shall be reflected by a table in the declaration, or by an exhibit or schedule accompanying the declaration and recorded simultaneously therewith, containing 3 columns. The first column shall identify the units, listing them serially or grouping them together in the case of units to which identical undivided interests are allocated. Corresponding figures in the second and third columns shall set forth the respective areas or values of those units and the fraction or percentage of undivided interest in the common areas allocated thereto.
VI. Except to the extent otherwise expressly provided by this chapter, the amount of undivided interest in the common areas allocated to any unit shall not be altered, and any purported transfer, encumbrance or other disposition of that interest without the unit to which it appertains shall be void.
VII. The common areas shall not be subject to any suit for partition until and unless the condominium is terminated.”
Disclaimer: We are not lawyers. The information provided on this website does not constitute legal advice.
