Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Limited Common Elements and HOA Dues

[OCC11NG (normangauss]

In our California condominium plan, the LCE's are owned by the HOA but are 
expected to be maintained by the individual users.  In California, LCE's are 
known as Exclusive Use Common Areas (EUCA's).

A number of our members have, with their own money, built pergola's over 
their EUCA back patios and attached them to the community-owned buildings. 
In real estate law, since these pergolas have become integral parts of the 
buildings, they are defined as the property of the community.  It seems 
logical to me that anything owned by the community should be maintained by 
it.  However, before the Board gave the OK to the members' requests to build 
these pergolas, they had to sign an agreement to maintain them.  This 
obviates the need to have a reserve fund and to charge the pergola users 
extra dues.  It has been argued that this agreement is not transferable to 
new owners, in which case, a reserve fund would be needed.

Already we are getting into difficulty in the maintenance of other EUCA's. 
Some members have decks which need cleaning and staining, which the 
community has paid for.  We are now in the process of having privacy fences 
built for people who request them, and are wrestling with the question of 
who pays to maintain the fences and replace them in about 10-20 years.

In addition to the EUCA patios that came with the condos, additional 
community-owned land has been requested for private-use fenced plots.  The 
question of charging for the privilege of using common land for private 
purposes is now being debated.  We already charge for extra parking spaces, 
and to be consistent, charging for other common land usage makes sense. 
Either we abandon all charges for private use of common land or charge 
equivalent amounts for both parking and fenced yards.

I think the bottom line is to charge individual owners extra dues for 
privately used amenities for which reserve funding must be established for 
repair and replacement.  To do otherwise is unfair to members without these 
amenities.

Norm Gauss


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ann Zabaldo" <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Limited Common Elements and HOA Dues


Jessie -- I know you're busy w/ hurricane season so "double extra thanks"
for responding to my first query.

Does anyone else out there have any information on why maintenance and
replacement of on-ground patios can be fully charged to the homeowner?  And
what the logic is for homeowners actually owning rear on-ground patios but
not rear decks or balconies?

Just trying to suss out the logic in all this ...


Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village
Washington, DC

³The Road to Enlightenment is Long and Difficult...
So Bring Cookies and a Magazine.²

Wk  202 546 4654
FAX 202 291 8594


On 10/14/05 6:18 PM, "Dahako [at] aol.com" <Dahako [at] aol.com> wrote:

> Hi Ann and all-
>
> No clue on the patio logic.  My brain was fried just trying to dredge  up 
> the
> info I posted -- been real busy in my corner of the world this hurricane
> season.
>
> -Jessie Handforth Kome
> Eastern Village Cohousing
> "Where our common kitchen stove is on order, but we cook for each other
> anyway."
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
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