J.M. from New Haven County, Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I live in a 48-unit complex that has VERY limited parking as it is and now our board has just allocated 10 visitor spots “off limits” and has posted signs that violators will be towed. We are only allowed one visitors spot as it is. Is this legal?
Mister Condo replies:
J.M., I am afraid it is perfectly legal for the Board to allocate parking spaces as they see fit. Of course, if you and other unit owners are unhappy with their actions, you can simply vote them out of office, replace them with new volunteer leaders (yourself, perhaps?) who will allocate the parking spaces in a manner more favorable to unit owners. Short of that, I don’t think they have done anything illegal. The community association owns the parking areas. The Board runs the community association. It is theirs to do with as they see fit. You can certainly ask them why they made the change but unless they are challenged at the ballot box, they are the democratically elected leaders of the association and they get to decide how the parking lot spaces are used. All the best!
Not convinced it is always that simple. It would seem to me that it would depend on how the rules and bylaws are worded. If they give the Board that right then they can change such things. If not then they would presumably need to go through the rule approval process to enforce such a change.
Great feedback, Luther. Thanks!