S.M. from Pinellas County, Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Our condo association wants to redo our marina. Currently, it is deeded to six of the eight owners who would be able to vote on this. Would it be all of the owners or just the six who have deeded slips? One of the people who does not have a slip is the President and she’s trying to push through a redo to make the marina into eight slips and have us all equally pay for it. We would prefer to just repair our slip and keep it owned and managed by each individual owner. Thank you so much for any help you can give us.
Mister Condo replies:
S.M., it all comes down to the association’s governance documents. If they are silent about the marina, then the Board (not the homeowners, per se) likely have the power to determine how the repairs will be made. The marina is a limited common element (deeded to six of the eight owners). Unless there is a separate formula for how the cost of maintaining this limited common element, the standard rules apply. Typically, the assessment of cost for the project is the same way any other common area expense is assessed. My guess is that all unit owners will participate in the cost using the same percentage of unit ownership formula used to determine common fees and any other assessments. If there is a special formula for marina maintenance outlined in the documents, then that formula should be followed. I hope that helps. All the best!