J.M. from Pierce County, Washington State writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
My wife and I live in a townhouse condo community of (4) units in WA state. Recently, our board replaced our driveway automatic gate opener, along with the chain and remote control transmitter/remote fobs. The property manager indicated to us that she was too busy to mail us our new remotes. For a little background on this situation: we are messaging from our home in S.C. and we have been trying to complete a move from S.C. to the aforementioned townhouse in WA. We have asked politely many times by email and just yesterday by (1) phone call to send or leave the remotes with a person there we can trust to give them to us. We are being told by the treasurer that he would send them by USPS. Of course, to no avail.
Yesterday, he told us by email and phone that he didn’t send them, and doesn’t have any time to! We have been owners of this condo for (8) years in good standing. They have no reason nor right to stonewall and deprive us of our vehicular access or egress to our unit’s garage. The garage is attached to our unit and owned privately by my wife and I. Please inform us as to a reasonable course of action to take without resorting to a lawsuit.
Mister Condo replies:
J.M., I am sorry this fairly simple transaction has become so difficult for you. While the association has a duty to provide you entrance to the association, they clearly lack the resources to simply mail you the transmitter or transponder. Have you offered to send them a prepaid USPS, UPS, or FedEx envelope whereby they could simply place the transmitter inside and drop off at a local depot? That would seem the most logical solution. Of course, you could just wait until you arrive in Washington State and pick up the remote. They aren’t denying you the remote, they just aren’t willing to go the extra miles to get it to you. I assume all other folks who needed one picked them up or had them delivered at their door, which is a reasonable standard for providing access. I doubt a lawsuit would make any sense here but I am not an attorney. All the best!
As always Bob Gourley is way too kind. My advise is do what you have to do to get what you need for ingress. Then come the next elections run for the board and throw that manager out on his keister. If he has no time to serve the residents (the single most important of a community) well then, give him all the time in the world to think about his attitute and decisions. Good luck and much happiness in your home.
Where is the condo board in all this? I see that communication has broken down. Perhaps the association is not large enough to have a grievance committee or procedure, so contact with a board member, preferably the president, would provide an added communication route.
Good luck! Hopefully the future holds an improved relationship.