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Seattle Times business reporter Elizabeth Rhodes posts the answers to your real estate questions as they pop up during the week. Join this ongoing discussion, which also features reader reaction to real-estate articles appearing throughout The Times.
Home Forum, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1845, Seattle, WA 98111
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January 22, 2008 9:15 AM
Long-distance condo landlords cause concern
Posted by Elizabeth Rhodes
Q: My small condominium association allows rentals. However we're having trouble with long-distance owners who rent their units, then are unavailable when problems arise, leaving the board to try to help tenants out. Can the board enact a rule requiring long-distance owners to have a property manager available to oversee their unit? Also, our declaration allows pets. Can the board enact a rule that allows owners, but not tenants, to keep pets?
A: The answers are no and no, says Lance Mann, the vice president of Yates Wood, a property management and commercial real-estate firm in Seattle. But he has sympathy for you.
"The association has absolutely no responsibility other than their own desire to be a good Samaritan to deal with the (rental) problems of a unit," says Mann.
Indeed, no matter how far away the owner lives, it's still that owner's responsibility to fully manage their rental. That's why long-distance owners should have a plan in place to deal with emergencies.
As Mann points out, a rule is the lowest level of condo governance, the declaration being the highest.
"I don't believe a rule would be enforceable to the extent that the declaration would be. You could enact a rule and attempt to enforce it, and if the owner says no?"
Then the board is basically in a pickle.
As for the pet situation, "in my opinion that would be a discriminatory rule and wouldn't be enforceable," says Mann.
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