Conflict of Interest of Tenant Registration rules
I am an owner/invester of 2 condos in a 55+ community which there are about 30 like myself who own 2 as well as others that rent part time when they are not there, as well as long term renters.
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Darlene,
I’m not sure I understand your question.
Dennis
For some reason only the first sentence posted. I will try to put this as clear as possible, but it is a bit complicated.
1. Our condo community is a big snowbird destination during the winter. When I bought my long term rentals there, I was approached by a previous RE agent to go vacation rental with them because of the high demand in the area , which I did in later years. Our CC&R’s mandate we have to rent a min of 30 days and we are also required to send in a tenant registration providing information on who we rent to too, the date they will occupy, car plate # and copy of ID for proof of age compliance along with the more recent law passed that allows them to charge 25.00 administration fee. This must be done within 15 days or you can be fined.
2. Vacation Rentals have become big money these days and as you know new AZ state laws are almost daily coming out on “short term” rentals which have been defined by the state as 29 or fewer nights. Short term vacation rental properties rented for more than 14 days a year are required to be TPT licensed by the state and sales tax remitted etc. just like long term monthly rentals. The cities also require a business license for all rental business activity.
3. Just prior to our winter snowbird season this year when our community owner occupied and rentals sees a lot of traffic, our board made an announcement in our community newsletter that seemed to me to cross the line of our CCR’s for what seems to be the financial benefit to avoid having to comply with laws both association and state /local laws including paying taxes for those in the inner circle so to speak, which I beleive to include a board member who is operating a property managment business and receiving compensation for. It basically stated that “those that let their family and friends “use their condo” need to “call in to the community property management co and “tell them” who they are and their ages” in case they need to contact someone, THAT’S IT. This appears to be side stepping all the legal and community requirements to just insure the age requirements are being met only IMO, so we don’t get in trouble and lose are senior community status. The reason I find this conflict is, we have a “tenant” registration procedure in place already and there is no way for the property management to confirm verbal information on age, length of stay etc. Additionally, the announcement made clear that this will clear up neighbors who are reporting I guess people coming and going from the actual owners condo i’m guessing not staying long as in “short term” renting. I have actually seen a couple of rental ads for our community that stated their availability in short terms which I reported myself to property management. But this announcement seems to provide the means for some owners to get away with engaging in short term rentals on their condos and evading the laws and no doubt can provide cover for their own rental activity business.
My research on what a “Tenant” is legally is one who holds occupancy they don’t have to be paying rent or even have a rental agreement. TENANT, estates. One who holds or possesses lands or tenements by any kind of title, either in fee, for life, for years, or at will.
I have sent my concerns to the board and property managment via emails so I have a copy, but no response is their method of operation always!
It’s frustrating to watch not only the board but the property management too engage in bias administration. I was denied an age exception for a potential renter where there was a 55+ renter but the second renter would be 35 and we only allow 30 days stay but they were a first responder for our neighboring hospital during covid and they denied the exception for an additional 30 days. So they play unfair! I see some people leave the meetings frustrated because they don’t feel they can say anything as they have to live in the community, where as I don’t.
I’m not sure what can be done about this or if this is just but one more thing they can get away with because they hold the power.
Darlene,
No matter what the state or municipality does to regulate short term rentals your CC&R’s dictate the requirements of your community. If your CC&R’s state that rentals must be 30 days or greater than all rentals in that community must be 30 or greater until such time that those CC&R’s are modified by a super majority of all members of that community. Because short term rentals are more lucrative is no justification to ignore the CC&R’s. That is what you agreed to when you bought your units and that is it. While you are free to try and amend your CC&R’s until you succeed in doing so you are prevented from renting your units or homes for less than 30 days at a time. The word games between tenants and visitors are just that, typical lawyer games, and in this case will always lose in court. As for the age restriction in your community that is exactly the same thing. As an owner you are obliged to comply with the requirement of the CC&R’s, and if you rent your home or unit your renters however classified are also required to comply with the CC&R’s. There is no free pass for a renter to ignore the governing documents for the community. Your community is for 55 and older members and renters as well. Typically, only one resident needs to be 55 and older and they usually have a minimum age for any occupant of the property. Those restrictions apply to any owner and tenant. They do not apply to temporary visitors of the owner or tenant. You will never win in an argument claiming that short term renters are just visitors, unless you live in the home at the same time.
Dennis
One additional comment; it should go without saying to that “visitors” which is also the term used in the announcement instead of tenants is arbitrary, because visitors don’t hold possession but tenants do. So if the owners are not going to present, then they are not visitors they hold the keys and have possession so they are tenants and should follows the same rules which may require owners to report income etc they wish to avoid and the board and property managment maybe facilitating too with a board member included running is own unlicensed, untaxed property management operation with said owners.
I agree with all of what you said, I think I am saying the same thing too, I just don’t know how the board can be forced into compliance. I brought up the term “visitor” because that was used by the board in their newsletter announcement to differentiate unsubstantiated “friends and family” staying in the condo in order to provide separate rules for them when they are actually just “tenants” since they have possession of the property and we have a tenant registrations form they should use but it appears they don’t want to document them as I mentioned for reasons above creating exceptions that are not valid and violate our CCR and probably state/local laws too.
It is an abuse of board power and it appears the property managment goes along with what ever the board wants. At a dead end!
I have to agree and disagree with your statement regarding CCR’s trump state law, that is not entirely true. It is true that communities do control a lot but there are state statues that govern HOA’s too which you are involved at the legislative level, so certainly they do not supersede state/local laws either. Case in point is the most popular restriction on parking on the streets, HOA’s could not enforce that because streets are public property. Short term vs long term rentals are governed by the state and local governments to the most part, whether an HOA will allow short term rentals in the community the state has left up to the HOA’s and is staying out of it, ours says no short term rentals. There are licensing and tax regulations the HOA can not control either, but this HOA is trying to make up policy not in the CCR to abate or avoid following them is the point of contention, believe me I follow all the rules both HOA and government!
I never said the CC&R’s trump state law, what I said is that in some cases the law specifically allows the CC&R’s to control an issue using the language specified. The highest document is always state law. Your arguments and examples make no sense relative to the question at hand. Do your CC&R’s restrict leases to 30 days or more, if so no matter what the State laws relative to municipalities and counties control over short term rentals your community is limited to what is exactly stated in your specific CC&R’s until you modify them to say something else. What the board is doing is surely suspicious looking but unless you have proof that these people are not fiends and family I would caution you to be careful of accusations. Remember the only recourse for addressing a perceived breach of the law or the governing documents would be legal action against the board or a petition to ADRE to have an administrative law judge rule on the case. The burden of proof lies with you not the board in this case.
Dennis
Thank you for your response. I know words like “†he´appearance of” language so I am not making out right accusations, but you can’t go right to AZRE without any attempt to resolve the issue first. I have hired an attorney on the first problem I had with them on damages to my unit and they caved after we found proof of negligence and another time through AZRE because they wouldn’t step up on interior damage from the unit above when it involved a structural supporting wall with plumbing etc for the unit above (limited common area) that they have to approve repairs for which took 6 months of BS that was ridiculous because †heir insurance would reimburse the HOA, ∫ut I’m not about to authorize work on their turf period, and they caved again, so I’m not unfamiliar with how to go to the next step, I just wanted your opinion about what they are doing now regarding rentals, “suspicious” is where I am at too. I do have proof the board member is running a property management co even though he of course denys it. I have not made a big deal about it until he and his buddies on the board published a policy that contradicts our CCR’s. Proof of short term rentals is key I know and I don’t have that Yet. But I have to jump through hoops on my rentals filling out registration forms which I send certified to them so they can’t say they didn’t get them and of course their 25.00 each time too and making sure I rent for 30 days while their making off the cuff exceptions to line their own pockets no doubt with the managment co looking the other way.