Question: Can a condo board officer be demoted during his term? What are the requirements to do so?
Answer: Yes. Officers are elected by the directors from among themselves, so the directors can elect a new officer at a board meeting. There must be a posted notice of the meeting with an agenda item that includes electing a new officer.
As a matter of courtesy, you may want to offer him the opportunity to resign and spare him the embarrassment of being removed.
The board cannot remove a director; it is up to the members to recall a director they have elected.
She waters more than plants
Question: Balconies adjoin four units in our condo. Are these common areas or limited common areas? Our bylaws place restrictions on the use of balconies, for example, no hanging of laundry, no grills, nothing unsightly. One owner complains that when the resident above her waters her plants, which are allowed, water drips down onto her first-floor balcony. Please clarify.
Answer: Common areas and limited common areas are both maintained by the association. Limited common areas are restricted to the use of one or a few owners. Examples include an assigned parking space, a storage locker, a hall that services one or two units, and balconies.
Your question, however, involves more than the use of limited common areas. You're really raising the issue of one unit owner infringing on the rights of another by allowing water to pour from one unit to the other. A comparable situation would be having barbecue smoke blow from one balcony to another.
The owner with the flowers should respect the resident below and change her watering procedures.
He's one busy fellow
Question: We're a condo association of 28 units. The manager is a unit owner. Can he serve as manager, board member and treasurer simultaneously?
Answer: Associations with more than 50 units and budgets in excess of $100,000 must hire a licensed manager if they have a manager at all. For a smaller association, such as yours, as long as your budget does not exceed $100,000, you need not hire a licensed manager. In your specific case, there is nothing improper about one person wearing several hats, but you do place a lot of responsibility on one person.
- Write to Richard White, c/o Community Living, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731 or e-mail him at CAMquestions@att.net Please include your name and city.
