Q: My condominium association has a very comprehensive insurance policy. Our board is recommending that each owner get his or her own insurance coverage. Why do I need to pay for insurance when it’s already paid for by the association?
A: Every condominium association must have a master insurance policy. The declaration will spell out the minimum required insurance coverage, and many state condominium statutes also require a minimum amount of coverage. The master policy will cover problems and issues relating to the common elements and the limited common elements.
For example, if there is a common-element water pipe that bursts, causing flooding and water damage to the common halls, elevators and individual units, the master policy will pay the damage claims, less the insurance deductible specified by the policy.
However, the master policy does not provide all-inclusive coverage. What if the water flooded into your apartment, damaged your walls, ruined your carpet and destroyed your expensive 50-inch plasma TV?
The master policy will pick up the cost to repair your walls, but you are on your own regarding any personal belongings. Additionally, most master policies exclude improvements, or what are known as “betterments.” If you have the original floors in your unit, coverage will probably be available should they get damaged as a result of the flooding. But if you (or your predecessor) installed parquet flooring, the “betterment” will not be covered under the master policy.
I firmly believe that every condo owner should get the HO-6 coverage; the cost is minimal and the risk without it is great.
Q: My daughter and I own a condominium unit in a senior (over 55) complex. I paid for it, but my daughter’s name is on the deed as “joint tenant with right of survivorship.” I am 65 and she’s 37, but married to a man who is 60. Thus, they qualify to live in this community. I live with my husband in another community.
Things are not going well in my daughter’s marriage, and the word divorce keeps showing up. If they were to divorce, would she be forced to leave that condo, or is there any such thing as “grandfathering”? She’s lived there for almost two years, and met with the condo for approval before moving in.
A: Part of the answer can be found in the legal documents of your condominium association, and part of the answer can be determined by reviewing any local zoning restrictions enacted by your local government.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) generally regulates these senior projects. HUD does allow 55-and-older communities to bar children; however, they encourage “some flexibility where the exemption would not be destroyed by that flexibility.” But a HUD policy statement also recognizes that “there is no direct legal authority under the statute” to require communities to bend their rules, leaving developers, homeowner associations, and municipalities free to adopt stricter age and occupancy requirements than HUD mandates.
Developers who are planning senior housing projects with HUD’s 55-and-older rules need to be aware that many cities and towns have adopted far more restrictive zoning bylaws. Some eliminate the 20 percent “open” occupancy that the HUD rules allow, requiring that 100 percent of the units be occupied by age-eligible residents; others establish a maximum two-person occupancy limit and require that both occupants, not just one, meet the age requirement.
However, a case decided back in 2002 in Arizona held that the refusal of a community association to waive the minimum age requirement so that a disabled person under the required age could reside with his parents violated the Federal Fair Housing Act.
You should talk with your attorney, as well as the lawyer for your condominium association, to get specific answers.
