Albert Moore, Attorney at Law

What Are Some Legal Solutions For Parking Issues In HOAs And Condo Associations?


If you are talking about whether or not there is a right to park in a certain spot then certainly it can be negotiated with an association. If that doesn’t work then you can go to mediation or arbitration and actually litigate against the association. There is also going to be a requisite number of handicapped spots that are required outside ADA requirements because it’s not completely open to the public but under the hood there are requirements in regards to providing reasonable accommodations for disabled persons which can include parking spaces as well but where it really runs the gamut is trying to negotiate some type of solution with the association whether it’s under developer control or membership control. If that doesn’t work then mediation or arbitration and if that doesn’t work then you can obviously go to court and litigate the matter.

As far as fines that are issued because of that or towing issues, those are matters that usually will be worked out either through negotiations or arbitrations or mediations. In rare instances, those issues will go to court for litigation but usually the cost of the litigation outweighs the cost of the fine or the tow, so those are pretty rare instances where those would be litigated.

How Can An Attorney Assist Me With Any Parking Issues I Have With My HOA or Condo Association?

The question before related to what avenues are available to owners and associations regarding parking issues. In each of those, if it’s a unit owner or a homeowner, there is going to be pushback from the association especially if you are talking about either about additional parking, assigned parking spaces because those are typically very limited. Some of the associations don’t want to set precedent, they don’t want to give on those even if legally they should give on those issues. In other words, if there is an assignment, they claim there is no proof of that assignment or a particular parking space. That’s something that the attorney can look at, the attorney can look at the original attachments to the declaration which usually indicate how parking is supposed to work.

The attorney can look at any amendments to the declaration or covenants of condominium and really try and figure out what in fact was recorded and if it is consistent with what the association is trying to enforce. If that doesn’t work then you have to either mediate or go through arbitration on those issues. Certainly, it’s very difficult for a layperson to navigate those areas because those are strictly regulated by statute and not just by the governing documents. Obviously, if you are going to litigate, you need to have an attorney who is familiar with the process and familiar with those types of cases.

If Parking Is Limited And Issues Keep Arising At My Residence, How Should I Address The Issue?

That’s a difficult issue and as I stated before especially when we are talking about a condominium. The developers try and get away with as little parking as possible because they are concerned with how much money they can make per square foot on their land and parking is not very high on their list. You have to provide enough parking, really to get through the governmental entities to get their site plan approved. They also have to provide enough parking so that people don’t come up and say I can’t park anywhere. Nobody is going to buy into those situations but there are instances where a person is going to own more than one vehicle. There are situations where there has been some kind of assigned parking which has been taken away and on those what you are going to have to do is you have to negotiate with the condominium association which is going to be difficult.

The reason why it’s difficult is not necessarily because the board of directors are a bad set of people but they are limited in what they can do. It’s not like they can take other common area property without having members and a substantial material change with the whole development set up and we’d have to get through all the governmental regulations too to expand parking. So typically the condominium association will fight nail and tooth because they don’t have the money or the resources or the space to expand those. So if it’s something that the unit owner or the member should have looked into before they purchased the property but there was limited parking then it’s going to be tough to complain afterwards if there is not sufficient parking unless the association takes away parking that was there prior to purchasing the property.

If it’s something that either the condo association should have known that there is a problem with not enough parking, then certainly a court would make the associations make reasonable accommodations for people to park. Does that mean that you would get 3 spots instead of one? Not necessarily but there has to be reasonable parking for unit owners and they have to make accommodations for disabled persons as well.

For more information on Legal Solutions For Parking Issues, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (772) 242-3600 today.

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