About Grace H. Morioka Expertise If you have questions about property management, homeowners associations or common-interest developments, budgeting, new developments, or real estate management, I can help. With over 20 years experience in the field of homeowners association, I have assisted in forwarding planning for over 50 new housing developments in California and have co-authored a book about homeowners associations. I am a licensed California Realtor, and have been a past consultant to the California DRE in areas of budgeting for CIDs. I look forward to providing detailed, practical help for your questions!
Experience I am a homeowners association manager in Northern California with over 20 years experience in CID management, development and forward planning and nonprofit budgeting/finances. I am the co-author with attorney John Hanna of the book "Homeowners Associations: A Guide to Leadership and Participation", a useful handbook for homeowner and Board members of CIDs. I am also a Realtor, credentialed SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist) with a specialty in real estate solutions for senior citizens.
Organizations National Association of Realtors (NAR)
California Association of Realtors (CAR)
Santa Clara County Association of Realtors (SCCAOR)
Hold the Designation of Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
Publications Co-Authored "Homeowners Associations: A Guide to Leadership and Participation"
Various articles that I have written have appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, ECHO Journal, CAI Magazine
Education/Credentials BS - Accounting and Finance, some post graduate work
Expert: Grace H. Morioka Date: 7/5/2008 Subject: Too Many Townhouse Rentals
Question QUESTION: 2 years ago I bought a townhouse in a lovely area. I was very happy until I see how many of the townhouses were bought, and then rented out. I have asked the Board about this and they said there is nothing they can do about it as it is legal to buy to rent. I thought there would be some protection in the by-laws but I have looked them over and I can't find anything addressing the subject. Is this possible? Living with so many renters is not good as there are too many in each townhouse and cars are all over the place taking up all the homeowner's visitor parking. My question is can we set our own laws regarding renters or place a limit on how many can be rented, such as 10%, 20%, etc. Renters do not take care of a home the way a homeowner would.........it is beginning to look like a housing project.
ANSWER: Hello Mary and thanks for your questions.
Rental homes within a common interest development or homeowners association is always a controversy. For many, rental homes present many of the problems you've enumerated: too many residents per unit, too many cars, and lack of care by the residents. On the other hand, there are those that say, such problems are not the fault of the renters but that of its landlord, and say that even resident homeowners are guilty of the same offenses for which renters are often blamed. So, as you can see, this has been a long-standing conundrum.
Depending on the laws of the state in which you live you may actually have some relief against additional rental homes. In California, for example, homeowner associations are allowed to pass rules that will restrict the number of rental homes within a community. There are also rules across the country that prohibit the number of rentals from exceeding the amount approved by the FHA guidelines, which is, currently, I believe about 40 percent of the total units within a complex. So, provided the laws allow it, and the majority of the members approve it, the Association certainly can change the rules to prohibit the number of rentals from precipitously rising.
Another way to discourage rentals and encourage the quality of the renters that do reside in the complex is to begin a series of improvements within the community that enhance the overall appearance of the building exteriors and the grounds. This will usually mean increasing the monthly dues to cover the repairs and improvements, and that usually requires landlords to increase their rents as well, which, in turn, increases the quality of the tenants that reside within the complex
Check with your attorney to determine if the governing documents can be amended to prohibit the increase of rentals.
Good luck!!
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QUESTION: I am in the State of New Jersey, I have know idea what percentage of renters we would have to allow.
Raising the monthly maint. is out of the question because it is too high already and most of the homeowners are seniors. Thank you so much for your answer, the FHA guidelines are very discouraging. I thought in a townhouse community it would be a little different being that we are all attached. But, I agree the complaints should go to the owners and not the renters.
Answer Hello again Mary and thanks for your email.
Although you say that the maintenance fees are already too high, given the problems you're mentioning, it would seem that they really are not high enough. The higher the fees, the better the quality of tenants necessary to cover those costs. However, I see you situation and can offer you and your Board of Directors only one additional piece of advice:
Dust off the governing documents and start enforcing the rules.
If there are too many residents in the home, then the manager or the Board must begin diligently sending letters to the owners to let them know that they are in violation of the governing documents or the City or County rules regarding occupancy. If there are too many cars, then start tagging and towing the excess vehicles. Enforcing the rules is one of the simplest and easiest ways to get tenants and all residents to keep the community looking its best. One of the reasons that the community has begun to look so poor is precisely because there has been no enforcement of the rules--and the individuals responsible for enforcing rules are the Board and management.
It also sounds as if--pardon me for assuming--the Board of Directors may not be as interested in preserving the community as you. If this is the case, you may need to enlist the assistance of other homeowners to help you in replacing the current Board with new members who will take a fresh approach to the community and will institute change for the better. Good luck!
