How Condos Can Deal with Difficult Residents

Take Them to Court

One way to deal with unit-owners who fail to abide by the rules or pay their common charges and assessments is to bring a lawsuit against them. Unfortunately, litigation is expensive, time-consuming, and rarely results in a complete victory. Sometimes litigation is necessary to deal with a problem but, when it is not essential, it should definitely be a last resort.

Take Away Their Perks

A condo's board of managers can't cut heat, plumbing, electricity, or elevator service without a court order, but they can certainly take away non-essential services as a means of putting the squeeze on troublesome unit-owners who are flagrantly breaking rules or not paying up.

For example, if a unit-owner is more than 60 days in arrears in the payment of their common charges, assessments or other charges or (b) have violated a house rule and/or policy twice in the last 12 months, then a board of managers can withhold the following non-essential services.

• Housekeeping and/or maintenance requests that are a unit-owner's responsibility and which could have been performed by the staff and billed back to the unit-owner as an additional charge will not be provided.
• Fax and xeroxing services will not be provided.
• No visitors, guests, delivery, or service people will be allowed beyond the concierge's desk unless personally escorted by the resident, nor will the concierge call the apartment to advise them of their arrival.
• Visitors will have to call from outside the building to announce their arrival.
• No authorization to enter or to release keys will be honored.
• No packages or deliveries of any kind (except prescription medication) will be accepted by the concierge.
• The concierge will not order limousines, make restaurant reservations, or arrange tickets for the theater or any other form of entertainment.
• No service calls will be provided to the apartment except for emergencies or essential services.

The board can reinstate these services upon written request by the resident, but only after it is convinced the violation will not happen again.

Last but not least, if unit-owners fail to pay common charges and assessments even though they may be profiting by leasing the unit, then the board of managers can exercise its rights under Real Property Law §339-kk to collect the rent from the tenant, retain an amount equal to its common charges and assessments, and remit the balance to the unit-owner.

Stuart Saft is a partner at Holland & Knight