Though not legally required, most condominium instruments provide that the association must carry hazard and liability insurance in order to protect the membership from disaster and the financial strain of litigation. The instruments may also specify the amount of the deductibles that the association’s various types of coverage will have; if not, the deductibles may be set by the board of directors.
The most common condominium insurance question I hear is what, exactly, should the association’s master casualty policy cover? There are three approaches to master casualty coverage. The most comprehensive type covers all condominium improvements – common elements, units, and all fixtures and finishes within the units, even if upgraded by the owners. The second type of coverage insures all condominium improvements – both common elements and the units, but the units are insured only to a certain level and will not cover upgrades made by the owner. The third approach to master hazard coverage is to insure only the common elements.
Continue Reading What should our Condominium Association Insurance Cover? Part II – Condominium Instruments & Association Insurance
Insurance is one of those necessities of life that we avoid thinking about until a problem occurs. At that point, we realize that the details of our policies do matter and that we probably should have spent more time reviewing them before it was too late.
As of July 1, 2015, the Virginia Condominium Act provides that no condominium association may impose an assessment or charge against a unit owner unless such charge or assessment (a) is expressly authorized by the Condominium Act (see particularly Va. Code Sec. 55-79.83) and/or by the condominium instruments for the community, (b) represents a fee for service provided, or (c) is a fee for a resale certificate, as provided for in the Condominium Act. Va. Code Section 55-79.42:1.
Since our last postings on the subject of disclosure packets, the General Assembly has adopted several minor Code changes to clarify existing provisions:
You serve on your condominium or property owners’ association’s board of directors and have been receiving complaints about unauthorized cars and space shortages in the community’s parking lot. The Board would like to designate specific parking spaces for use by designated units so that each unit has a certain number of parking spaces available to it at all times. May it do so? The answer depends on (a) how parking spaces are classified in your declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and (b) the association’s authority to control common area / common element pursuant to the Virginia Condominium Act or Property Owners’ Association Act and the specific terms of the association’s governing documents.
Bills recently passed in the Virginia General Assembly extend the list of items for inclusion in property owners’ association disclosure packets and condominium association resale certificates, and also broaden non-association disclosure requirements. Effective July 1, 2013, disclosure packets may or must (depending on the item) include the following new items:
