All that empty space and no right to use it…until now.

A year ago I wrote an article titled “Is Your Association Down with OPP?”  discussing the pros and cons of renting out empty units without first taking title.  The legislature has heeded the call and last month amended the Condominium Act to allow condo associations certain rights with regard to abandoned units, including the right to rent them out.  Here’s how it works:

After mailing or hand delivering a 2 day notice to the owner of record at their last known address, a condominium association can now enter a unit to clean it up, perform necessary maintenance or repairs, and to turn on utilities (get that A/C going to prevent mold!) if a unit is “abandoned”.   The association can then charge all costs incurred to the unit ledger and lien for the amounts (if they are unpaid) the same as an assessment.  Also, if a unit is “abandoned” a condominium association can petition the court to appoint a receiver to rent out the unit to offset costs incurred with regard to the unit and unpaid assessments.

A unit is defined as “abandoned” if:

1. The unit is in foreclosure and no tenant appears to have resided in the unit for 4 continuous weeks without providing prior written notice to the association (i.e.-someone sending a letter stating they will be out of town for a month);

       OR

2. When a unit is not in foreclosure, but no tenant appears to have resided in the unit for 2 consecutive months without providing prior written notice to the association and the association is unable to contact the owner or determine their whereabouts after reasonable attempts.

If your association has questions as to how best to make use of this great addition, it is recommended you contact a community association attorney.

Daniel Wasserstein

E-mail: danw@wassersteinpa.com

561-288-3999