Handicap parking space required by federal law

Q: I’m on the board of our Henderson homeowners association. We have a resident requesting a handicapped parking space. Our community (private property, no public streets) is 15 years old, and the builder didn’t install any handicapped spaces and there is currently none in the community. There are 51 buildings with three units per building, for a total of 153 units. Each unit has an attached two-car garage with direct access to the unit. Also, the vehicle driven by this resident has nothing displayed on the vehicle indicating he/she is disabled and the vehicle isn’t licensed in Nevada. There is nothing our HOA could possibly do that would provide more access for this resident than that of their garage. Is our HOA required to provide a handicapped parking space, or have one installed in the community under Nevada law?

A: It does not matter that the resident has an out-of-state registration as long as it is current.

The resident should have the handicap decal in their car or produce one for your board.

Also, you should check to see if their garage can accommodate two vehicles especially if one has a side extension for entrance and exit from the vehicle.

The federal laws would require you to install or convert a space to a handicap one or to find some other accommodation for the resident.

Q: Hello Barbara, I found your name on the internet and you are so knowledgeable on age-restricted HOAs. I live (in one.) Well, my mom bought a mobile and my 40-year-old son lives with he. The problem is she is not there full time. She goes back to Ohio for her cancer treatments. The management company said she doesn’t live there and I am in violation. Also, the home is in my son’s name. I heard if he is living with grandma and his name is on deed, if she passes he is entitled to live there. Also, I live in the same community. If you can help me I would be so grateful

A: Generally speaking, the age restriction regulations require at least one person living in the home that is 55 years or older, regardless of who is on the deed. There are also regulations that pertain to the time period that the resident, in this case your mother, can be absent from the home and how many times that she can be absent from the home in any one-year period of time.

Your violation letter should state the section of your governing documents for more specific information as to the length of time.

You can try asking for an exemption but the board would not have to grant you one based upon the absenteeism.

Q: Do you know how meeting minutes work? Are they suppose to be made available, like I shouldn’t have to request them? Do they have a certain number of days to make them available for the residents?

A: Per Nevada Revised Statute 116.31083 (8), not more than 30 days after your board meeting, the audio recording, the minutes of the meeting and a summary of the minutes are to be made available to the homeowners. You will need to request the minutes as the law does not require the association to automatically provide them to the homeowners. Do not be surprised if the word, draft, is on the minutes as technically the minutes will need to be approved at the board’s next meeting. There is no charge to the homeowner if the minutes are sent in an electronic format. If the association is unable to send the minutes electronically, the association can charge the homeowner for the paper format not to exceed 25 cents per page for the first 10 pages and 10 cents per page thereafter.

Section NRS 116.31151 (3) pertains to the annual budgets being sent to the owners for ratification or rejection by the homeowners. Within 60 days after the adoption of any proposed budget, the board shall provide a summary of the proposed budget to each owner and shall set a date for a meeting of the owners to consider ratification of the budget, not less than 14 days or more than 30 days after the mailing of the summaries. Unless at that meeting, a majority of the owners or any larger vote specified in the covenants, conditions and restrictions reject the proposed budget, the budget is ratified whether or not a quorum is present.

There is no law as to what time the budget ratification meeting is to be held. Homeowners can ask questions. Ultimately, if you do not have the required majority to reject the budget, the budget will be ratified, even without a quorum.

If the proposed budget is rejected, the last ratified budget by the homeowners must be continued until that time a new budget is ratified.

Q: The assistant property manager invited a vendor to participate with the board in an email discussion, changes to the vendors services. Additionally, the vendor discussed suggested money fee changes.

A: As long as the board knew that the vendor would be participating in the email discussion, there would be no problem. The assistant manager should have addressed this issue with the board prior to contacting the vendor.

Barbara Holland, CPM is an author, educator, expert witness on real estate issues pertaining to management and brokerage. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com