Can a management company require copy of a lease?

Q: Are we required by law to provide a copy of the lease if we are renting our unit to the new management company?

They are requesting a copy. I do not want to provide the board members or the managing company with this information. I feel it is personal and confidential. In addition, we sold personal items to the tenants and included them in as an addendum to the contract. Do they have a right to know the rent we have agreed upon? I feel that providing the homeowners association with the tenants' names, phone numbers and vehicle information is sufficient. What do you think?

A: There is nothing explicit in the state law that requires a homeowner to submit a copy of the lease agreement but your governing documents may state that it is a requirement. The association can confirm that you have a lease agreement and that you are not renting the home as a motel or to a business. The association can determine from the lease if your lease requires a tenant to abide by the association's governing documents. As to your rent, security deposit or to the personal items that you sold to the tenants, for the most part, managers or their staff members really do not even pay attention to that information.

Q: I need to find out which governing documents, including, NRS, covenants, conditions and restrictions, Housing for Older Persons Act and Housing and Urban Development take precedence over our bylaws rules and regulations and in the order of precedence.

A: NRS 116 has a section that is also covered in the covenants. The order would be articles of incorporation, covenants, bylaws, rules and regulations.

Q: My neighbor and I have planted three trees between our homes. The first tree we shared the cost and labor. We each planted the other two trees. They have become overgrown and we need to remove them. I admit we did not get permission from the association to plant these trees. I talked to the neighbor and he is ignoring us.

I took out the tree that we planted together and requested that the association direct the removal of the other two. The association said that it is a neighbor-to-neighbor issue and will not get involved. Since the trees are in violation of the covenants, conditions and restrictions, I contend that the association should direct the removal. Who is right in this matter?

A: If the trees are located on common area, then the association can be involved in this matter. The question becomes whether the association would agree with the reader that the trees should be removed.

The second issue is the cost to remove the trees and whether the association has funds for the unanticipated expense The association could charge back the expense to the homeowners who planted the trees in the first place.

If the trees are not located on common area, then it would be a matter between the two owners.

Barbara Holland, CPM, and Supervisory CAM, is president of H&L Realty and Management Co. To ask her a question, e-mail support@hlrealty.com. To view a power point presentation of the new laws that were recently passed affecting HOAs, visit hlrealty.com, click on press release button on the left side, then click on article title, "The 2009 Legislation for common interest communities."