Law says owner gets parking stickers

Q: The association where I have rental properties is replacing a parking permit with a sticker. A resident form was sent to be completed with a request for a copy of the lease with my tenants. I have received phone calls from management stating that my lease is not a valid. The commencement date of the lease was April 2001, and it is now on a month-to-month term with either party able to give a 30-day notice to terminate the agreement. Management states that I must renew the lease and furnish them with an addendum. If this is not done, the tenants' cars will be towed because the management company will not give me the parking stickers. I contend that my lease is correct and is current. Does management have the right per the covenants and rules to deny my tenants the parking stickers?

A: The answer is no. The management company is wrong and they should provide you the parking stickers needed for your tenants. First, the covenants state that a lease agreement must have a term of at least 30 days. Second, the lease agreement itself contains a holdover clause that states all of the terms and conditions of the lease agreement shall continue with the only change that either party must provide a written 30-day notice to terminate the lease agreement. Third, the holdover clause meets the requirements of the association's covenants.

In addition, a little common sense would be appreciated as the current tenants have been living at the community since 2001. There is no law that requires you to send a renewal agreement because the holdover clause essentially renews the lease every 30 days.

You could contact the management company to discuss this issue again or to present your case directly with the board of directors by requesting a hearing or to address the board during the homeowner forum at the next board meeting.

The ombudsman's office will not become involved in an interpretation of your lease agreement but you can ask the ombudsman to invite the management company/board to an intervention with is a voluntary meeting between the parties for the purpose of resolving their differences.

Q: How much money should homeowners association have in reserve?

A: According to the state law, your reserve account is to be based upon your specific reserve study, as the information on the reserve study is derived by the actual components of your capital improvements and their life expectancy and replacement cost. There is no rule of thumb. There is no standard percentage of the monthly income that needs to be deposited into the reserve account. Money to be deposited into the reserve account on a monthly or yearly basis can be found in your reserve study.

Q: I live in a nonprofit community association and belong to a club within the association. The club, using the assocation's tax number, has a history of donating to verifiable charitable organizations. Recently, the association has indicated they will no longer allow our club to use their tax number to make donations. The Internal Revenue Service allows nonprofit organizations to make donations and since the IRS is a part of the federal government, I believe federal and state laws take precedence over bylaws and any other governing documents of the association. Am I correct?

A: Your association can be a state of Nevada nonprofit corporation but that does not mean that your association is a nonprofit organization as far as IRS regulations are concerned. Your association (or any other association) does not meet the requirements of a nonprofit organization with the IRS. Your association would have to a church, for an example, to be eligible for that nonprofit status.

Your association may have received some advice or letter from the IRS which has resulted in the termination of the club utilizing the association's tax number.

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."