New Jersey: Panel boosts bill on homeowner groups
Seems that CAI is happy and owner groups are not--at least, that's the way the story presents it.
Legislation defining the rights and responsibilities of the 1.2 million New Jerseyans who live in communities governed by homeowners associations and condo or co-op boards was approved yesterday by an Assembly committee. The bill, based on a national model law and the recommendations of a 1998 Assembly task force, "has been in the making for a very long time," according to its sponsor, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo (D-Essex). He said it attempts to "find a fair balance" between the rights of individual residents and those of the larger community. The bill declares that residents of association-governed communities have certain rights that include "a fair and effective method of resolving disputes," running for election, watching their association operate in the open and access to its records. Their obligations include maintaining their properties according to community standards, paying all fees and assessments on time and obeying rules adopted by their association. For the first time in New Jersey, it would unify scattered provisions of law dealing with homeowners associations, condo boards and governing bodies of co-op apartments. Recognizing that such community associations perform "quasi-governmental functions," such as fining residents for violating rules, it also subjects them to greater oversight by the state Department of Community Affairs.
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