Q: I have just bought into a darling 2 bedroom, one and one- half bath unit in Washington. I love the apartment, the neighborhood and most of my neighbors. However, the behavior of the people in one of the units is disturbing, not only to me but to our Association Board of Directors.

The occupants rent a one bedroom apartment, which currently is occupied by three adults, one three year old, two dogs and two cats. They are noisy, treat all public spaces as their to trash, loiter at will, and use the common areas as their personal dog bathroom. There is a constant flow of visitors to the unit, day and night, weekends included.

We understand they plan to purchase the unit shortly, and this is of great concern to us. Is there anything we can do to stop them from purchasing?

A: No.. Our country has a strong, deep rooted belief in the value of home ownership, and of us have that absolute right. Just because there may be too many occupants, and that they are a nuisance is, in my opinion, not enough to prevent them from purchasing.

You could consider filing a lawsuit against the current owner, to enjoin the sale, but I seriously doubt that a court would entertain such a lawsuit.

If you lived in a Cooperative apartment, you could go to the Board of that Cooperative and request that the Board not approve the sale. Most cooperative units require that any prospective purchaser must be approved for membership by the Cooperative Board of Directors. This approval, however, can not be used as an excuse to block ownership for any reason other than the financial ability of the prospective purchaser to pay the cooperative fees, or the unwillingness of that purchaser to abide by the rules and regulations of the Cooperative.

Very few Condominiums have such approval process, although some associations give the Board a right of first refusal to purchase a unit which is being marketed to the public. You must carefully review your legal documents to determine what rights – if any – your Board of Directors may have regarding a sale of a unit.

However, I strongly suspect that there are other provisions in your legal documents which would give you and the Board the right to take appropriate action against these neighbors. Every association has a set of Bylaws – which in effect is the bible for that organization. And all Bylaws that I have ever read always contain language that should be helpful to you and your Board of Directors.

Here's some language I found in the Bylaws of a local condominium. It is located in the Section entitled “Operation of the Property”, and subtitled “Restrictions on Use of Units and Common Elements”:

No immoral, improper, offensive, or unlawful use shall be made of the Property or any part thereof, and all valid laws, zoning ordinances and regulations of all governmental agencies having jurisdiction thereof shall be observed....

Furthermore, most associations have rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Directors that address unit owner behavior. Has your Board enacted a set of rules and regulations governing conduct within your complex? If not, they should do so immediately. For example, even if your association legal documents permit pets, the Board has the authority to enact a regulation governing the conduct of those pets while they are on common areas. For example, many associations have rules which require that pets must be leashed when being walked outside of the unit, and that owners may not permit their pet to use the common elements as a waste area..

Different jurisdictions have different legal requirements as to how and when such rules become effective after they are adopted by the Board of Directors. But regardless of these legal requirements, I have always encouraged Boards to circulate any proposed regulation to all owners for at least thirty days before the rule can become operational.

Now, you have some rules in place, which should cover some -- if not all -- of your concerns. If these rules are violated, the Board has the authority to enforce them. There are two avenues available to a Board:

• fine the owner on a daily basis for each violation until the violation has stopped, or
• go to Court, and ask the Judge to enjoin the owners from continuing to violate the association rules.

It is important to note that before a Board goes down either enforcement path, the Board should give the owner an opportunity to attend a Board meeting for the purpose of explaining and defending his/her actions. This is, in effect, a “due process” hearing, and the owner has the right to present a case in defense of the charges, and even to retain legal counsel.

If, after this hearing, the Board is still convinced that the owner is in violation of the rules and regulations, it then has to decide which enforcement approach to take: