I once saw the president of a condo association escort a young child out of the pool area where the child was attending a birthday party. Such action is usually reserved for children who cannot follow the pool rules - you know, no running, no shoving, no fighting, etc. However, in this case, the child was paying for the sins of his parents - they were behind on their association dues and had lost pool privileges and, according to this hard-nosed president, so had the child - even for a birthday party.

There are 231,000 homeowners associations (HOA) across the country, according to the Community Associations Institute, located in Alexandria, VA. The organization serves 16,000 members nationwide.

Most HOAs operate with voluntary boards of directors who are elected into office by the HOA members. While most of the HOAs operate professionally, there are many where the Board of Director (BOD) is more interested in personal control than the corporate good. Also, with the complaints I've received over the years, it appears many of the HOAs don't know where their powers stop. Some have passed rules that violate local, state and federal laws, such as in the area of fair housing.

If they overstep their boundaries, who brings them back in order? Worse yet, if a resident finds him or herself on the bad side of the HOA board of directors, how can they defend themselves against harsh treatment, such as blocking of services or association-mandated fines?

Fortunately, most states have laws that govern homeowners and condominium associations. For a list in your state, check out condolawyers.com.

If you've volunteered or recently been elected to an HOA board of directors, one of your first duties as a representative of your constituents (your neighbors) is to comply with "governing documents and applicable laws,” according to Jeffrey A. Goldberg, one of the on-site attorneys for CondoLawyers.com. Unfortunately, there are times when the BOD thinks the most important task at hand is keeping all the residents in line.

Keeping the peace between quarreling factions and political battles overtakes the true purpose of the association, which is to maintain and nurture the physical plant and culture of the community. The key here for association leadership is to remember that their "constituents” shouldn't be looked upon as "them", because the constituents, after all, are your neighbors.

If you're wondering what the role of an HOA board member is supposed to be, CondoLawyers.com lays out a "Primer on Duties and Authority of Association Boards.” Here's the abbreviated list of duties:

• Compliance with governing documents and applicable law
• Maintenance of common areas/building exteriors
• Originating and maintaining budgets
• Monitoring reserves for emergencies, capital expenditures and deferred repair or replacement, and bad debt
• Assessment collection
• Exercising business judgment
• Adoption and enforcement of rules
• Annual elections, politics, board meetings and appointment of officers
• Representation of homeowners/insurance/property rights
• Books and records
• Emergencies
• Human rights and accommodations

Of course, when quarrels rise up, it's not always the board's fault. Sometimes the residents cry foul, when in reality the HOA is only doing its job within its limited powers. Take a few minutes to visit CondoLawyers.com if you're new to an HOA community to find out your duties and responsibilities. A few more resources, include:

Condo Management Online (www.condomgmt.com) is the website of Condo Management Magazine - the nation's largest condominium management magazine with seven monthly editions of 30,000 circulation.

Community Associations Institute (www.caionline.com), which has plenty of useful information, including guidance on ethics issues and a useful Q&A section.

RealtyTimes.com HOA Section

National Association Attorneys General (www.naag.org) Click on the Master List of Attorneys General link to find your state attorney general and search for state HOA/Condo laws.

Published: September 6, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump’s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.