condo rental to a corporation

[mark047@aol.com]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I am a condominium owner, who is doing some legal research regarding an issue I have with my board regarding the rental of my unit to a corporation.

In summary, I firmly believe my board is grossly overstepping their bounds (forcing me to end of a lease to an insured corporation with limited tenants). I will list the specifics in the hopes that a reader can help point me in the right direction (statues, case law) to the degree you may have any familiarity with the issue. Specifically, the only proscription in the Master Deed is that a lease cannot be effectively as would a hotel.

10.03 Restrictions on Leasing
No unit shall be used or rented for transient or hotel purposes which shall be defined as (i) rental for any period less than (1) year; or (ii) any rental where the occupants of the Unit are provided customary hotel services, such as room service for food and beverages, maid service, the furnishing of a laundry and linen, and bellboy service; provided, however, that any Owner may rent a unit for less than (1) year to a contract purchaser, but in no event for hotel purposes. No Owner may lease less than the entire Unit. Copies of all leases executed by an Owner, other than the Developer, must be furnished to the Association prior to the commencement of the term thereof. Other than the foregoing obligations, Owners shall have the right to lease the Unit provided said lease is in writing and is made subject to all of the provisions of this Master Deed and the By-Laws of the Association and other documents referred to herein, including the right of amendment reserved to Developer, and provided further, that any failure of the lessee to fully comply with the terms and conditions of such documents shall constitute a default under the lease. No leasing shall, however, relieve the Owner from his obligations hereunder and he shall remain primarily responsible therefor...

I would appreciate any advice you have, as this is an archaic area of the law, and I am trying to compile as much information as possible before having to resort to an attorney.

Many thanks in advance.

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I am a condominium owner, who is doing some legal research regarding an issue I have with my board regarding the rental of my unit to a corporation.

In summary, I firmly believe my board is grossly overstepping their bounds (forcing me to end of a lease to an insured corporation with limited tenants). I will list the specifics in the hopes that a reader can help point me in the right direction (statues, case law) to the degree you may have any familiarity with the issue. Specifically, the only proscription in the Master Deed is that a lease cannot be effectively as would a hotel.

10.03 Restrictions on Leasing
No unit shall be used or rented for transient or hotel purposes which shall be defined as (i) rental for any period less than (1) year; or (ii) any rental where the occupants of the Unit are provided customary hotel services, such as room service for food and beverages, maid service, the furnishing of a laundry and linen, and bellboy service; provided, however, that any Owner may rent a unit for less than (1) year to a contract purchaser, but in no event for hotel purposes. No Owner may lease less than the entire Unit. Copies of all leases executed by an Owner, other than the Developer, must be furnished to the Association prior to the commencement of the term thereof. Other than the foregoing obligations, Owners shall have the right to lease the Unit provided said lease is in writing and is made subject to all of the provisions of this Master Deed and the By-Laws of the Association and other documents referred to herein, including the right of amendment reserved to Developer, and provided further, that any failure of the lessee to fully comply with the terms and conditions of such documents shall constitute a default under the lease. No leasing shall, however, relieve the Owner from his obligations hereunder and he shall remain primarily responsible therefor...

I would appreciate any advice you have, as this is an archaic area of the law, and I am trying to compile as much information as possible before having to resort to an attorney.

Many thanks in advance. Please reply

I quoted to remove your email - you'll get responses here, not in email and it's a bad idea to post your email address on a forum such as this.

[private_person3]

I am a Board Member in NJ and we have had this exact issue come before us a few years back.

It was brought to our attention that a unit was being leased out to a Property Management company (Weichert I believe), who placed people in the unit for lengths less than that required by our By-Laws.

Our lawyer contacted the unit owner and informed them that their unit could not be used for transient living. He countered by saying he had a long term lease with the Property Management company. We then informed him that he was leasing his unit to a company who was providing transient quarters of less than our requirement. He resisted at first, but once our lawyer contacted the Property Management company and informed them of our By-Laws, they agreed that there was a violation. That is the extent of my experience with this issue.

Now, where you may be violating your Master Deed is in that your unit might be being used for transient purposes (less than one year). It does not matter if it is you who is directly providing the transient quarters or a third party. That violation is quite clear:

No unit shall be used or rented for transient or hotel purposes which shall be defined as (i) rental for any period less than (1) year.

Of course, I have no clue what you meant by "limited tenants". It certainly implies that the company you contract with, is providing Corporate Housing. Whereas, people could be staying in your unit for various amounts of time. Then again, it could mean they only lease out your unit to a handful of people who each lease for 12 months at a time. You were quite unclear in your OP.