WATER
WATER EVERYWHERE………
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published
August 13, 2012
An
aggravated client of mine comes to me this week, complaining
that numerous owners have installed washers and dryers over the
years without permission from the association, and that as a
result, the owners who don't have washers and dryers object to
paying the water bill as part of the common expenses of the
condominium association.
Regardless
of whether or not the association may be able to sue everyone
with a washer/dryer seeking their removal, many of the owners
believe there is a fundamental unfairness in equally dividing
the cost of water among the owners, when the owners of washers
and dryers use substantially more water than everyone else.
In other condominiums, single residents believe it's
unfair for them to pay the same amount toward the water bill as
the family with five members living in the unit next door.
You
would think that one way of possibly correcting this situation
would be the installation of separate water meters for each
unit. That way,
everyone pays their fair share based upon the exact amount of
water actually used by that unit.
In fact, my client contacted a company that specializes
in installing separate water meters in each condominium unit and
that would pro-rate the water bill appropriately.
Not
so fast.
Florida
arbitration cases have held that installation of individual
water meters may be considered a "material alteration"
of the common areas, thus requiring a three-fourth's vote of the
unit owners. So
we at least need 75% of the owners to vote in favor of this
installation so it seems.
But
wait…………..
This
company said that their particular individual meters can be
installed inside the unit, and thus not on the common areas.
Therefore, a vote of the owners is not needed.
Great! Let's
start the work.
Not
so fast.
We
at least need to amend the declaration of condominium to change
the way unit owners share in the payment of the common water
expense. OK.
Let's get out the ballots right?
Slow
down.
Florida
Statute 718.110 states:
4)Unless
otherwise provided in the declaration as originally recorded, no
amendment may change the configuration or size of any unit in
any material fashion, materially alter or modify the
appurtenances to the unit, or change the proportion or percentage by which the unit owner shares
the common expenses of the condominium and owns the common
surplus of the condominium unless
the record owner of the unit and all record owners of liens on
the unit join in the execution of the amendment and unless all
the record owners of all other units in the same condominium
approve the amendment.
Now
we have a real problem. According
to the statute, we need a vote of 100% of the owners and all of
their mortgagees. Call
me skeptical, but I don't think the owners who already have the
washers and dryers or the larger famil
