resident owners vs. income property

[luckymom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IL
I live in a six unit, self-managed building. Four units are owner occupied, two are rentals. There is no issue with one of the rental units. The tenants are a quiet, mature, responsible couple. The other unit is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath unit. Apparently the dining room has been walled-off to create another room. The owner rents out rooms individually, apparently on a month to month basis. (We are located near a major university, so there is a market for cheap student rentals). At times, there have been as many as 6-7 names on the mailbox.

Our bylaws currently contain no restrictions at all on rentals The two absentee owners rehabbed the building 25 years ago and carried out the condo conversion. They have always rented their places--hence the lack of restrictions, I think. The unit is causing problems both for the quality of life of the other owners and potentially financially as well. The tenants make use of the deeded parking spaces belonging to owners; they hold noisy parties; at one point we had a serious rodent issue and the exterminator said this place was filthy. I think there are also security issues because so many people have been given keys to the building over the years. Because we pay for water and gas through our assessments, we feel that we are subsidizing this place (the other units are occupied by only 1 (2 units) or 2 adults (3 units).

Can we add language to the bylaws restricting rentals to bring this situation under control by limiting how many un-related adults can live there or the like? Although we've complained to the owner about individual issues (parking, for example), we have not brought up the underlying cause (that is, the conversion of his place to a rooming house)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IL
I live in a six unit, self-managed building. Four units are owner occupied, two are rentals. There is no issue with one of the rental units. The tenants are a quiet, mature, responsible couple. The other unit is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath unit. Apparently the dining room has been walled-off to create another room. The owner rents out rooms individually, apparently on a month to month basis. (We are located near a major university, so there is a market for cheap student rentals). At times, there have been as many as 6-7 names on the mailbox.

Our bylaws currently contain no restrictions at all on rentals The two absentee owners rehabbed the building 25 years ago and carried out the condo conversion. They have always rented their places--hence the lack of restrictions, I think. The unit is causing problems both for the quality of life of the other owners and potentially financially as well. The tenants make use of the deeded parking spaces belonging to owners; they hold noisy parties; at one point we had a serious rodent issue and the exterminator said this place was filthy. I think there are also security issues because so many people have been given keys to the building over the years. Because we pay for water and gas through our assessments, we feel that we are subsidizing this place (the other units are occupied by only 1 (2 units) or 2 adults (3 units).

Can we add language to the bylaws restricting rentals to bring this situation under control by limiting how many un-related adults can live there or the like? Although we've complained to the owner about individual issues (parking, for example), we have not brought up the underlying cause (that is, the conversion of his place to a rooming house)?

Thanks in advance.

**A: only the Board or majority vote per HOA docs can change the By-Laws, depending upon your HOA CC&R's. And furthermore, the change that you suggest must conform to local, state and federal housing and civil rights laws.

 

[FarmerJ]

Your atty can also educate you regarding your states laws and sub metering , Sub metered utility systems would permit each unit to pay its true share of a cost. SO for example one unit chooses to ignore a faulty toilet wich can make a water/sewer bill go WAY up due to the waste. With submeter systems any unit owner who ignored the faulty toilet would have to pay for it. ( same thing with the shower king of the north, if S K O N likes to take 45 min showers and the other 5 unit residents do not do that the S K O N will be paying for this luxury ) Any way this would be something to discuss with your atty.