For those that may not know, there is a specific law that covers Condominiums and how they are set up. That law is RSA 356-B and is known as the Condominium Act. Much of this Act covers the establishment of a Condominium, but in 2010, RSA 356-B:70 was added which established a Committee to Study the Laws relating to Condominium and Homeowners’ Associations. The governance of associations has frequently been a problem area.
As a result of that Committee, the Condominium Act was amended and a number of new laws took effect on August 1, 2016. The changes target governance of the Association. Associations often operate informally and consult an attorney only when problems arise. The new laws are aimed at providing more structured governance and greater protection to unit owners once the condominium has been established.
As recently as August, 2017, a woman was accused of embezzling $100,000 from a NH condo association. She was arrested and charged with two counts of theft by unauthorized taking. This charge is a Class A felony and is punishable by a maximum sentence of 7 ½ to 15 years in prison. This is not a random thing, theft of a condominiums funds happens more often than you would think.
One of the major ways these thefts occur is by one of the board members receiving a kickback for work performed or by having personal work done for themselves and rolling it into the associations bill. With that in mind and in an effort to control this type of theft, one of the new laws requires any contractor licensed by the State of New Hampshire who performs work to disclose on the bill any referral fee paid by the contractor.
Some other key changes are:
• Boards may not use social meetings to evade the open meeting requirements
• Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised are the default procedural rules
• The board must send proxy voting forms with control numbers assigned for each owner
• Electronic noticing and meetings are allowed
If you are a condominium owner don’t be afraid to ask questions of the board. Make sure that you regularly see the bank statements rather than to just rely on being shown a copy of the financials once a year at the annual meeting. If you do find that a board member has been embezzling, consider taking legal action, don’t just let it slide. Often, once they think they got away with something they will continue taking advantage of you in the future.