Ohio Code 5311.081 – Powers and duties of board of directors
(A) The unit owners association, through the board of directors, shall do both of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5311.081
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Common assessments: means assessments that are charged proportionately against all units for common purposes. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Common elements: means , unless otherwise provided in the declaration, the following parts of the condominium property:
(1) The land described in the declaration;
(2) All other areas, facilities, places, and structures that are not part of a unit, including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, supporting walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances, and exits of buildings;
(b) Basements, yards, gardens, parking areas, garages, and storage spaces;
(c) Premises for the lodging of janitors or persons in charge of the property;
(d) Installations of central services, including, but not limited to, power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, and incinerating;
(e) Elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts, and, in general, all apparatus and installations existing for common use;
(f) Community and commercial facilities that are not listed in division (F)(2)(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of this section but provided for in the declaration;
(g) All parts of the condominium property that are not listed in division (F)(2)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) of this section that are necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance, and safety, that are normally in common use, or that have been designated as common elements in the declaration or drawings. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Common expenses: means expenses designated as common expenses in this chapter or in the declaration. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Condominium: means a form of real property ownership in which a declaration has been filed submitting the property to the condominium form of ownership pursuant to this chapter and under which each owner has an individual ownership interest in a unit with the right to exclusive possession of that unit and an undivided ownership interest with the other unit owners in the common elements of the condominium property. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Condominium property: means all real and personal property submitted to the provisions of this chapter, including land, the buildings, improvements, and structures on that land, the land under a water slip, the buildings, improvements, and structures that form or that are utilized in connection with that water slip, and all easements, rights, and appurtenances belonging to the land or to the land under a water slip. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Declaration: includes all amendments to that declaration. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Limited common elements: means the common elements that the declaration designates as being reserved for use by a certain unit or units, to the exclusion of the other units. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Unit: means the part of the condominium property that is designated as a unit in the declaration, is delineated as a unit on the drawings prepared pursuant to section 5311. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Unit owner: means a person who owns a condominium ownership interest in a unit. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Unit owners association: means the organization that administers the condominium property and that consists of all the owners of units in a condominium property. See Ohio Code 5311.01
(1) Annually, adopt and amend an estimated budget for revenues and expenditures. The budget shall include reserves in an amount adequate to repair and replace major capital items in the normal course of operations without the necessity of special assessments, unless either of the following applies:
(a) The declaration or bylaws include language limiting the ability of the board of directors to increase assessments for common expenses without a vote of the unit owners;
(b) The unit owners, exercising not less than a majority of the voting power of the unit owners association, waive the reserve requirement in writing annually.
(2) Collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners.
(B) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration, the unit owners association, through the board of directors, may exercise all powers of the association, including the power to do the following:
(1) Hire and fire managing agents, attorneys, accountants, and other independent contractors and employees that the board determines are necessary or desirable in the management of the condominium property and the association;
(2) Commence, defend, intervene in, settle, or compromise any civil, criminal, land use planning, or administrative action or proceeding that is in the name of, or threatened against, the unit owners association, the board of directors, or the condominium property, or that involves two or more unit owners , impacts zoning, or otherwise relates to matters affecting the condominium property;
(3) Enter into contracts and incur liabilities relating to the operation of the condominium property;
(4) Regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, modification, and appearance of the condominium property;
(5) Adopt rules that regulate the use or occupancy of units, the maintenance, repair, replacement, modification, and appearance of units, common elements, and limited common elements when the actions regulated by those rules affect common elements or other units;
(6) Cause additional improvements to be made as part of the common elements;
(7) Purchase, encumber, and convey units, and, subject to any restrictions in the declaration or bylaws and with the approvals required by division (H)(2) or (3) of section 5311.04 of the Revised Code, acquire an interest in other real property and encumber or convey that interest. All expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition, encumbrance, use, and operation of that interest are common expenses.
(8) Acquire, encumber, and convey or otherwise transfer personal property;
(9) Hold in the name of the unit owners association the real property and personal property acquired pursuant to divisions (B)(7) and (8) of this section;
(10) Grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common elements;
(11) Impose and collect fees or other charges for all of the following:
(a) The use, rental, or operation of the common elements;
(b) Services provided to unit owners;
(c) To the extent provided in the declaration or bylaws, social activities or charitable contributions on behalf of the owners association;
(12) Impose interest and late charges for the late payment of assessments; impose returned check charges; and, pursuant to division (C) of this section, impose reasonable enforcement assessments for violations of the declaration, the bylaws, and the rules of the unit owners association, and reasonable charges for damage to the common elements or other property;
(13) Adopt and amend rules that regulate the collection of delinquent assessments and the application of payments of delinquent assessments;
(14) Subject to applicable laws, adopt and amend rules that regulate the termination of utility or other service to a commercial unit if the unit owner is delinquent in the payment of an assessment that pays, in whole or in part, the cost of that service;
(15) Impose reasonable charges for preparing, recording, or copying amendments to the declaration, resale certificates, or statements of unpaid assessments;
(16) Enter a unit for bona fide purposes when conditions exist that involve an imminent risk of damage or harm to common elements, another unit, or to the health or safety of the occupants of that unit or another unit;
(17) To the extent provided in the declaration or bylaws, assign the unit owners association’s rights to common assessments, or other future income, to a lender as security for a loan to the unit owners association;
(18) Suspend the voting privileges and use of recreational facilities of a unit owner who is delinquent in the payment of assessments for more than thirty days;
(19) Purchase insurance and fidelity bonds the directors consider appropriate or necessary;
(20) Invest excess funds in investments that meet standards for fiduciary investments under Ohio law;
(21) Exercise powers that are:
(a) Conferred by the declaration or the bylaws of the unit owners association or the board of directors;
(b) Necessary to incorporate the unit owners association as a not-for-profit corporation;
(c) Permitted to be exercised in this state by a not-for-profit corporation;
(d) Necessary and proper for the government and operation of the unit owners association.
(C)(1) Prior to imposing a charge for damages or an enforcement assessment pursuant to division (B)(12) of this section, the board of directors shall give the unit owner a written notice, which may be in the form of electronic mail to an electronic mail address previously provided by the owner in writing, that includes all of the following:
(a) A description of the property damage or violation;
(b) The amount of the proposed charge or assessment;
(c) A statement that the owner has a right to a hearing before the board of directors to contest the proposed charge or assessment;
(d) A statement setting forth the procedures to request a hearing pursuant to division (C)(2) of this section;
(e) A reasonable date by which the unit owner must cure the violation to avoid the proposed charge or assessment.
(2)(a) To request a hearing, the owner shall deliver a written notice to the board of directors not later than the tenth day after receiving the notice required by division (C)(1) of this section. If the owner fails to make a timely request for a hearing, the right to that hearing is waived, and the board may immediately impose a charge for damages or an enforcement assessment pursuant to division (C) of this section.
(b) If a unit owner requests a hearing, at least seven days prior to the hearing the board of directors shall provide the unit owner with a written notice that includes the date, time, and location of the hearing.
(3) The board of directors shall not levy a charge or assessment before holding any hearing requested pursuant to division (C)(2) of this section.
(4) The unit owners, through the board of directors, may allow a reasonable time to cure a violation described in division (B)(12) of this section before imposing a charge or assessment.
(5) Within thirty days following a hearing at which the board of directors imposes a charge or assessment, the unit owners association shall deliver a written notice of the charge or assessment to the unit owner.
(6) Any written notice that division (C) of this section requires shall be delivered to the unit owner or any occupant of the unit by personal delivery, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by regular mail.
Last updated June 29, 2022 at 2:27 PM