NWCLASSIFIEDS: Find a home| Find a rental| Neighborhoods

Home Forum / Elizabeth Rhodes
Is it legal for bylaws to prohibit taping of co-op's meetings?

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

A: A co-op is not just a form of shared housing. It's also a legal corporation, and corporations have bylaws, explains Kellye Testy, a professor and the director for the Center for Corporations, Law and Society within the Seattle University School of Law. Basically a set of rules, these bylaws function as a contract between the members — in your case, co-op owners — and the corporation.

"By becoming a member, you agree to comply with those rules," Testy says, adding, "what's hard about that from a membership standpoint is that the only other option is to become not a member." In other words, move — unless you can convince the other owners to change the bylaws. As for what could happen if you tape anyway: "Unless the bylaws specify a remedy, I think it would be an open question."

Q: I live in a senior apartment complex. A pipe broke in my unit and was repaired, but now mold is growing up the wall. I want management to culture the mold to make sure it's not toxic. However, I've been told that if I want a culture, I'd have to pay for it. Who's responsible?

A: Tacoma attorney Danny Lazares says if he were you, he'd focus more on making the landlord get rid of the mold and less on getting it tested. Here's his thinking: No law exists that specifically requires your landlord to test for mold. However, state law does require your landlord to keep your home habitable, and a prudent landlord understands this responsibility means dealing with issues like mold, he says. "So the basic liability premise is if a landlord knows or should know of a condition, then they have a responsibility to address that condition." Otherwise, a landlord could get stuck with any medical bills a tenant incurs as a result of living in a moldy apartment.

The trick here is to get your landlord to act, and that's where Lazares says tenants often slip up.

"The problem that people fall into is that they generally have an idea of what's right and fair and what should happen. But the landlord-tenant law says you have to go by the book."

This means reading the law and following its rules — particularly the one that says you must make your repair request in writing.

You can get information about landlord-tenant law by calling the state Attorney General's office at 800-551-4636 (press option 3) or by going to its Web site: www.atg.wa.gov/consumer. The law explains your rights as a tenant, and the remedies available to you if your landlord doesn't keep your home in good repair.

Q: I want to sell my condominium timeshare. Whom do I contact, and how do I do it?

A: Condo timeshares are partial ownership — often a week or two a year — of one unit in a condominium that's generally located in a vacation area. Howard Nusbaum, president and CEO of the American Resort Development Association, a trade group representing the interests of timeshare developers and owners, says the answer to your question depends in part on whether the developer is still selling units in your complex.

If it's sold out, "your resort may have a resales function," he says, and know of individuals who wish to purchase there. If your development is still selling, "you may want to go back to the developer and see if they'll purchase it, or ask if they have an arrangement with local Realtors."

Otherwise, check real-estate firms near your property; there may be some who handle timeshare resales. You can find others in newspaper classified ads or on the Internet.

It's important to note, says Nusbaum, that a vacation timeshare isn't like other types of real estate, where you can generally expect appreciation over time.

"A timeshare is a use product much like an automobile. It does have value when you're done using it, but it's a depreciated value."

Obviously, how much it's depreciated depends on the condition and desirability of the condo development as well as the popularity of its location. But it wouldn't be uncommon, he says, for a timeshare to depreciate 50 percent in a decade.

For a list of resale tips and other information, go to the American Resort Development Association's Web site: www.arda.org.

ADDENDUM: A recent column noted that the owner of a healthy tree bears no liability if a limb breaks off in a windstorm and damages a neighbor's property. That neighbor's insurance foots the bill, minus the deductible. While this is true, insurance agent John McDonald, of McDonald McGarry, points out that homeowners can buy what's called "voluntary property damage" coverage. Limited to $500 or $1,000, it's designed to pay the damaged neighbor's deductible "to keep peace in the neighborhood," McDonald says.

Home Forum answers readers' real-estate questions. Send questions to Home Forum, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1845, Seattle, WA 98111, or call 206-464-8510 to leave a question on a recorded line. The e-mail address is erhodes@seattletimes.com. Sorry, no personal replies. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company