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Want to find yourself on the wrong end of a discrimination suit? Just ban children from playing on your association’s grounds.

That’s how a Boston-based condominium association found itself paying out a $150,000 in fines for discriminating against families with children. The settlement has the association paying $130,000 to the families in question and $20,000 in civil penalties. This lawsuit and the subsequent fallout gives us a prime example of an association over-stepping it’s bounds. In addition to restricting the ability of children to play outside, the association was accused of intimidating, threatening, and interfering with the rights afforded to it’s residents under the Fair Housing Act. This entire situation goes to show how difficult it can be at times for an association board to manage the needs and desires of all residents.

This is not the first case where an association has found itself on the wrong end of a discrimination suit. Other substantial instances involve associations in Indiana, Atlanta, Florida, and Washington. Regardless of guilt or if the discrimination was intentional or simply a bi-product of an otherwise harmless determination by the board, these situations can be costly to defend and extremely costly should you be found guilty.

It all started when the association board banned sports being played in common areas and forbade children in the complex from playing outdoors on condo association property. That alone would have been enough to anger parents, but the board went one step further – too far, in the opinion of the court – and fined parents more than $500 each time their children were caught playing on condo property. Worse, the association board slapped a $1,000 fine on one mother who filed a state discrimination complaint, in an attempt to cover the board’s legal costs of the mother’s complaint.

If the actions of this association board sound at all familiar, be warned. Associations cannot operate above their own bylaws and certainly not above state and federal laws. The larger offense, and the one that was most discriminatory in the court’s mind, was the amount of the fines imposed on the families. Other residents were fined $10 for common-area rule violations – substantially less than the $500+ families were hit with.

Yet residents complain about noise and about the hazards caused by children playing outdoors and in parking areas. How do you as an association address these issues?

1. Hold an open board meeting. Have a special meeting to discuss the issues raised. Make sure to communicate thoroughly the meeting time and place and encourage residents to weigh in on the issue.
2. Form a task force. Include residents from both sides of the issue. Charge the committee with finding a workable resolution that allows all residents to enjoy the property. Make sure at least one association board member is on the committee or leading the process.
3. Discuss options openly. Conduct another resident meeting to address the recommendations of the task force. Ask for community input.
4. Adopt fair bylaws and regulations. If changes are necessary to the bylaws, make sure they reflect existing regulations. For example, do not impose hefty fines on one group, but minimal fines on another group.
5. Enforce regulations consistently. The best policy is one your association enforces across the board. Make sure the regulations are followed by all, and take corrective action when necessary.

Ultimately, be sure to contact your legal counsel and insurance agent to discuss issues that may arise. Has your condo association had an issue involving discrimination in the past? How did you handle this issue, what was the outcome?

Flickr photo credit: MOmilkman