requiring copy of lease agreements

If owners are responsible for their tenants, then why rquire owners to provide the board with a copy of their lease agreement, especially if you also require a "renter's agreement" giving , dates, length of lease, contact info and agreement to abide by the rules etc. ? It seems like they would both provide all the info a BOD would require.
An owner recently complained and the only answer I could think of was "because the rules and regulations require it" but it does seem like repetition.

We are a small community of 48 units. I know every unit that is rented so a lease wouldn't help us in that regard but I do see your point..
I shouldn't laugh at the motorcycle or emu but there is no end to what people will do.
Ohio law governing condominiums states the following:

The Association may evict a tenant for violations of the Declaration, By-Laws, or Rules. The Association must give the owner at least ten (10) days written notice. The Association may also be required to give the tenant written notice The costs of the eviction, including reasonable attorney's fees, are charged to the owner and become a lienable special assessment.

I read that to mean that they can be evicted immediately ... well after 10 days.

Fred, most associations require owners to submit a copy of their rental agreement simply to ensure compliance. It's much easier to point out to an owner if there is an issue before there are any problems from his/her tenant.

I am guessing that in order for your HOA to evict a tenant for not compliance with governing docs you'd have to first prove that the tenant agreed to comply with them. This is why it's important that proper language is entered in a contract.

Most "Off the shelf" lease agreements do not have the contigency of obeying the HOA rules. They are written more in generic terms to cover the majority of situations. An owner who is going to rent out their HOA property should put that contigency in the agreement if possible. However, I venture most overlook this and just assume it's implied. Which makes it harder for the owner to actually evict the tenant if they do violate a HOA rule. Being that it's not written in the agreement or a copy of the rules given to the tenant in many cases. Tenants aren't supposed to attend HOA meetings so they may not be aware of many issues.

It's a complicated issue overall and not clear cut.

Fred, if an owner didn't include required language in their contract you deal with it as with any other CC&R violation - warning letter, demand to fix, fines, etc.

Fred many HOA's require specific language in the rental agreements and by having a copy (with the rental amount redacted, that is not the HOA's business) makes good sense. BTW anyone renting their property must register it with the state in Ohio, our County Recorder has the form available on their website.

This is a copy of my reply to another post to give you an idea of the things you could require in a lease addendum:

As to rental restrictions, I’m sorry but it is not rocket science but simple contract law except in California where if the restrictions are not in place by 12-31-11 you are SOL. (Civil Code §1360.2. Rent Restrictions.)

The restrictions IMHO should be drafted by an attorney to make sure they comply with not only the governing documents but all applicable laws. One of the best ones that I have seen requires specific language in the lease protecting the HOA. It requires that the lessee comply with the CC&R’s and covers such things as:
01. Compliance with Association Documents
02. Use and Occupancy of the Residence
03. General Rules (Which cover things like noise, pets, parking etc)
04. Payment of Assessments (Allows the HOA to collect unpaid assessments from the renter and the landlord must accept the balance as if the rent were paid in full)
05. Assignments or Subletting
06. Alterations, Modifications or Improvements
07. Term of Lease
08. Severability and Conflicts
09. Copies of Lease (Board is required to receive a copy of the executed lease, although I would let them redact the amount of the lease, that is not the Board’s business.)
10. Binding Effect
11. Other

And finally the landlord would be an extreme idiot if s/he didn’t have language which passed any and all fines for violations to the renter.

Glen,
Thanks for the great info. I think our association needs to take a more serious look at this issue.I will use that as a basis.

Glen if this was a perfect world. The HOA monitors who pays the dues by the owner's names NOT the tenants. I owned rental property in a HOA and I was responsible for paying the dues NOT the tenant. I upped their rent to cover the monthly dues. Say my house payment was 300. I charged $350 to cover the 50 for dues. Those dues were also a tax break for me as an owner since it was investment property. Wouldn't be much of a tax advantage if my tenant was paying the dues on my behalf.

The reality is that most rental agreements aren't drafted to include following HOA rules. A HOA can't enforce their rules against a tenant in most states. A HOA can only hold the owner responsible. They can't make sure the owner references the HOA rules in their agreements. They can only acknowledge the property is being used as rental. When a HOA deals with rental property they are limited in multiple ways as they can't legally involve themselves in an owner's contract. Plus they can't violate Tenant laws. Those laws even hold the owner back from enforcing and kicking their tenant out. Can't imagine a HOA being any stronger than a landlord of their own property.

For those of us in Florida, fortunately the state added legislation allowing HOAs & COAs to collect past due assessments from renters in place of paying rent to the landlords until the arrears are cleared. The statutes also prohibit landlords from evicting tenants for paying the rent to the HOA/COA, although the HOA/COA can have the renter evicted for failure to pay rent to the HOA/COA to cover the owner's past due assessments.

Melissa, I agree that the association shouldn't expect an owner to evict a tenant if they can show that they are trying to do the right thing.
From the posts here it seems the key is in the lease between the owner and his tenant. Unfortunately,too many landlords aren't interested in protecting the association, which helps perpetuate the reasoning that rentals are bad for property values.

we are in a situation now where the owner waited until after the lease was signed before telling the renter that she needed to sign the renter's agreement which, among other things, stipulates no more than 4 occupants. The renter has refused to sign putting the owner in violation of our rules and subject to fines.
We realize that this is not easy to prove and have been trying to be patient with the owner over the number of occupants while still threatening to fine her for not having the renter's agreement signed. Obviously, that has caused friction.
The renter is now crying harassement and is saying she will take the association to court.

It is quite apparent to the association and owner that the renter lied about the number of occupants and is also in violation of our rules making the owner responsible for her tenants violation. Of course, this is difficult to prove so weretrying to be patient with the owner while she tries to work it out.

The owner claims that her lease contains a clause that there can be no more than 4 occupants, but now is refusing to provide a copy of the lease saying the association has no right to see a legal document between her and her tenant. So now the association has no signed renter's agreement and we don't know yet if the lease contains that clause or not. Since our rules stipulate that the owner must provide a copy of the lease she is subject to fines for that as well.

Big mess and we are losing patients with the landlord because she has didn't do what she was required to do in the first place, is not cooperating and now has put herself and the association in a situation where we may be fining the owner over something that maybe she can't prove or solve. We want to avoid this situation in the future.

I'm thinking a lease similar to the one Glen outlined would be much better (and legally more binding) than both an "off the shelf" lease and renter's agreement combined and better protect the association.

Melissa, ours is a condo situation with smaller units and shared costs by owners and common areas that need to be considered. While some situations may be acceptable you can't make allowances for one situation and then not make the same allowance for everyone else.
Either the rule or bylaw needs to be changed or the association needs to uphold it in all cases.
Ohio house bill 135 now allows owners to sue the condo association if the association doesn't comply with the bylaws, declaration and rules.
I can see it being less of a problem in a HOA where you aren't just seperated by a wall or floor and have your own parking etc.

Melissa,
Isn't that just it in a nut shell. The problem is that most owners like the rules and regulations and don't want them changed.It's next to impossible to get them all in one place much less agree on something :-)

I would like to know where you found the state law you referenced in you email.

I really would like to find this state law on the net and give this to
our MC which should already know this information.

We too are a small HOA of 64 .