Society Hill II Board Members:

 

Rubina Vohra, President 

Ron Hughes, Vice President 

Willam Yung, Treasurer 

Renee Stanley, Secretary 

Dr. Regina Hoist, Officer 

Thelma Guzman (Taylor Management)

 Dear Society Hill II Board members,

During Society Hill II Open Board meeting on 11/20/2024, Thelma from Taylor Management notified homeowners of a new leasing resolution that the Board solely voted on previously. 

This new lease resolution has restrictions that negatively impact all homeowners, whether we are looking to sell or lease our homes. 

We believe Homeowners’ rights are being bypassed by disguising changes as a Resolution (Board vote only) vs an Amendment (Homeowner vote). These changes include putting additional restrictions on homeowners such as: Unit Owners must reside in their Unit for at least one (1) year before they can rent, you can’t rent your Unit for less than one year, a $250 yearly leasing fee to be paid by the homeowner in addition to other fees. 

Homeowners Rights – Master Deed Vote

We believe the board is in fact changing the Master Deed due to the following:

Paragraph 5.19 of the master deed states the only restrictions of renting a unit are not using it for transient or hotel purposes, not renting the home for less than 180 days, and not less than the entire Unit may be leased. Other than this the master deed states a Unit owner should have the absolute right to lease their Unit.

Paragraph 9.03 (j) of the master deed states the Board cannot impose any restrictions upon a Unit Owner’s right to sell or transfer his or her Unit.

Paragraph 12.00 of the master deed states approval of 67% of al Unit Owners is required to amend the Master Deed.

New Jersey Condo Act- Homeowners Rights 

In New Jersey, changes to leasing provisions in a homeowner’s association (HOA) must be made through amendments to the master deed. According to New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 46:8B-11, the master deed can be amended or supplemented as specified within it. Any amendment that affects a unit must have the consent of the unit owner and any lien holders.

For leasing specifically, the New Jersey Condominium Act requires that any restrictions on leasing must be included in the master deed or its exhibits, such as the bylaws. This means that an HOA cannot simply pass a board resolution to impose new leasing restrictions; it must formally amend the master deed. 

Comments and Questions for the Board:

If an Owner needs to reside in the home for a full year before being able to rent, the Board is restricting a Unit Owner’s right to sell his or her home which is forbidden in the Master Deed. You would be eliminating buyers who want to purchase to rent out the home as it wouldn’t make financial sense to an investor and, therefore, an Owner will have less interested buyers and/or offers.

Buyers may not consider purchasing in the community with these new restrictions and, therefore, prices may drop and it may take longer to sell a home.

Some Owners reside in their Units part of the year and rent it out furnished for 6 months of the year.  This would no longer be allowed.

The leasing arrangement will charge landlords a yearly $250 administrative fee and a $100 per month fee if the landlord does not supply the renter’s lease for non-compliance. Yearly Census/Pool Season - During April-May each year, Taylor Management sends out notifications to homeowners to fill out the annual census form, which includes information such as the names of people living in the home, car registration, license plate number, a copy of homeowners insurance, and for renters, a copy of renters insurance and the rental lease. This information is required as per the Society Hill II Master Deed and is uploaded to the Society Hill Portal. 
 

Why is the Board requesting homeowners to duplicate this information and charge them administrative fee?

If all Unit Owners must supply a completed census, why is the Board discriminating against rental Unit Owners by only charging them a $250 administration fee?

Buying, selling, and leasing property is a costly fluid financial transaction happening throughout the year.

Did the Board consider all administrative aspects of implementing this solution in a consistent and fair manner?

If someone is currently in the process of selling there Unit in the community to a buyer who wishes to rent it out immediately, will the Board be responsible if this Buyer now wants to cancel the contract knowing that he must keep it vacant for a year or will the Board pay the difference if this Buyer wants to reduce his offer to reflect the cost of keeping the home vacant for a year which can be upwards of $40,000?

What will the Board do If a Unit Owner purchased their home and then comes into financial hardship 4 months down the road? Will the Board not allow them to rent it since they haven’t owned it for a year? What if sales prices have dropped, and they are upside down on their mortgage and can’t afford to sell?

What happens to selling a Unit when the market turns or slows down and a Unit Owner has limited buyers because of these new changes?

Finally, please explain why the Board feels that these significant changes do not constitute a vote by all homeowners since it impacts their  property rights and clearly changes the Master Deed? 

We look forward to a written response from the Board addressing these critical concerns by December 16, 2024, and if the Board decides to move forward with these changes, we ask for a Homeowner Vote at a meeting before approving.

Thank you very much. We look forward to your reply.