Condo Media - November 2019 - 18

Asked & Answered

Open the Door
When can you legally enter units?

The board wants to authorize our manager to enter
units to inspect water heaters, washing machine
hoses, dryer vents and the like, to make sure they are
being properly maintained. What notice, if any, are we
required to give owners before entering their units,
and what policies or best practices should the
board adopt in this area?
"Start by reviewing the association's governing
documents," Scott Eriksen, a partner in Perkins &
Anctil, suggests. Most outline the board's authority to
enter units to deal with emergencies (affecting common
areas or other units) and for non-emergency purposes,
such as the maintenance-related inspections you are
contemplating. The Massachusetts condominium
statute also authorizes boards to enter owners' units,
so if the documents are silent, Eriksen says, "we'll rely
on the law."
EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
If you are dealing with an emergency situation (the door
is locked and the owners can't be reached), no protocol
is necessary other than gaining access as quickly as
possible to prevent property damage or potential harm
to residents. You can either use a master key if you have
one or break the lock to gain access. Sometimes the fire
department will do that for you, Eriksen notes. If not,
he suggests that you have a police detail accompany you,
to provide help, if needed, and to serve as a witness if the
owner files a complaint after the fact. He also suggests
having a locksmith on hand to repair the lock or replace
it if you have to break it.
NON-EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
For non-emergency access, the first step is to send the
owner advance notice (most association documents
require one to two weeks, Eriksen says) explaining why
you need to enter the unit. Assuming the owner agrees,
it's just a matter of scheduling the visit. If the owner
objects, the process gets more complicated.
Even though the board has the authority to enter
the unit, with or without permission, Eriksen suggests

CONDOMEDIA November 2019

that you proceed carefully.
Start with a demand letter from
the association's attorney explaining that the governing documents require the owner
to allow access. The letter should note that the association will obtain a court order, if necessary, to enforce
that right, and that the owner would have to pay the
resulting legal costs.
If the owner still refuses, Eriksen suggests that the
board try to find other means of achieving its goals that
don't require access to the owner's unit. That obviously
is not possible if the goal is to inspect appliances inside
the unit. But Eriksen notes that some of his clients have
used drones to inspect the exterior of a high-rise instead
of conducting that inspection from inside owners' units.
You don't have to get a court order if an owner refuses
access. You have the right to enter the unit and should
do so, but only after verifying that the owner is not present. You don't want to confront an angry owner. (The
feature article on page 26 discussing condominium
violence explains why.) Eriksen suggests that you have
a private security guard or a police detail accompany
you when you enter an unoccupied unit, to testify (if
necessary) that you did not steal valuable jewelry,
break priceless antiques, harm the owner's dog, or do
anything else the owner might claim. He also suggests
that you document the visit with photos or, even better,
a video recording.
If the owner is present, Eriksen says, "we never advise
entering the unit without permission. In these cases, we
suggest that boards obtain a court order." The courts are
usually willing to approve the requests, he says, unless
the owner can offer "a compelling reason" why access
should be denied.

Condo Media - November 2019

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