For nearly 16 years the Sponsor of a commercial condominium in Central New Jersey controlled the Board and the Property Management, until unit owners hired Herrick's Community Association Group to bring suit to force a turnover of control. During the period of Sponsor control, the Sponsor improperly voted in elections, created unenforceable rules, misinterpreted the by-laws and failed to make repairs to the buildings. However, the issues escalated even further when the Sponsor issued parking fines to people parking in front of his unit, including fining one owner $3 million for parking violations. The owners had finally had enough, and banded together to hire counsel to advance their clear rights under the Condominium Act and force the Sponsor to give up control.
This group of owners filed suit to force an election and preclude the Sponsor from voting his units individually at each election (a practice that is patently illegal). Our team was able to prove beyond any doubt that the Sponsor had not attempted to sell units for many years (despite the Sponsor's claims otherwise), and show that the Sponsor was simply content to rent the units forever while maintaining a significant interest in the Association. This practice is not permitted by the Condominium Act, and thus the Sponsor had no choice but to try to resolve the case by way of a settlement. However, even after the parties had attempted to resolve the matter, the Sponsor still refused to seat the first duly elected, unit owner Board. Finally, by way of a court order, the unit owners were able to wrestle control of the Board from the Sponsor for the first time in the history of the Association. Now the owners are free to govern themselves, as is provided by the Condominium Act.
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