Pool season is often a homeowner’s favorite time of year, as the weather is warm and they are able to be outside socializing with family and friends. What better way to beat the heat than the community pool! While pool amenities can offer an outlet for relaxation and socialization for the members, it can often be a source of angst for the Board and manager.
Here are a few short tips to make sure you are prepared for the season:
- Review and revise your pool rules. Community associations can almost always create reasonable rules and regulations to govern their common area amenities. Pool rules are essential to ensuring that owners and guests understand the Association’s expectations when it comes to appropriate behavior, safety, hygiene, etc. Drafting appropriate pool rules may seem like a no brainer, but they are often drafted in such a way that they can cause issues with the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), which prohibits discrimination based on, among other things, familial status. This would include families with children. Rules that may inadvertently target children may be a violation of the FHA. Jim Slaughter wrote a pool rule blog several years ago addressing this issue, which can be found here.
- Have appropriate insurance. As you can imagine, while a pool can be a wonderful asset, it can also be a large liability. You should contact your insurance agent to make sure that the Association has coverage in sufficient amounts in the unfortunate event that a claim is made.
- Engage with a quality pool maintenance vendor. In order to have a beautiful pool ready when the warm weather comes, it almost always requires regular care and maintenance by a qualified professional. There are many pool companies out there. It is important to contract with a reputable company that can have your pool in top condition and ready for visitors when the time comes. Additionally, they may be able to provide services related to sanitation, which in the age of COVID-19, is always important.
These are just a few tips to help get your homeowners or condominium association pool ready for the season. Our attorneys at Law Firm Carolinas regularly review and edits pool rules. We understand where Associations can get themselves into trouble when drafting the rules and can usually offer edits that substantially accomplish the Association’s goals for the community.
If you have questions about this or any other community association related matter, please contact one of our North Carolina attorneys in Charlotte, Greensboro, Wilmington or the Triangle, or our South Carolina attorneys in Greenville and Columbia.