When Condo Wars Heat Up, Common Sense Can Evaporate

Shadowood's board can shut off air conditioning if an owner is not "in good standing." (By Elizabeth Razzi -- The Washington Post)
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But I will weigh in on the tactic of using air conditioning as a weapon, especially knowing a heat wave is on the way. It's a brutal thing to do. People can die in heat waves. And if a building was designed with a central air conditioning system in place, as Shadowood was back in the 1970s, it's unlikely to have windows big enough or positioned in a way to catch as much of whatever breeze might be blowing.

Other entities take the weather into account. Before it will turn off electricity for nonpayment of a bill, Dominion Virginia Power takes the weather forecast into consideration, said Le-Ha Anderson, a spokeswoman for the utility.

Fairfax County administers a cooling-assistance program for low-income households that have at least one person in a category considered especially vulnerable to the heat. That includes people younger than 6or older than 60 and people with disabilities. They can get money to buy a window air conditioning unit or help paying their electric bill so that the air stays on. If severe heat is enough to warrant taxpayer funds, why shouldn't it be a concern to a condo board?

When the condo's management office opened on Monday, June 9, Alexei asked managers to turn on the air conditioning in consideration of his 18-year-old daughter, Doina, who is recovering from an auto accident. They agreed to turn it on, requesting a doctor's note for their files.

I asked Olivia whether the board took weather forecasts into account before a shut-off. "We do not make any consideration for the weather," he said. "Why should we? Why would that be fair to people who paid?"

There's a simple reason the association doesn't use the same tactic during the winter. Olivia said the rules allow it to turn off heat, but doing so might cause pipes to freeze and burst. "It's simply not in the best interests of the association," he said.

Condo associations throughout the area are struggling with their budgets because of the housing economy. When an owner is struggling to pay the mortgage, files for bankruptcy or loses an apartment to foreclosure, the condo association loses many months of unpaid dues. The remaining owners have to shoulder a heavier financial burden to keep the place running.

Condo residents can get well-kept landscaping, security lights, reserved parking spaces and other amenities that make their condo a nice place to live only if their community's rules are enforced and the dues are collected.

But there's a difference between enforcing the rules and coercing people to submit.

The lesson from this story is that condo rules directly affect residents' daily routines. And condos develop personalities over time. Some tend to develop an authoritarian personality. Before you invest, you need to assure yourself not only that a condo is fiscally sound but also that its personality is one you can live with.

E-mail Elizabeth Razzi atrazzie@washpost.com.