Local Law Blogs

Ruggiero v. Valleybrook HOA - Collecting Maintenance Fees

In the recent case of Ruggiero v. Valleybrook Homeowner’s Association (Valleybrook), the plaintiff, Ruggiero, claimed that the method Valleybrook used to collect maintenance fees was not consistent with all sub-associations, and therefore invalid under the law.

The Appellate Division affirmed a lower Court’s decision stating that Valleybrook’s methodology of collecting maintenance fees was proper, and distinguished this case form the Brandon Farms Property owners Association v. Brandon Farms Condominium Association case ("Brandon Farms").

In Brandon Farms, the governing documents had language requiring the sub-association (the condo) to be responsible for collecting the fees due to the master association (the property owners association).  That was invalidated in 2004 by the New Jersey Supreme Court.  

However, what distinguished this matter from the Brandon Farms case is that the sub-association voluntarily collects the master association fees from its members, and then forwards those sums to the master association.  The Appellate Division decided that this method of collection did not violate any law.

Full post as published by New Jersey Law Blog on July 10, 2008 (boomark / email).