Installing security cameras takes careful deliberation
Home Town Life
Robert Meisner
07 January 2018
Q: I’m on the board of directors of our townhouse-style condo
association and we just received a request from a new co-owner who
wants to install a security camera outside her unit. She has explained
that she was previously a victim of assault committed in her prior
home. Per the bylaws, the co-owners need to get the association’s
permission before modifying the common elements. We’re leaning toward
letting her do it, but are there any risks involved?
A: This reminds me of a famous case from California, Frances T. v.
Village Green Owners Association, which I frequently cited to my law
students. The court found that there was a foreseeable danger to an
owner due to a prior burglary of the unit and lack of exterior lighting
and, with respect to a subsequent break-in and assault, the court found
the association and individual directors could be held responsible for
negligence in not addressing the lack of exterior lighting.
Does this mean that you must allow the security camera in your
situation? Not necessarily. The facts applicable to Frances T. that led
the court to conclude there was a foreseeable danger are likely
different from your situation in that I assume there is adequate
lighting around the unit and there has not been a prior break-in at
that particular unit. It may be that even if you were to deny
installation of the camera and a crime subsequently occurred at the
unit, you would be able to argue that the crime was not foreseeable and
that you did not have a duty to allow a security camera. And
associations do not have a general duty to protect residents from
crime. On the other hand, if you have experienced security/safety
issues recently in the development, I would want to know how those have
been addressed.
Of course, if you allow one person to install a camera, you might
expect others to request the same and you would have to approve other
reasonable requests to install cameras, lest you face a claim of
disparate treatment or discrimination. Note that it would probably not
be defensible to require that the applicant had previously been a
victim of assault.
If you decide to allow co-owners to install cameras, the board should
adopt rules that: 1) provide standard approved camera models to ensure
uniformity (and choose a model[s] that you can observe which direction
it is pointed); 2) require that surveillance be limited to the areas
immediately outside of the unit and specifically do not monitor
neighbors or amenities in the common elements (such as pools); and 3)
require the co-owner enter into a standard modification of common
elements agreement with the association.
Among other things, the modification agreement should identify where
the camera is allowed to be placed and indemnify the association from
any damage or injury caused by the installation/operation of the camera
or any failure of the camera to function.
Of course, all of the above should be considered further and prepared
with assistance from your experienced community association attorney.
Robert M. Meisner, Esq. is principal
attorney of The Meisner Law Group, based in Bingham Farms, which
provides legal representation for condominiums, homeowner associations,
individual co-owners and developers. His book, “Condo Living 2: The
Authoritative Guide to Buying, Owning and Selling a Condominium,” is
available at www.momentumbooks.com. He can be reached at 248-644-4433
or bmeisner@meisner-law.com. Go to the firm’s blog at
meisner-law.com/blog.
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