After a physical altercation with their neighbors, residents of a condominium complex filed suit, alleging that the condominium’s management company and homeowner association breached their duty of care by failing to address longstanding complaints of harassment by the plaintiffs’ neighbors. The trial court granted a defense motion for summary judgment, finding that the management company and homeowner association had no “legal duty to intervene in a dispute between residents.”
The Court of Appeal affirmed, finding no basis for imposing a duty on homeowner associations or managing agents to “intervene and attempt to resolve disputes between homeowners (or their tenants).” The duties of a homeowners association or their managing agents are limited to the association’s governing documents. Although the plaintiffs were tenants rather than owners in the condominium complex, the court based its decision on the scope of the duty owed to a homeowner. Given the evidence that the management company and homeowner association had complied with the governing documents, the court found there was no duty owed to plaintiffs.
