Letter: Clearing the air on condo owners’ rights
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Apartments and condominiums dominate the Honolulu skyline in 2021.
In hearings for Senate Bill 2493 and House Bill 2286 — bills that would provide condominium owners protection against unwarranted and excessive legal fee imposition — some testifiers have shown a lack of clear understanding of the legal rights that condo owners have.
There’s a misconception that individual condo owners, by virtue of their membership in condo associations, are clients of attorneys hired by the association’s board directors. The truth is that the association, as a separate entity, is represented — not individual owners.
As explained by Cameron C. Pease, an attorney at Goldman & Pease: “An association is the equivalent of a corporation. A corporation attorney represents the interests of the corporation as a whole, not the interest of individual shareholders. An association attorney, similarly, represents the association.”
The condo industry and boards know this, but use the confusion to perpetuate retaliation schemes against owners.
Marcia Kimura
Ala Moana
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