Bikes in Apartment Areas
Question
Sandy asked: Can you advise the Florida law, or even Pasco County law on bicycles left in the breezeway of an apartment complex.
Answer
Apartment complexes are private property and are controlled by the owner of the complex. You should check the lease agreement for any related rules or regulations.
See this post and the comments:
Generally speaking, a bike left on the breezeway (hallway) of an apartment / condo would be a safety hazard in the event of an emergency. Anything that blocks or restricts the ingress/egress to the apartments is generally prohibited by local fire code and likely prohibited by the rules in the lease or condo declaration. Unless your talking about your private patio area which be restricted to the conditions in your lease or condo declaration.
-8 years as a property manager
management should be called on this issue. if not resolved, call the local fire inspector and they will check into it and take appropriate action with the person’s property and the management of the complex. in most cases, bicycles and other such things that can cause ingress and egress hazards in an emergency situation must be removed. property owners and managers have the right without notice to remove such items as would the fire department do if needed. i have worked apartment maintenance in the bay area for 30 years. i have dealt with these problems many times and have never lost, even when accused of stealing the items. i always covered my back door through management and the fire department and the local police departments.
How about in a 21 floor condo where the neighbors allow their 7 and 5 year old ride their bikes and scream in the hallways? It has literally been turned in to a jungle gym. They have left skid marks in the hall and the noise is unbelievable. I’ve asked for two years to please stop and have sent several emails to our building manager. I was told today that the condo association can’t do anything about it because we don’t have an enforcement committee.
Hey Linda, the purpose of the committee is to manage the backlash when rules and regulations are enforced. When communities have one in place, often required by their docs, there is an objective group of community members who can manage appeals and disputes after the notices and fines are levied. With no committee in place, and the requirement of one in the docs, the association runs the risk of litigation placed against the community. If a situation escalated to the level of litigation, to cover costs, it can affect everyone’s dues and the overall value of the property. The first step would be to assemble the committee, establish (or re-establish with the community, if time has passed and enforcement has not been active) a realistic expectation of return to standard, and give them time (Like 1-2 weeks) to get in line before enforcement begins, and then after documenting a date for the community (updating everyone to say “hey we have a committee in place, these are the biggest offenses we are seeing and please review all docs, as full enforcement will take place on _date__.”) Then you can start documenting individuals, as you had at that point, given ample notice, and it’s on them for ignoring it. Until then, It would not be prudent for management to go after them, and management is correct.
-Someone in property management and has seen this kind of stuff for years( Please be aware I am not a lawyer or licensed to practice law, I am simply speaking from my own experience in receiving and having to respond to these types of issues- I cannot give any kind of legal advice)