Before you start assigning your tenants parking spaces, be sure you are not excluding anyone. In a recent Fairfax Circuit Court case a judge struck down an assignment of parking spaces to non-garage owning association members. The garage owning members took the association to court, which found that the association was not propounding a rule, but in fact it was giving a license to its non-garaged owners. Because the lots were assigned only to some owners and not others, those owners with the assigned spots were able to exclude the other owners from the use of those spots in the common area. This exclusion is the essence of a license. The Court concluded that the community association did not have the authority to issue a license to its owners and ruled in favor of the excluded owners.
One would expect this ruling to apply in many other parking assignment situations.
The above is not meant to replace legal counsel: if you'd like to speak to one of the attorneys at Gross & Romanick, call us today at 703-273-1400 or fill out our online Information Request form.
