Payment of monthly dues
Dues must be paid before the first day of each month. In the event that an owner is late in payment by 15 30 days, the owner shall receive notice from the Gayle's manager notifying the owner of the delinquency and imposing a late fee of $50 payable immediately. Interest on the delinquent amount shall be compounded monthly at the maximum interest rate allowable by Washington law (currently 12%).
If the delinquency extends to 60 days, the manager will refer the debt to an independent collection agency. The owner's mortgage lender may also be notified of the delinquency, as required by section 11.3 of the Gayle Declarations. If the collection agency is unable to collect the debt, the collection agency and manager will refer the debt to an attorney who will take legal action to collect the debt.
Per section 10.7 of the Declarations the Board has the power to suspend an Apartment owner's voting rights and use of common and limited common areas (excluding ingress and egress) for continued deliquency. An Apartment owner’s voting rights, leasing rights and right to use of any Common Areas and Limited Common Areas of such Apartment owner will be automatically suspended if an Apartment owner is delinquent for six consecutive months.
Fees associated with the collection of delinquent dues shall be paid by the delinquent owner. The schedule of fees listed below are for reference only: these fees may change at any time.
Current fees charged by the manager are:
- $23.50 for the first letter notifying of delinquency
- $37.50 for subsequent certified letters
- $91.00 for transferring the debt to a collection agency
Current fees charged by the manager's collection agency are:
- $151 for opening a new collection account and establishing a payment plan with the owner
- $31 for each month the debt is in collection
- $71 for each letter needed to remind an owner to meet the agreed payment plan
- $121 for filing a lien with the county and notifying the owner of said lien
- $61 for turning over the collection to an attorney for legal action
Fees charged by an attorney will vary based on the action required. All attorney's fees shall be paid by the delinquent owner.
This rule shall take effect on 22-April-2010. Dues delinquent prior to 22-April-2010 shall be governed by prior rules, provided that the owner pays 150% of monthly dues each month on time until such time as the delinquency is corrected. If an owner who has a delinquent assessment from before 22-April-2010 and fails to pay 150% of monthly dues on time each month, the delinquency shall be immediately handed to the manager, and possibly to the collection agency.
Leasing and Tenants
The Declarations impose steep penalties on owners that cause the owner occupancy rate of the building to drop below 51%, and mandates that the Board of Directors initiate immediate legal action to enforce the use rights restrictions in the Declarations if this occurs. If an owner needs to lease his/her apartment, but doing so would cause the owner occupancy rate to drop or remain below the threshold, the owner must request a hardship exception from the Board of Directors. Please refer to section 16.5 of the Declarations for further details.
The owner occupancy threshold itself will be raised as the owner occupancy rate rises.
While the Board does not consent to leasing and the presence of tenants, landlords should be aware that they have a variety of obligations and responsibilities defined in the Declarations and Bylaws, as well as specific House Rules related to leasing established by the Board of Directors. These rules are posted here, and should be considered a part of the House Rules by landlords.
Storage
Personal items cannot be stored in common areas (including, but not limited to, under the basement stairs; in any basement storage area outside of a designated storage locker; on the rear stairs/landings; on the roof; in the garden), as stated in Article 5.7 of the Bylaws. Any owner who has stored or abandoned belongings in common areas will be asked to remove them, and if he or she does not promptly do so, the items will be removed and disposed of as the board sees fit. Any fees incurred from the disposal will be charged to the item’s owner. Temporary accommodations may be made if pre-arranged with a board member.
Quiet hours
"Quiet hours" begin at 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, and at 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Be considerate of your neighbors; refrain from making noise audible outside your walls after these times, especially through your floor or on the rear stairs, in hallways, or in other common areas. Please pay specific attention to floors and ceilings: sound can travel more readily to other units via your floor and ceiling than between rooms in a single apartment. Repeated disregard of the quiet hour rules will result in monthly fines equaling 10% of all dues collected by the HOA, and increasing arithmetically by 5% each month until the issue is resolved.
Smoking
Smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco producs is prohibited everywhere inside the building, including individual units, interior common areas, and the rear stairwell. Avoid smoking in an exterior location that allows smoke to enter other units’ windows.
If you or your guests smoke outside the building, do not leave cigarette butts or matches on the ground, sidewalk, rear stairs, or front steps, or in the garden or planters. Do not extinguish cigarettes on the surface of the building.
Clean-up in Common Areas
It is the responsibility of every owner to clean up after themselves and their guests if you or your guests create a mess in a common area.
It is the responsibility of any owner employing contractors or other service workers in his or her unit to clean up any debris or dirt/dust left behind in the common areas at the end of each workday.
The Board may assign the costs of cleanup to an owner if the owner repeatedly disregards this rule. If another apartment owner cleans up said mess, then the cost assigned to the owner shall equal 25% of the building's the monthly janitorial bill.
Pets
Pets are not allowed in common areas, except as necessary to enter and exit the building. Owners must clean up after pets that do enter the common areas, including excreta, hair, toys, prey, etc.
Owners are wholly responsible for the actions of pets residing in their unit (including pets owned by tenants), or pets brought into the building by their guests. The Board may require an owner to pay the cost of any damage, regular clean-up, etc. caused by pets in common areas. If another apartment owner cleans up any mess left by a pet, then the cost assigned to the owner shall equal 25% of the building's monthly janitorial bill.
The declarations grant the Board of Directors the power to order the removal of any pet the Board deems a nuisance.
Laundry Room
Rules for the Laundry Room may be found here.
Lighting
Do not install light bulbs over 60 watts in your unit unless you know for a fact that the electrical fixture is serviced with modern (post-1975) wiring; in this building, higher wattage bulbs on aging wiring could cause an electrical fire. Wiring in the common areas was modernized in Spring of 2010 and can accomodate higher wattage bulbs.
External Window Installations
Nothing, including pots, plants, air conditioners, etc., may be placed on outside window sills or balcony railings. This violates both the Declarations and our insurance policy.
Conflict
In the event of a conflict with a neighbor, please first attempt a calm, face-to-face discussion with that person before involving the board.
Roof
The roof surface is NOT to be walked on, except for legitimate cleaning or maintenance purposes. Our insurance carrier and roofing professionals do not consider it “walkable”; unnecessary pressure on it can cause premature wear that we might not be reimbursed for in the event of an insurance claim. The Board may assign the costs of repair damage to the roof surface to an owner if s/he or their guests walk on the roof.
Pipes and clogs
Much of the building retains the original pipes and plumbing. Use of pipe snakes are strictly forbidden, unless a professional plumber has exhausted all other methods of loosening a clog. If any person other than a plumber breaks a pipe using a pipe snake, the owner of the apartment in question shall be liable for the costs of all damage and repair.
Use of chemical cleaners such as Liquid Plumbr are discouraged. Owners must first attempt the following: empty one-half cup baking soda down the drain, followed by one-half cup white vinegar. Cover the drain and let mixture stand for a few minutes. Then pour a pot of boiling water down the drain. The baking soda and vinegar dissolve fatty acids, allowing the clog to wash down the drain.
Radiators
In order to prevent damage to radiators, each radiator must be left totally on or totally off—not partially on (i.e. the handle must be twisted completely up or down, not halfway up). Incorrect operation of a radiator in a unit may result in its owner being charged for the repair and for any damage caused to other parts of the building.
Owners must have their radiators inspected by the Association’s boiler repair service (at the Association’s cost) once every two years. Any damage from radiators that have not been inspected every two years shall be assessed to the Apartment owner in full.
Access and Keys
Per section 8.2 of the Declarations and Article V Section 4 of the Bylaws, the Association has the right to enter any apartment in case of emergencies or to rectify serious violations of the House Rules. To facilitate emergency access, all owners are required to provide a key to the Board of Directors. If an owner does not provide a key, or the Board is otherwise unable to enter an apartment in case of emergency or to rectify serious violations of the House Rules, the apartment owner will be financially responsible for all entry costs (including locksmith fees) and any damage (if the emergency or violation is serious enough that the Board must break doors or windows).
Participation
Owners are expected to meet a minimum level of involvement in building governance.
- Responsiveness: Owners are expected to respond to inquiries and requests from the Board of Directors, even if the answer is “no” or “I won’t help.” If the Board is asking for information or for your input, it is likely a matter of significant importance to the building.
- Annual Meeting: Owners are required to attend the April annual meeting either in person or via a proxy. If any owner or their proxy misses two or more consecutive annual meetings, then beginning with the 2011 annual meeting the owner shall pay a fine of $50 for each consecutive year they did not attend or did not provide a proxy (e.g. if an owner missed the 2010, 2011 and 2012 consecutive annual meetings, s/he would be fined $150).
- Emergency Meetings: If, at the regularly scheduled Annual meeting, the Association is unable to elect a new Board of Directors, all owners are required to attend subsequent emergency meetings of the ownership in person or pay a $50 fine. The fine shall be waived if the owner resides outside the United States and Canada, if the owner can provide a travel itinerary precluding her/his presence in Seattle, if the owner has served on the Board of Directors in the preceding three years or is on the new Board of Directors, if the owner must be at a place of work at the time of the emergency meeting, if the owner reasonably expects to no longer be a member of the Association by October of that year, or if the Board approves of an owner’s application for an exemption due to some other hardship. Emergency meetings shall be held at the discretion of the Board of Directors until a new Board is elected.
- Voting: Owners are required to vote on amendments to the governing documents proposed by the Board of Directors in a timely fashion. If the Board proposes an amendment to the Association’s governing documents, owners are required to return their written ballot within fourteen days of notice being sent to the owner. The Board may levy a $10 fine for each day a ballot is returned late (as judged by the postmark).
Due Process
Washington State law requires that the Board of Directors must notify owners in writing of any violations of the House Rules and provide a hearing (either in person or via teleconference) to address the violation prior to any fines or fees being assessed. If the Board fails to provide written notice and a hearing, the Apartment owner is under no obligation to pay the fine. If the Apartment owner and Board are unable to agree on a mutually acceptable time for a hearing, the Board will propose three times during normal business hours for a hearing. If the Apartment owner does not accept any of these times, the Board may schedule the hearing for any of those three proposed times. If the Apartment owner does not attend a hearing, this shall be deemed as the Apartment owner consenting to the fine, and the Board may proceed to levy that assessment to the apartment.
Please note that, in addition to monetary fines, the Board may, after a hearing, suspend an owner's voting rights, leasing rights and right to use common and limited common areas in cases of regular and repeated violation of the House Rules.
