What Can A Condo Association Do If A Resident Has COVID-19?

It has been nearly a year since the country went into lockdown due to the pandemic, and condominium associations continue to grapple with how to maintain the health and safety of their residents and employees as the threat of COVID-19 continues to affect our daily lives.  Due to the number of residents that may inhabit a condominium building, the exposure to others in common areas, and the frequency of elevator use, it has been imperative for condominium associations to work with their management companies to continuously implement procedures and protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Below is a checklist of what condominium associations should be discussing with their management companies in order to deal with residents testing positive for COVID-19.  

• Encourage residents to self-report to management the date on which they tested positive and the common areas in which they frequented in the days prior.  It should be emphasized that the identity of the resident will be kept completely confidential.
• Management should communicate all appropriate steps the resident should take to ensure CDC compliance.  This includes, but is not limited to, limiting the frequency the resident leaves his or her unit, restricting the resident’s ability to access and/or use any of the amenities of the building, and arranging for all deliveries to be brought up directly to the resident’s unit and left outside the door in order to minimize any third-party contact with the resident for the quarantine period recommended by the CDC.
• Management should adhere to the CDC’s current enhanced environmental cleaning and disinfecting guidelines to properly clean all common areas of the condominium property.  Said guidelines may be accessed and reviewed here.
• Management should ensure that their responses to residents who report that they have tested positive for COVID-19 are compliant under the Fair Housing Act and related regulations.  Condominium Associations should consult their legal counsel regarding any Fair Housing Act compliance issues.
• Management should routinely check Emergency Orders issued by state and local governmental authorities to ensure they are complying with them.
• Any new rules implemented by a condominium association and its management to deal with residents testing positive for COVID–19 should be properly voted upon by the Board of Directors at a duly noticed board meeting, which may be held virtually.

About the Author: Katrina Sosa concentrates her practice in the areas of complex business law and litigation, condominium association law, and construction law. Since joining the firm, she has worked on both litigation and transactional matters. Katrina has worked on various phases of construction defect litigation ranging from the inception of the case to preparing for trial. On the transactional side, she has worked on a shareholder buyout for a local food company as well as real estate acquisitions.