Kentucky HOA fine rules

"Prior to imposing a charge for fines, damages, or an individual assessment pursuant to this section, the board shall give the owner a written notice and the opportunity to be heard" (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.797(2)). The notice must be written, but the Act does not prescribe how it is to be delivered and does not state what it must contain. The delivery methods the Act does prescribe are for notice of association meetings, not for this pre-fine notice: "Notice of meetings of the association shall be given to owners no less than ten (10) days nor more than thirty (30) days in advance of any meeting. The secretary or other officer specified in the bylaws shall send notice by United States mail to the mailing address of record for each owner, or hand-delivered, or electronically delivered to each owner" (§ 381.792(3)).

Kentucky's Planned Community Act sets no cure period before a fine. Section 381.797(2) conditions a charge for fines, damages or an individual assessment only on written notice and an opportunity to be heard — "Prior to imposing a charge for fines, damages, or an individual assessment pursuant to this section, the board shall give the owner a written notice and the opportunity to be heard" (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.797(2)) — and gives the owner no period in which to correct the violation first. The fixed day counts that do appear in § 381.797 concern other subjects: for special assessments, "Within thirty (30) days after board passage of a special assessment, a meeting of the association shall be held to allow owners an opportunity to rescind or reduce the special assessment" (§ 381.797(4)(a)), and, for budgets, providing the budget to all owners "within thirty (30) days after the adoption" and holding a ratification meeting "within forty-five (45) days after the summary has been provided to members" (§ 381.797(7)(a), (c)).

Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.797(2) — "Prior to imposing a charge for fines, damages, or an individual assessment pursuant to this section, the board shall give the owner a written notice and the opportunity to be heard." The Act sets no number of days within which an owner must ask to be heard and no deadline by which the board must hear the owner, and it prescribes no procedure for the hearing. The fixed day counts that do appear in § 381.797 concern other subjects: for special assessments, "Within thirty (30) days after board passage of a special assessment, a meeting of the association shall be held to allow owners an opportunity to rescind or reduce the special assessment" (§ 381.797(4)(a)), and, for budgets, providing the budget to all owners "within thirty (30) days after the adoption" and holding a ratification meeting "within forty-five (45) days after the summary has been provided to members" (§ 381.797(7)(a), (c)).

Kentucky's Planned Community Act sets no statutory dollar cap on a fine. The Act conditions a fine only on written notice and an opportunity to be heard — "Prior to imposing a charge for fines, damages, or an individual assessment pursuant to this section, the board shall give the owner a written notice and the opportunity to be heard" (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.797(2)) — and sets no limit on the amount. Fines are collected as part of the lot's assessment: the assessment for each lot includes "Fines for violations levied by the board" (§ 381.797(1)). Unpaid assessments carry their own consequences: the board may charge interest or a late fee on a past due assessment at a rate it establishes, not to exceed any maximum rate allowed by law (§ 381.796(4)), and failure to pay an assessment or special assessment gives the association the right to deny the owner access to common areas, "except that access to any road within the planned community that is a common area and provides direct access to the owner's lot shall not be denied" (§ 381.797(6)).

"Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an owner may examine and copy the books, records, and minutes of the association pursuant to reasonable standards set forth in the declaration, bylaws, or other rules and regulations promulgated by the board, including standards governing the type of documents to be examined and copies and the time and location at which the documents may be examined, including a reasonable fee for copying documents" (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.795(1)). Section 381.795(2) withholds several categories unless the board approves: information pertaining to personnel matters; communications with legal counsel or attorney work product pertaining to potential, threatened or pending litigation or other property-related matters; information pertaining to contracts or transactions under negotiation or contained in a confidentiality agreement; "Information that relates to the collection of assessments or listing of past-due owner names, lot numbers, plat numbers, lot addresses, or street addresses"; and information whose disclosure is prohibited by state or federal law. Separately, an association must keep financial records, records of common-expense payments received and paid, meeting minutes for the association and the board, and records of owner names and mailing addresses (§ 381.790(3)).