Academy/Parking, Roads & Vehicles
Who owns the roads?
The most common wrong answer in this whole course.
There is no single answer. Depending on your state and whether your community is legally a condominium or a planned community, your private road may be owned jointly by every owner as tenants in common, owned by the association itself, or owned by neither, with the association still required to maintain it anyway. Check your declaration and your state's statute before assuming any of the three.
Two different ownership models exist
Older, condominium-style statutes treat a road as a common element owned jointly by every unit owner, not by the association. Ohio's condominium law puts it plainly.
"The common elements of a condominium property are owned by the unit owners as tenants in common, and the ownership shall remain undivided."
Source: Ohio Revised Code §5311.04, State of Ohio
Under this model, no single owner, and not even the board, holds separate title to the road. Newer statutes, following a different template used in many planned communities, instead treat the association itself as the owner or lessee of the road.
"In the case of... a planned community, any real estate within a planned community which is owned or leased by the association, other than a unit."
Source: Nevada Revised Statutes §116.017, State of Nevada
Which model applies depends on whether your community is legally a condominium or a planned community, and on your specific state's statute. Do not assume either model without checking your own declaration.
Maintenance duty does not always follow title
Even after you find out who owns the road on paper, that does not settle who has to fix it. Florida separates the two questions entirely. A road can count as a common area the association must maintain even if a developer, not the association, still holds title.
"'Common area' means all real property within a community which is owned or leased by an association or dedicated for use or maintenance by the association or its members, including, regardless of whether title has been conveyed to the association..."
Source: Florida Statutes §720.301(3), The Florida Senate
California takes a similar path from a different angle: it puts the maintenance duty on the association directly, without ever resolving a title question at all.
"the association is responsible for repairing, replacing, and maintaining the common area."
Source: California Civil Code §4775, State of California
The practical takeaway: "who owns it" and "who has to fix it" are two separate questions, and a board can be on the hook for the second even with a confusing answer to the first.
Why so many private roads stay private forever
A developer offering a street to the city does not make it the city's problem. The city has to separately agree to take it on, and it can say no.
"Dedication is the giving of land to public use with the intention that it be accepted and used for such public use... Dedication alone does not burden the municipality with the duty of maintenance unless the municipality accepts the dedication."
Source: Dedication and Acceptance, Alfano Law Office
This is why so many roads inside HOAs and condo communities never become public: the offer was made and the municipality declined the maintenance bill. Standards for accepting a road are set at the county or city level, not by state law, so what your neighboring town requires tells you nothing about what yours requires.
What to check before you assume
Read your declaration for the word "road" or "street" and see whose name is on it. Confirm whether your community is legally a condominium or a planned community, since that alone points you at a different statute. Ask your municipal public works department, not a neighboring town's rules, whether your streets were ever offered for dedication and whether that offer was accepted. If you cannot find a clear answer in fifteen minutes, that is a question for association counsel, not a guess.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Your declaration says roads are common elements owned by all unit owners as tenants in common, the older condominium model. Can one owner force the road to be split up and sold?
A Florida HOA's private road is still legally titled to the original developer, not the association. Does the HOA still have to maintain it?
A developer records a plat dedicating a subdivision's street to the city, but the city never votes to accept it. Who is responsible for maintaining that street?
Sources
- Ohio Revised Code §5311.04, State of Ohio
- Nevada Revised Statutes §116.017, State of Nevada
- Florida Statutes §720.301(3), The Florida Senate
- California Civil Code §4775, State of California
- Dedication and Acceptance, Alfano Law Office
Parking, Roads & Vehicles
Next, find out whether your street is legally public or private before you spend a dollar resurfacing it.
Whether your roads are owned by owners as tenants in common, by the association, or by neither depends on your state's statute and your own declaration. Standards for a municipality accepting a private road are set locally, not by state law.