Q: We are a medium-sized homeowners association that contains several condominium associations. All are governed by the homeowners board of directors. There have been several incidents in the past year in which strangers were seen wandering through our grounds. There have been a few car break-ins and a couple of burglaries.

Our board of directors is considering hiring a security guard and installing a guardhouse at the main entrance to our community. Is this a good idea? What are the pros and cons from a legal point of view?

A: Cost is perhaps the major consideration. If you install a security guard, you will need around-the-clock coverage. It makes no sense, in my opinion, merely to have a guard for select hours, such as midnight to 8 a.m. This is just an invitation for a clever burglar to do any dirty work just before midnight.

As with most decisions in community living, you have to first review your association documents. Does your board have this authority, or is membership approval required? Are there dollar limitations on how much the board can spend in any given year without membership consent? Keep in mind this is not a repair or a replacement but an improvement.

I recommend that the board hire a competent professional security company to conduct a comprehensive study. This report will include costs and level of services. Will the security guard, for example, be restricted to the guardhouse, or will the guard be required to make inspections of the entire community? If the latter, who will monitor the guardhouse while the guard is making his or her rounds? Will the guard be permitted to carry a gun, and if so what impact will this have on your insurance coverage?

Once the report has been reviewed and approved by the board, circulate the report to everyone in the association. Schedule an open forum, so that the board and the security team can present their positions. And even if no formal membership approval is required, conduct a straw vote to get reaction.

If it is finally decided to set up the security guard system, then the board or management should assume the responsibility of preparing bid specifications. Board members should study a Community Association Institute report titled, “Association Security: Selecting the Contractor,” before finalizing bid specifications.

From a legal standpoint, perhaps the biggest negative is the false sense of security that such a guard system may instill. Also, once a security guard has been hired, the association runs the risk of liability if there is a crime. The victim will most likely sue the association for negligence, whether or not there was any. The victim will most certainly claim the association, through its employee or agent — the security guard — did not act, or acted improperly. You may want to hire a security company; the guard will be the employee of that company, not of the condo.

You should advise members — many times before starting the guard system, and periodically after the system is in place — that the board makes absolutely no guarantees that the security guard system will end all criminal activities.

The board also should work with local authorities to set up a neighborhood watch program. Remind the membership that security is a team effort.

Benny Kass is a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland. He does not provide specific legal or financial advice to any reader. Readers may email him, but he cannot guarantee a personal response.

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