Locke, Hobbes, the Common Good and Condominiums

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704), two English Philosophers of the 17th century, disagreed on many things, not the least of which was whether people were naturally good (Locke) or naturally bad (Hobbes). But they did agree on the concept upon which our Founders based many of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution - The Social Compact.

Essentially, the Social Compact is the unspoken and unwritten principle that the power to govern comes from the people and that we choose to live in societies where we willingly give up some of our individual freedoms to the ruling authority in exchange for certain protections, such as establishing fair rules that apply to all and protecting us from others who can harm us. Locke and Hobbes, when speaking of the Social Compact, could have been speaking of condominium associations.

Both Locke and Hobbes, though they shared a difference in belief regarding how much control should be given to government, a discussion evident even today in our country regarding how much control should be given to the federal government and how much should be left to the states, agreed that the concept of government revolves around the belief that to live in a community which they called society, and is here called a condominium association, inherently requires each individual to give up some of their natural rights to the controlling government in exchange for certain help and protections.

In other words, everyone who enters into life in a condominium association needs to understand they are giving up some of the rights they would have as single-family home owner, such as playing music as loudly as they want, in exchange for other help and protections, such as repairing the roof and removing snow.

Once this concept is understood and absorbed by the unit owners, most of the problems in Condo World disappear.

Of course, this concept is prefaced upon an understanding of what a condominium is.

The word “condominium” is a compilation of the Latin extraction “com” meaning “joint” and dominium (think “domain”), meaning “right of ownership.” Thus, together comes the word “condominium” and the idea of joint ownership or joint sovereignty. In other words, one who owns a condominium owns it with others, usually the exterior (building and land) controlled and maintained by the Association and the interior owned and maintained by the individual owner.

This column hopes to guide associations and owners through the process of properly operating their association in such a way as to balance the interests of the individual unit owner against the rights of the association as a whole. Locke and Hobbes would be pleased. I hope you will be, too.

Contrarily, this column is not about how to create a condominium association. That's for developers, known as Declarants in Condo World. This column is about how to operate a condominium association after it is up and running; how to spot the problems that arise; and how to solve them. In coming weeks and months, if I do this well, you will .learn a few things about condominiums, and perhaps solve a problem or two at your association. And for those who have read this far and don't own a condominium, who knows, maybe you will even want to buy one.

Quick Tip: Always make sure any contractor who works for the Association, be it a landscaper, a roofer or the snow removal guy is insured; make sure the contractor provides you with a copy of the certificate of insurance (and make sure it has not expired) before beginning work; and make sure the Association is named as an additional insured under the Contractor's Policy. Otherwise, if there is an accident, the Association can be held liable.

This column is a labor of love for Attorney Robert E. Ducharme, a former teacher, whose civil practice is limited to condominium law, primarily in Rockingham and Strafford Counties. He can be reached at [email protected] and Ducharme Law, P.L.L.C. found at www.newhampshirecondolaw.com. His column appears bi-weekly.