Barbara Bailey sued Stonecrest Condominium Association, Inc., the members of the Association’s Board of Directors Lagrit Morris, John Monteith, Leona McMichael, Harold Brown, and Brenda Clarkson, and the Association’s management company Today American Management, Inc. collectively “defendants”, claiming that amendments to the Association’s Bylaws that prohibited leasing constituted racial discrimination in violation of OCGA § § 8-3-202 a and 8-3-222 of the Georgia Fair Housing Act and that the Board breached its fiduciary duties in proposing those amendments. Following the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants as to all of Bailey’s claims, she appeals, arguing that questions of material fact remain as to whether defendants’ actions constituted racial discrimination, whether the Board breached its fiduciary duties, and whether she is entitled to recover punitive damages and attorney fees. For the reasons set forth below, we find that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the defendants passed the amendments with a discriminatory intent and therefore vacate the grant of summary judgment and remand the case for further action consistent with this opinion. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56c; Britt v. Kelly & Picerne, Inc. 1 “On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from the evidence are construed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.” McCaskill v. Carillo. 2
So construed, the evidence shows that the Declaration of Condominium and Bylaws for Stonecrest Condominium Association were initially recorded in 1984. Pursuant to the Declaration’s own terms, Stonecrest could amend its Declaration and Bylaws by obtaining approval of any amendments by two-thirds of those members eligible to vote. However, the Bylaws also provided that a member’s eligibility to vote could be suspended by the Board of Directors of the Stonecrest Condominium Association if the member were in violation of any duties imposed by the Declaration or Bylaws. According to members of the Board, sometime around the summer of 2003, the Board began discussing the possibility of amending the Bylaws to include a restriction on unit owners’ ability to lease their property. The discussions arose out of a growing concern among the Association members that an increase in the number of units being rented might have a detrimental affect on property values. Specifically, the members feared that property values would be affected because of the perception that rental units are typically not maintained as well as owner-occupied units and because an increase in rental units could result in higher interest rates for potential buyers, thereby reducing the marketability of all units. However, the minutes from the Board’s meetings from 2003 through 2004 do not mention such discussions.
