Boston, New York, and Chicago have already banned electronic cigarettes in all places where conventional cigarettes are. Los Angeles seems like it will soon follow suit. Although advocates claim that e-cigarettes are not dangerous to bystanders because they emit vapor and not smoke, the fear is that smoking e-cigarettes (commonly referred to as “vaping”) will […]
“A Man Cannot Serve Two Masters”-Directors and Breach of Fiduciary Duty
This past weekend, I visited my daughter who is a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis. I had asked if I could possibly attend a law school class at some point during my visit since my daughter had her own undergraduate classes to attend throughout the day.
Calif. Court Revives Condo Owners’ Suit Over $17.5M Lien
A California appeals court on Wednesday partially revived a lawsuit brought against developer Wilshire Landmark LLC by condominium unit owners who say Wilshire exposed them to the liability on a $17.5 million mechanics lien, holding that the owners only needed to show some form of economic injury. Read more…….
Lender liability for assessments in Florida
Foreclosing lenders in Florida frequently take title to properties that are subject to homeowners’ and condominium association assessments. Just as frequently, the newly-titled lender is presented with a bill from the association for past-due assessments that accrued during or preceding the foreclosure action. These demands are based on widely misunderstood Florida statutes governing liability for […]
For fun: LakeField Hills Home Owners Association – Fall Enforcement Drive Recruitment Video
Chief Master Code Enforcer Vern Speiner wants you to join the ranks of the few, the proud, the army of one that aims high to be all it can be and become a code enforcer with the LakeField Hills Home Owners Association. You will write citations from sun up to sun not up anymore, you […]
Rewritten Transfer Fee Bill Sails Through the House! (CO)
House Bill 14-1254 (“HB 1254”) has just cleared the Colorado House of Representatives and will soon be introduced in the Senate. HB 1254 was heard last Thursday in the House Business, Labor, Economic & Workforce Development Committee. After extensive testimony on the bill by CAI members and illuminating questioning led by Representative Chris Holbert (R-Douglas […]
Homeowner association bill advances (CO)
The Colorado House gave a preliminary nod to a bill Tuesday that would allow homeowner association boards to have a say in any fee increases from their management agents. The measure, HB1254, is designed to fill a hole in changes the Legislature made last year to HOA managers to ensure the boards that hire them […]
HOA reform measure delayed (VA)
An anticipated state Senate battle over Virginia’s community association law was delayed if not averted Monday. Despite previous efforts to find common ground and a series of tweets by advocates, debate on homeowner association reform was postponed. Read more……
Sen. Chap Petersen (VA) leads fight to roll back homeowner’s association powers
State Sen. chap petersen led the fight to roll back the effects of a bill that enhances the power of for home owner associations (HOAs) and condo associations to fine homeowners and exercise powers outside of their charters. Read more…….
Q&A: What Could Happen If Our Condominium Association Does Not Hire Lifeguards?
Q: Our condominium association has a swimming pool and every year we hire lifeguards for the pool season even though there is no ordinance that requires the association to have lifeguards. This year the board is contemplating the need for lifeguards. If the association does not hire lifeguards: Will it impact our insurance costs or […]
Cultivating Community: Social Functions Help Create a Sense of Belonging
The ethos of a homeowners association—to be open and welcoming—furthers the collective strength of a community. Therefore, it’s incumbent on trustees, board members and managers to foster a stronger, more cohesive sense of community. This is often achieved by holding social functions in addition to regular meetings, such as sponsoring activities outside the building or […]
Board Owner Do’s and Don’ts: What Makes a Board Successful
It only takes a few minutes of a web search to uncover the traits that make a successful person or business owner. For example, Entrepreneur magazine’s Steven Key wrote the article, “5 Qualities of Successful Persons,” which included such traits as open-mindedness, unwavering passion, and a forward-looking approach. But what makes a board of trustees, […]
Keeping Track of Paperwork: Properly Managing Association Records
While keeping the records of the association is not the most fascinating part of serving on a board of trustees, it is in some ways the most important. In fact, the flow of paperwork is the lifeblood of the community. Read more……..
The Transition Switching from Sponsor to Owner Control
The goal of any property developer is to sell units, but until that objective is reached they have to assume all the day-to-day responsibilities to ensure smooth operations and continued sales. This requires wearing many hats—manager, board member and ombudsmen. As a result, it’s often a a relief when control of the property is transitioned […]
Annual Condo Conference & Tradeshow
he Community Associations Institute – Wisconsin Chapter (CAI-WI) will hold its Annual Conference & Tradeshow for community association board members and property managers on Thursday, March 13, 2014, from 1:00-7:00 p.m. at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. Read more……..
North Carolina Case Law Update: Community Covenants’ Impact on Club Operations
This decision illustrates the importance of reviewing and considering the impact of restrictive covenants on operations of a club or marina before acquiring or restructuring it. The Court ruled on a number of issues related to the restrictive covenants in a residential community in litigation between the yacht club in the community and the lot […]
Control your board meetings
There are many circumstances under which litigation can arise between members of a community association and the community association or its board of directors. One tactic employed by members who are litigating with or otherwise adverse to the interests of the community association is to disrupt the open meetings of the association by having the […]
Speed bumps cause headache for homeowner
Last Saturday, I talked about a new state law that affects homeowners associations’ disputes. This week, the Nevada Real Estate Division administrator responds Read more……..
Transfer Fee Disclosure Bill Unanimously Passes to Committee of the Whole (CO)
After extensive testimony in the House Business, Labor, Economic, and Workforce Development Committee this afternoon, the HOA transfer fee bill (HB14-1254) passed out of committee, with no amendments, for consideration by the House of Representatives. Read more……..
Proposed law to make it easier for Hawaii condo boards to fire management companies
A bill pending in the Hawaii Legislature would make it easier for condominium boards in the Islands to fire their buildings’ managing agents. As it stands now, many condo boards require up to 80 percent of owners to consent to discharging the condo’s management company. Read more…….
Recent Rulings Provide Some Relief for Associations Contending with Bankruptcies by Unit Owners
I have written several articles in this blog about the challenges that community associations are facing with unit owners who file for personal bankruptcy and utilize what is known as the “lien stripping” provisions of the bankruptcy code to avoid pre-bankruptcy maintenance assessment arrears due to their associations. Read more……..
Condo-Specific Responsibilities — Board and Owner’s — for Dealing with Bedbugs
In co-ops, as we all know, shareholders are technically lessees governed by proprietary leases. For that reason, residents are covered by the warranty of habitability, which requires owners of rental building, including co-op boards, to maintain the property in a habitable condition — and so it’s the co-op’s responsibility to deal with bedbugs. But condos? […]
Then There’s This: Working Man of Green Gables
What most new residents likely won’t know is that their new LEED-certified residence served as the scene of a mass protest one sunny weekend in February – Feb. 15, to be precise – when about 200 demonstrators gathered on a grassy area near the Gables Park Tower to call attention to violations at the job […]
Banks Cannot Wait To Try And Vacate Adverse Foreclosure Rulings, 4th DCA Says
The appellate court in West Palm Beach gave notice to mortgage banks Wednesday that they can’t wait at their convenience to try to vacate adverse judgments. The Fourth District Court of Appeal certified a conflict with the First and Third districts and told the Florida Supreme Court the issue was of “statewide importance.” Read […]
North Carolina Case Law Update: Community Covenants’ Impact on Club Operations
This decision illustrates the importance of reviewing and considering the impact of restrictive covenants on operations of a club or marina before acquiring or restructuring it. The Court ruled on a number of issues related to the restrictive covenants in a residential community in litigation between the yacht club in the community and the lot […]
Highlands Ranch gets energy efficient (CO)
The Highlands Ranch Community Association is almost done with work that could save at least $185,000 a year in energy efficiencies. Read more………
Elected to the Board…now what?
Now that you’re on the board, what is expected of you. Read more……..
HOA Records Bill Clears Colorado House of Representatives
House Bill 14-1125 (“HB 1125”), introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Diane Mitsch Bush (D-Steamboat Springs), has cleared the House with no amendments and was introduced just yesterday in the Senate and assigned to the Senate Local Government Committee. Read more………
Meet the Flood Insurance ‘Robin Hood’ Who Saves Condo Owners Millions
The builder of the most luxurious condominiums on this sugar-white sand beach had a problem. One of the twin towers of Turquoise Place was just inside a line on a federal flood map, a small difference that could cost the condo owners more than half a million dollars a year for flood insurance. Read […]
HOA told to speak up for improvements (TX)
The Tara Homeowners Association meeting with San Antonio officials Feb. 11, were told, basically, you need to make your needs known. Read more……..
Nielsen introduces drought relief legislation for homeowner association communities (CA)
For residents living in communities governed by homeowner associations, this means that they could be caught between breaking the water reduction mandate to comply with their covenants, conditions and restrictions to keep their lawns greens or pay their HOA potentially hefty fines. To relieve homeowners of this dilemma, Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, introduced Senate Bill […]
Seaview Harbor files petition to secede from Egg Harbor Township
Residents of Seaview Harbor, an isolated, wealthy seaside enclave of Egg Harbor Township and home to its mayor, filed a petition Tuesday afternoon to relocate to Longport. The petition seeks a boundary realignment, Seaview Harbor Community Association President Ed McGlinchey, said, and will likely lead to hearings in front of the township’s Planning Board. […]
Why Taxpayers Will Bail Out the Rich When the Next Storm Hits
As homeowners around the nation protest skyrocketing premiums for federal flood insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has quietly moved the lines on its flood maps to benefit hundreds of oceanfront condo buildings and million-dollar homes, according to an analysis of federal records by NBC News. Read more……..
The Business Judgment Rule Won’t Protect an “Unconscionable” Board
May a board impose fines and other penalties when homeowners fail to cure a violation, even though the owners claim they are being prevented from doing so by another owner? That was the question in Tucciarone v. The Hamlet on Olde Oyster Bay Homeowners Association. Read more……..
Chesterfield gives initial OK to gate between it and neighbor
The Chesterfield City Council has given initial approval to plans for a 31-home subdivision with a gated emergency-access road between it and a neighboring development. The road would be privately maintained. Read more………
The Pros of Joining Your Condo or Co-op Board
In the initial excitement of homeownership, many condo and co-op owners consider attending monthly condo board meetings with the idea of becoming active board members. Most experienced condo dwellers will warn against blithely walking into a board meeting, having learned that the thirst for new volunteer blood can lead to a feeding frenzy from committee […]
The Cons of Condo Board Membership
As we pointed out in the first part of this series, condominium and co-op owners have plenty of reasons to join their homeowners association board, particularly if they want a say in decisions that can affect their monthly budget and the future value of their home. The caveat is that nearly everyone who has participated […]
Transfer Fees and other add-on costs in management contracts
When I began managing condos back in the mid-’70’s, the management contract contained only a few add-on costs above and beyond the basic per-door management fee. Copies and postage were the main two and I can’t even remember if their were any others. We absorbed all other costs in the basic contract. This worked fine […]
Lender Liability for Assessments in Florida
Foreclosing lenders in Florida frequently take title to properties that are subject to homeowners’ and condominium association assessments. Just as frequently, the newly-titled lender is presented with a bill from the association for past-due assessments that accrued during or preceding the foreclosure action. These demands are based on widely misunderstood Florida statutes governing liability for […]
Midtown Manhattan Condo Board Files Suit Over 8,000-Gallon Oil Spill
The Sheffield 57, a nearly 600-unit condominium at 322 West 57th Street in Manhattan, has sued its managing agent, an engineering firm and others following the accidental discharge of thousands of gallons of heating oil after what the condo board called “a series of missteps that created a ‘perfect storm’” causing $3 million in damages, […]
Does my HOA own the clubhouse?
Not always. In fact, the larger the clubhouse the less likely it is owned by the HOA. What does that mean? There are only two ways to cover the cost of construction: Read more……..
Thomas the Tank Engine has a Useful Song for Homeowners
Most owners follow their association’s rules. A few “bend the rules a bit.” And although they know that they “should be doing as“ the rules require, they don’t. They seem to believe that doing things the “wrong way may seem easier,” “It doesn’t matter who you are, obey the rules and you’ll go far.” Read more……..
Firm Obtains Court Order Discharging Mortgage from Penthouse Unit Owned by Association (FL)
During the foreclosure crisis, lenders elected to file foreclosure actions but often failed to conclude their cases, resulting in the dismissal of many foreclosure actions throughout the state. Community associations were then left to decide whether to pursue their own foreclosure remedy or continue to wait for the lender to foreclose. In these situations Read […]
Orleans Parish assessor questions private status of three Uptown streets
Rosa Park, Dunleith Court and Richmond Place are posted with “private street” signs. But the properties aren’t taxed. Assessor Erroll Williams says something has to change: They may be public if the city has maintained them. If they’re private, someone will have to start paying taxes. Read more………
Four Traits of Successful Board Members
If you plan on running for the HOA board of your community, you have probably developed campaign strategies that distinguish you from the competition and highlight your commitment to the neighborhood, however, have you thought about how you’ll perform after being elected? Read more……..
(CO) HB 1125 Unanimously Clears House Business Committee
This afternoon, House Bill 1125 (“HB 1125”) was taken up by the House Business, Labor, Economic & Workforce Development Committee (“House Business Committee”) for consideration. As you will recall, HB 1125 is intended to fix an inadvertent oversight in the association records law which was overhauled during the 2012 legislative session and went into effect […]
The Benefits of Filing a Blanket Recordation for Your HOA (CA)
HOAs have experienced six years of “bad behavior” from the lending and mortgage community. Commonly, they do not foreclose on delinquent owners within a reasonable time frame (sometimes two to three years of delinquency without proactive action being taken), or they foreclose and do not inform the association of the change of ownership. Read more…….
Kaman & Cusimano Opposes HB371 (OH)
We need your help. Please read and share this with your fellow board members and any other association board members you may know. Besides the perpetual snow storms we have been battling this winter, we are now faced with battling a different kind of “storm” brewing in Columbus due to proposed legislation that is totally […]
Call to Action – Oppose Ohio House Bill 371
Williams & Strohm urges you NOW to contact your Ohio House Representative, bill sponsor, Rep. Cheryl Grossman, 77 S. High Street, 14th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215 and Richard Adams, Chair of the Financial Institutions, Housing, and Urban Development Committee, 77 S. High Street, 13th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215, and express your strong opposition to pending […]