The first of four community town hall meetings designed to find budget solutions for the Briargate Special Improvement Maintenance District received mixed reviews from residents. Read the article………………………..
Bedbugs Turned This Co-op Into a Community (NY)
You had a bedbug problem that led to something else. But first, tell us about the bedbugs. An older gentleman in one of my buildings did not realize he had an infestation. By the time we got into it, it was a bigger deal than it needed to be. We brought in the pest-control company, […]
Robert Polich pleads guilty in Hamilton Creek embezzlement case (CO)
Robert Polich, a man accused of embezzling more than a half-million dollars from the Hamilton Creek Metropolitan District, pleaded guilty to charges of theft and embezzlement of public property during a hearing at the Summit County Justice Center on Tuesday morning. Polich, 66, served as the system administrator between 1995 and 2015 at the Hamilton […]
Fines and Penalties – Using Them Fairly and Effectively (NY)
Community living comes with lots of rules and regulations—many of which are codified in largely static, hard-to-amend governing documents like proprietary leases and condominium declarations. Others are laid out in the more flexible context of house rules, which can (and should!) continue to evolve as times change and community values and demographics shift. House rules […]
Restrict Cashing Checks With Restrictive Endorsements (CO)
What do you do when you receive a check from a delinquent owner with a restrictive endorsement on it? Do you cash it? Do you return it? Do you call the attorney? A restrictive endorsement is a written statement sent with a payment that either defines what the check is written for (such as “Assessments […]
A Homeowner’s Association Guide to Aquatic Hitchhikers
Do you know what costs homeowners associations, small communities and government agencies over 120 billion dollars annually? The answer is invasive species. Far beyond the monetary costs, invasive species create unsightly, unbalanced and unhealthy aquatic ecosystems. Unfortunately, human activity is responsible for most infestations. Whether you’re a part of a lake community, live near a […]
Removing a Condominium Owner – A Complex Legal Process (NY)
Removing a disruptive, abusive, non-paying, or otherwise problematic tenant from a rental building is relatively easy. Doing the same thing in a co-op is also possible, though substantially harder. But removing a condo owner from the premises (and effectively wiping out his or her equity position as a member of the condominium association) is very […]
Is It Kosher for My Condo to Go Kosher? (NY/NJ)
Q: I live in a condo in Long Branch, N.J., that wants to change its building policies to support Jewish customs. The board wants to make the condo’s restaurant kosher and install an eruv, a ropelike ritual enclosure that surrounds the building to allow more freedom of movement during Sabbath. Not all residents in the […]
Doctor facing murder-for-hire charges accused of trying to have attorney suing him killed (MI)
The root of the doctor’s rage, the agents said, was a court judgment he’d lost for nearly $60,000. The case, WXYZ reported, was between Schwarz and the condo association in a lakefront community outside Detroit where the doctor owned a unit. McCulloch represented the condo association. Read the article………………………..
Condo Owner Loses Unit Due to Actions of Tenant
In a recent case, Y.C.C. No. 187 v. Sandhu, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted a judgment in favour of the condominium corporation, giving it possession of an owner’s unit and enabling it to sell the unit. This drastic consequence ensued as a result of the actions of the owner’s tenant. The tenant had […]
HOA Dispute Over Backyard Playset, Other Amenities Snowballs Into Federal Lawsuit
As was chronicled in a recent article in the Gainesville Times newspaper, Martin Moreira and his wife Zulema filed suit against the Pointe West Homeowner’s Association after their plans for a backyard makeover were nixed by the association. They filed the discrimination complaint in federal court in April after the HOA had issued fines and […]
Can an owner in a homeowners’ association install security cameras?
After recent break-ins, a homeowner who lives in a homeowners’ association wants to install surveillance cameras outside his home and in the association-owned common areas. What should he know before putting in cameras? Read the article………………………..
MCL 559.149: HOW TO SUBDIVIDE CONDOMINIUM UNITS UNDER THE MICHIGAN CONDOMINIUM ACT
Michigan condominium associations and co-owners should be aware that the Michigan Condominium Act, MCL 559.101, et seq., contains a specific procedure that allows for condominium units to be divided. A single co-owner may purchase a large site condominium unit and later decide to divide the lot into two separate units. However, condominium associations should be […]
Philippines: Aligning the taxability of membership fees, association dues and the like
On Aug. 13, 2019, the Supreme Court (SC) in the case of Association of Non-Profit Clubs Inc. v. CIR (G.R. No. 228539) declared that membership fees, assessment dues, and fees of similar nature collected by recreational clubs, which are organized and operated exclusively for pleasure, recreation and other nonprofit purposes, are not necessarily subject to […]
Australia: ’24/7 presence:’ Building manager who built underground cave amid stolen goods also allegedly hacked apartment security database (NSW)
A strata apartment manager, who built an ‘Aladdin’s-cave’ inside the complex filled with hundreds of stolen items, watched residents on an allegedly hacked CCTV system from his makeshift bedroom. Jaden Hati, 42, was arrested late last month, following an investigation into the theft of hundreds of items stolen from the underground storage cages of residents […]
Loud garge noise disturbing neighbors (NV)
Q: I am a vivid follower of your weekly article, which I (find) very informative and very educational. (I) have not missed it since I discovered it two years ago. Since we moved into our fourplex condo in 2012, we have had an issue (with the sound of our neighbor’s garage door opening.) It’s a […]
American flags only? (CA)
Shannon Glover came from England to San Diego almost 30 years ago for a uniquely American reason: She fell in love with Tom Cruise and “Top Gun.” Now she’s in a dispute that pits the country of her birth against the one she calls home. Her homeowner’s association in Carmel Valley has ordered her to […]
Adams Stirling Law Firm In Los Angeles Has An Excellent Summary Of Fee Shifting Provisions With Respect To HOA And Davis-Stirling Act Issues (CA)
We would like to thank Adams Stirling, a Los Angeles law firm specializing in HOA issues, for its excellent summary of HOA and Davis-Stirling Act fees issues and case law, which we post verbatim below and which can be found on its Website. We would note that the firm is headed by Adrian Adams and […]
Fire at Salt Lake condo determined as accidental (HI)
The Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) responded with six units staffed with 22 personnel to a building fire on Ala Ilima Street Saturday morning, Aug. 31, at 8:57 a.m. The first unit arrived at 9 a.m. to find a five-story apartment building with light smoke emanating from the third floor. Read the article…………………..
Royal Oaks Villas residents oust all but one board member after transparency complaints (TN)
Homeowners who are part of the Royal Oaks Golf Villas Homeowners Association have voted out a majority of their board members following a lawsuit and a tense called meeting Tuesday. Residents then met in the Royal Oaks Community Center late Thursday to decide the fate of three board members by vote. Read the article………………………