While Arizona legislators debate whether or not to hand regulatory powers back to cities to rein in short-term rentals, some Scottsdale home owners associations are taking matters into their own hands. Read the article…………………………….
HOAs Slow to Accept Native Plant Landscaping (TX)
San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has long offered incentives to homeowners to replace non-native grass lawns with drought-resistant native plants. But the city’s many homeowner associations (HOAs) continue to favor water-thirsty, non-native turf grasses and resist residents who want native plant landscaping. Read the article………………………
No More Black Garbage Bags in Front of Co-ops and Condos? (NY)
Those ubiquitous and picturesque mountains of black garbage bags may soon vanish from the sidewalks in front of the city’s larger co-ops and condominiums. The Department of Sanitation (DOS) has announced two major initiatives to get filthy bags of seeping garbage out of the way of pedestrians and into on-street containers — the result of […]
Office at 55 and over community in Pinellas Park ‘exposed’ to coronavirus (FL)
When the sign saying “Office exposed to coronavirus, enter at your own risk,” showed up on the Mainlands homeowners association office, some residents were scratching their heads. Maggie Herring was one of them. She believes residents should have been notified. “I don’t fault them for it. But that would cover them, you know and that […]
Does HOA board have to provide detailed financial records at monthly meeting? (FL)
Q: The board of directors in my homeowners association meets every month and provides a cursory financial report with little detail. We have requested the treasurer and board provide more information but the board responds that we can get the detail at the property management office. Does Florida law provide any redress? Read the […]
Sun City relaxes solar panel regulations (GA)
The Sun City board of directors recently announced a change to the Community Association’s governing policies that will introduce relaxed regulations for the placement of solar panels on homes inside the community. Read the article………………………..
Sheriff’s office, Surfside HOA negotiate for deputy (WA)
The Pacific County Sheriff’s Office and the Surfside Homeowners Association are negotiating details to allow the sheriff’s office to hire an additional officer to patrol the Surfside area. The negotiations come after reserve Deputy Travis Ostgaard — who had been patrolling Surfside — was hired for a non-law enforcement position with the county, and Sheriff […]
HOA Can Penalize Speeding (FL)
Q: Can a homeowners’ association set speed limits that are below county limits? If so, how can they enforce these regulations? Read the Q&A……………………………
A Novel Way to Prepare Buildings for Coronavirus (NY)
As cases of novel coronavirus continue to spread in the New York metropolitan area, co-op and condo boards are struggling to take smart steps to protect their residents without sowing panic. Here’s one piece of level-headed advice: prepare for coronavirus the same way you prepare for a doormen’s strike. Read the article…………………………..
Police find 5 pipe bombs in DeKalb condo community; suspect in custody (GA)
Investigators made the discovery in a home at the Clairmont Terrace community on Northeast Expressway, police spokeswoman Michaela Vincent said. Officers told Channel 2 Action News at the scene that one of the devices was found near the complex’s courtyard, prompting the search. Read the article…………………………..
California FAIR Plan Can Offer Only Fire Insurance, Judge Says
A fund that offers only fire insurance to California residents in wildfire-prone areas can’t be required to provide coverage for other hazards such as flooding or theft, a judge ruled in late February. Read the article………………………..
Collier asks judge to dismiss suit brought by East Naples golf course owner (FL)
Collier County is asking a judge to toss a lawsuit brought against the county over the potential use of an East Naples golf course for more homes. The owners of the 94-acre Riviera Golf Course sued the county in December over the requirements that have to be met before a golf course can apply for […]
Is that Alligator an Emotional Support Animal? (FL)
Well, the reason why we asked you here today is because recently, HUD came out with some new guidelines for emotional support animals and service animals. And that is a very hot topic in not only condominium in HOAs, but also in multifamily and residential properties with landlords. And, it’s been, kind of like the […]
Could law enforcement contracts some neighborhoods have with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office go away? (TX)
An item on next week’s Harris County commissioner’s meeting regarding law enforcement contracts is creating quite the stir. City Oaks in south Harris County hired Precinct Seven. The $320,000 contract provides three deputy constables for protection. Read the article…………………………
If membership disagrees with board business decisions, recall is the solution (FL)
I live in a 48-home HOA community. Our current HOA board is made up of five members. The current “president” of the board has become an issue resulting in the decay of our community. He is insisting that all decisions must be made by him or must go through him to the various vendors aiding […]
Summit County identifies condo in Keystone where coronavirus patient stayed (CO)
Summit County Public Health Officials announced Friday morning that the Slopeside Condominiums complex is where Colorado’s first confirmed coronavirus patient stayed. According to a release from Summit County officials, the unit has not been occupied by any guests since the infected person’s departure. Read the article………………………
Condo board can restrict drones on property (IL)
Q: Drones seem to be everywhere these days. However, our association has only recently had to deal with a resident who flies one at the association, often close to people and units. This has resulted in numerous complaints from other residents. Can the board restrict these drones on our property? Read the Q&A………………………….
Legality of 50/50 raffles (FL)
Q: Our association frequently holds social events where there is a 50/50 raffle. The winner gets 50 percent of the money collected and the social committee retains the rest. Is this legal? Read the Q&A…………………………
Law says HOA must keep 10 years of records (NV)
Q: How long does a homeowners association have to keep old records and files? We have files going all the way back to 2005. I was told by one of our HOA management staff that we should keep at least 10 years of records and files. So, if we want to get rid of older […]
Keystone condo complex where coronavirus patient stayed has been identified (CO)
The Summit County visitor who tested positive for the new coronavirus stayed at the Slopeside Condominiums complex in Keystone during his recent trip, Summit County public health officials announced Friday morning. The unit has not been occupied since the man, his fiancee and his two friends left Summit County earlier this week, according to a […]
Fire damages condo complex for second time this year (GA)
Firefighters spent several hours battling a fire at the Camelot Condominium complex on Old National Highway in the City of South Fulton Thursday night……This is the same complex where a large fire displaced dozens of residents in late January Read the article…………………………
Repairs cost $17,000: Call for Action Team helps Kernersville woman find relief after condo floods (NC)
Mona Franklin woke up to water pouring from her ceiling. The neighbor upstairs had a leak in his AC unit. He didn’t have insurance and her insurance wasn’t helping. Read the article………………………….
Police say this man stole more than $1 million from suburban homeowners associations. Now, he faces new charges (PA/NJ)
A Chester County man facing trial for allegedly embezzling money from multiple homeowners associations in South Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania has been arrested again, accused of running the same scheme at additional locations. Read the article………………………….
Bulkhead, framing may be replaced on exterior of Pipes Cove condominium (NY)
The Pipes Cove condominium boat basin at the end of Sixth Street may see changes in coming months. Greenport Village trustees approved a conditional wetlands permit application last Thursday that was submitted by Robert Hermann of En-Consultants on behalf of the property’s Pipes Cove Management Association. The application calls for replacement of bulkhead and framing […]
For Manhattan Co-op and Condo Owners, Tax Increases May Depend on How Long They’ve Owned (NY)
Q. I’ve been reading about the proposed property tax changes in New York City. What does that mean for me as a Manhattan condo owner? Read the Q&A………………………………
Roeland Park approves NDO amendment making racially discriminatory home owners association language, practices illegal (KS)
The Roeland Park city council on Monday evening approved an amendment to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance that outlaws discriminatroy language from Home Owners Association covenants. Read the article……………………………
Accusations Fly Between Rocky Point Neighborhood, Local Government (AZ)
The Las Conchas community in Rocky Point counts many affluent Arizonans among its roughly 2,000 residents. Tensions between the neighborhood and city government over development plans and other issues had been simmering for some time. Then last May, the local government tore down the Las Conchas guard house. The HOA saw that as an act […]
Laws differ under homeowners association and condominium statutes (FL)
Q: Our condominium recently painted our buildings and the cost was much more than the board anticipated. The owners voted to allow the board to use other reserves to fund the shortfall but the board is not adjusting the budget to catch these depleted reserve accounts up. Can the board underfund the reserves now indefinitely? […]
Alleged Clearwood Embezzler Arrested on Theft Charges (WA)
Dolanna K. Burnett, the former Clearwood Community Association bookkeeper who allegedly embezzled as much as $400,000 over four years starting in 2014, was booked into Thurston County jail on Monday, March 2, on a felony theft charge. Read the article…………………………
Livingston Parish subdivision installs state of the art technology aimed at preventing crime (LA)
At the three entrances of the Spring Lake subdivision, drivers may or may not know that new devices are keeping track of who comes and goes. “They’re motion-activated cameras,” Spring Lake resident, Greg Bunch said. “They work day or night and basically anything moving through these entrances is picked up.” There is nothing standard about […]
Ke Kilohana condo owners sue Kakaako tower’s developer over maintenance fees, alleged construction defects (HI)
Residents in a new condominium tower at Ward Village in Kakaako have sued the project’s developer over alleged maintenance expense low-balling, building code violations and construction defects. Read the article………………………
Are St. Pete’s permitting policies causing a spate of defective condos? (FL)
With another 40-something unit condo on the way in downtown St. Petersburg, there are storm clouds gathering for the industry in St Petersburg. According to informed sources, it was the cloud of an oncoming potential hurricane last summer that first tipped off the potential impact of the city’s system of permitting and inspecting these ever […]
Lakeland family being sued to force them to repaint trim on their house (TN)
Imagine being sued over the color of the trim on tour house. That is what one Lakeland family says is happening to them but they believe it may also be because of their race. They live in the Cool Springs subdivision, and this dispute has ended up in court. The neighborhood association is suing them […]
HOA Can’t Prohibit Water-Efficiency Measures (CA)
In California, a Homeowner Association (HOA) cannot prohibit individual owners from replacing their existing landscaping with low-water-using plants. That limitation on an association’s rules or actions is a result of legislation (AB 2104, Gonzalez) passed last year and that was initiated in response to the state of (drought) emergency declared by Governor Brown. Read the […]
‘Trump 2020’ sign staying up despite order to take it down, says Dublin woman (OH)
After receiving repeated directions to remove a “TRUMP 2020” sign from her yard, Ingrid Grass says the sign is staying right where it is, no matter the consequence. Last week, the homeowner’s association in Dublin’s Park Place neighborhood sent Grass a letter informing her that a yard sign was in violation of the HOA bylaws […]
Three-Alarm Condo Fire Breaks Out, Closing Several Roads In Stamford (CT)
Several area roadways are closed as firefighters are on the scene of a three-alarm fire at a large condominium complex. Read the article……………………….
Kingwood residents take lobbying for flood mitigation into their own hands (TX)
Three flooding events in three years — Hurricane Harvey, the May floods and Tropical Storm Imelda — have some Lake Houston area residents feeling like flooding is all but inevitable. But Harvey wasn’t the first time the Lake Houston area was threatened and it likely won’t be the last. Several residents have sprang into action […]
Palos Verdes Homes Association squabbles over elections once again (CA)
The Palos Verdes Homes Association is once again fighting over election results to fill its board of directors, two years after a Superior Court Judge ordered it to tally ballots even though the group considered the election invalid. At issue is the inability of the association — which represents Palos Verdes Estates homeowners — to […]
Sea Gate cop pulls gun on NYPD officer more than a mile from the seaside community: suit (NY)
A gung-ho private cop for a gated Brooklyn neighborhood was way out of line when he pulled a gun on an off-duty, veteran NYPD officer in a gas station mini-mart more than a mile outside the seaside development, a lawsuit claims. Read the article……………………………
Two-alarm fire forces temporary evacuation of Claymont condo complex (DE)
Most residents of the Towers of Valley Run condos in Claymont are back in their units now after a two-alarm fire Sunday morning. Claymont firefighters were dispatched to the 27 thousand block of Valley Run Drive around 12:30 a.m. on March 1, 2020, and found fire and smoke coming from the third floor of a […]
Housing for older persons may allow residents below age 55 (FL)
Q: I live in a 55 and over community. I am told by the board president that people under 55 can be in residence because they inherited the condo. Is that true? I am concerned that, before long, our 55 and over community will no longer be 55 and over. Read the Q&A…………………………….
Windermere subdivision using goats to destroy invasive plants (FL)
People who live in a Windermere subdivision said invasive plants is destroying the neighborhood’s beautiful landscape, but they’ve got an interesting way of dealing with it. Channel 9?s Q McCray found out the problem is so bad, the neighborhood decided a run-of-the-mill landscaper wouldn’t do, so it hired goats to do the job instead. Read […]
Request for dog run is not binding (IL)
Q: The board of our association was presented a petition signed by a majority of the owners that requests the board to install a dog run on the property. Is the board required to act on this request of the owners? Read the Q&A…………………………..
How can we remove condo board of directors? (MI)
Q: We are trying to remove the present board of directors, but the board members have refused to give us any recognition. They come up with excuses as to why they don’t have to call a special meeting. What do we do? Read the Q&A……………………………..
Neighbors battling over who should pay $20,000 to fix private road (ME)
A road to a housing development in Woolwich that residents said was never built properly has sparked a feud among neighbors. The argument centers on who is responsible for paying $20,000 to fix Norway Drive. Read the article…………………………..
HOAs struggle with making parking regulations fair (NV)
Q: I am a board member of a 124-condo complex in Las Vegas. We have carports, of which each condo gets one assigned space to park. We have many guest parking spaces. Over time, some residents have as many as three to four cars, meaning these are parked in guest parking. We have no storage […]
Most associations should have 5 directors (FL)
We see a few Condominium or Homeowners’ Associations with only three directors serving a one year term and some larger Associations with seven or nine directors. There is a benefit to larger Master Homeowners’ Associations, with many neighborhoods and condominiums, to have many directors so that each of the various sub-communities have a representative on […]
Starwood, homeowner settle differences out of court (CO)
A court fight over fines associated with a 12-year home-building project in the exclusive Starwood neighborhood outside of Aspen won’t be headed to trial. Parties have reached a confidential settlement, according to a case file in Pitkin County District Court, where the owner of the home in question and the Starwood Homeowners Association had been […]
Suit settled, buildings fixed, Tagalong is ‘ better than ever’ (WI)
All the many years I was working too many hours as a newspaper editor in the Twin Cities, I dreamed of a lake home when retirement came. So when the days of no more 10-hour days drew close, Ann and I began to look for a place on water. Quite by accident, while driving around […]