Question: My condominium association is treating me unfairly, what should I do? Answer: I receive this question in many forms and will attempt to provide a general road map to deal with association-related conflicts. I enlisted the advice of Tiffany Releford, Esq., of Whiteford Taylor Preston, who’s an expert in condominium law in Virginia, Washington, […]
Limited Residential Lodging (e.g. Airbnb) – Is It Allowed in Your Association? (VA)
What exactly is limited residential lodging? It is, in essence, renting of rooms or entire homes or condo units for short term occupancy i.e. less than 30 days. Airbnb provides a searchable online marketplace that enables homeowners to list for rent all or a portion of their homes and prospective customers can choose to rent […]
Significant win in Supreme Court of Virginia for local association with statewide benefit
On June 1, 2016, the Supreme Court ruled on a case decided by a Suffolk Circuit Court Judge regarding the taxation of open space in a homeowners association. The Court unanimously overturned the Circuit Court ruling finding that the judge misinterpreted the law by upholding the City’s taxation of the Association’s open space. Read the […]
Significant win in Supreme Court of Virginia for local association with statewide benefit
On June 1, 2016, the Supreme Court ruled on a case decided by a Suffolk Circuit Court Judge regarding the taxation of open space in a homeowners association. The Court unanimously overturned the Circuit Court ruling finding that the judge misinterpreted the law by upholding the City’s taxation of the Association’s open space. […]
Can a HOA Represent Individual Landowners in Court without Their Permission? (VA)
Can a HOA Represent Individual Landowners in Court without Their Permission? What gives an HOA or Condo Association standing to sue to address threats coming from outside the community, or to appeal administrative decisions by the government that affect the neighborhood? On April 22, 2016, the Circuit Court of Loudoun County issued an opinion that […]
Association Charges : Be Aware of Legal Restrictions on Assessments and Charges (VA)
As of July 1, 2015, the Virginia Condominium Act provides that no condominium association may impose an assessment or charge against a unit owner unless such charge or assessment (a) is expressly authorized by the Condominium Act (see particularly Va. Code Sec. 55-79.83) and/or by the condominium instruments for the community, (b) represents a fee […]
Condo manager remediated mold, gets stuck with bill (VA)
A property management unit of Anheuser-Busch in Williamsburg is on the hook for $11 million in mold remediation costs after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the company’s insurer was not liable. The 8th Circuit, applying Missouri law, agreed that no coverage existed because the company was not legally obligated to repair […]
Virginia Supreme Court nullifies declaration amendment on technicality
On February 12, 2016, in Tvardek v. Powhatan Village HOA, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a leasing amendment established by a homeowners association in Virginia as a result of the failure of the recorded amendment to contain what the Court deemed compliance with the statute on amendment of the Declaration. Read the article………….
Disclosure Packets and Resale Certificates: Statutory Updates (VA)
Since our last postings on the subject of disclosure packets, the General Assembly has adopted several minor Code changes to clarify existing provisions: Read the article……..
The Importance of the “Certification” when Amending HOA Documents (VA)
The Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion in Tvardek, et al v. Powhatan Village Homeowners Association, Inc. highlights how critical it is to not only amend your HOA documents in compliance with the law and your existing documents, but to make sure that the amended document that gets recorded properly memorializes that you did so. Read the […]
Ask Eli: Impact of Condominium Rental Caps
Question: Will a rental cap in a condo building increase or decrease my property value? Unless you live in a community that relies on a high percentage of FHA loans, a rental cap will decrease property value. However, some communities decide to introduce a cap in order to maintain a quality of life desired by […]
How safe is your fireplace?
A chimney fire announces its presence in a very dramatic way. The sound is described like the rumbling of a passing locomotive or the roar of a jet engine. It’s a sound that is familiar to Augusta County resident Dan Ruff whose home experienced a chimney fire in January. Read the article…………….
How to enforce lease restrictions in a condo building
Q: I am president of my association for a nine-unit condominium building. We have a limit to the number of units that can be leased in the building. The approach is somewhat liberal in that we allow four of nine units to be leased based on minimum guidelines set by the Federal Housing Administration. Read […]
What to Look for in a Condo’s Resale Certificate
Q: I’m thinking about buying a condo and hear that the condo association for the building should be providing me with information in a Resale Packet or Certificate. What’s included in this packet? Is there anything I should be on the lookout for as I’m reviewing it? Read the Q&A…………
HOA must make homeowners a part of its rule-making process
If a homeowners association votes to amend a restriction, does that change go into effect immediately after notification to property owners via the minutes and any future owners via the disclosure package or not until the paperwork has been completed and recorded, which can take considerable time? Thank you. Read the Q&A…………….
Pool Season: Is Your Association Ready to Take the Plunge?
Many Community Associations prepare to open their neighborhood pool by adding chemicals and performing maintenance to ensure the health and safety of the Owners. But just as HOAs take care in measuring chlorine and skimming leaves, Boards of Directors are well-advised to take care in preparing the Association’s Pool Rules. This blog post reviews the […]
Spring Projects Create Work For This Architectural Standards Committee. Are You Ready?
Q. It is springtime and a few creative and industrious neighbors are out erecting fences and sheds as others have done in the past without requesting the permission of the Association. We are a 24 home association that recently elected a homeowner board. The developer finished the last home in late fall. We are self-managing […]
How Today’s Urban Planning Can Divide a City and Disenfranchise Voters: The Case of Alexandria, Virginia
This is an analysis of the unforeseen consequences of the City of Alexandria, Virginia privatizing many services that it has traditionally provided to its homeowners. Alexandria was first settled in the mid-1700s and over the years has been home to the likes of George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jim Morrison, […]
Go Slow: Children at Play
The U.S. Department of Justice announced settlement of a Fair Housing violation case against a Community Association and its Management. In addition to requiring a revamped set of Rules, the offenders must pay a $10,000 penalty to the United States and pay $100,000 to six families that suffered as a result of the discrimination. Read […]
2015 General Assembly Update for Virginia Community Associations
The legislation that passed the 2015 General Assembly Session is mostly helpful to Virginia HOAs–clarifying issues created by some legislation, and providing solutions for owner apathy and bank foreclosure problems for associations. Read more……….
In a Heartbeat – Is an HOA liable if it provides an AED?
It happens in a heartbeat – literally. Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death among adults over the age of 40 in the United States and other countries. Studies have shown, however, that when bystanders intervene and start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (“CPR”) or utilize an automated external defibrillator (“AED”), four out of ten victims […]
CAI Best Practices: Ethics
Simply put, when someone is employing ethics, he or she recognizes what is right and what is wrong and is choosing to do the right thing; however, as a great deal of business ethics literature will attest, “the right thing” is not always straightforward. For example, most ethical dilemmas in the workplace are not simply […]
Drones could get expanded role in real estate
Drones — also known as “unmanned aerial vehicles ” — are everywhere. Our military uses them in warfare, archeologists scan ancient Peruvian ruins to avoid damage, and others survey hydroelectric dams. One even illegally landed early Monday on the White House lawn. Read more………
Stop in the name of the…homeowner association! – Can private HOA security forces pull you over?
Virginia’s Attorney General, Mark R. Herring, published an advisory Opinion concerning private security forces used by community associations. These security forces sometimes act as quasi-police departments and help relieve localities from routine patrols in the communities. Read more………
Smile! You’re on HOA Meeting Camera!
If you work with community associations in Virginia as a board member, manager or attorney, you probably know that Virginia law permits HOA members to record any open meeting of the association. The relevant statute, Virginia Code § 55-510.1(B) of the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act, contains one short paragraph which outlines the recording requirement […]
LXBN TV: Discussing Best Practices and Common Missteps in HOA Elections (VA)
HOA elections are a crucial part to keeping any community association going. But there’s more to it than simply setting up a space and counting votes when it’s over—especially when the results end up being challenged. To discuss proactive steps community associations should take and some common mistakes they often make, we bring in LeClairRyan […]
Requests to Inspect and Copy Community Association or Company Records: Should it be this complicated?
A Virginia Beach jury found a condominium association liable for failing to permit unit owners an opportunity to inspect and copy association records. Not only must the condo board allow inspection and copying, they must pay for an audit of the association records and pay $50,000 for the unit owners’ attorneys’ fees. Read more………
Pesticides, Fungicides, and Herbicides: Why do Virginia HOAs need to know the difference?
There are many issues that confront your common interest community as its board of directors and management company work hard to maintain the HOA. One issue that has recently come up is the need to be knowledgeable about the chemicals an HOA applies to its common areas. Read more……..
2014 Legislative Update for Virginia HOAs
The 2014 session on the Virginia Legislative Action Committee (“LAC”) created new experiences for our committee. Each year on the LAC brings new challenges, and in my second year as Chair of the LAC, we experienced our most active General Assembly session. Read more…….
News from the Virginia General Assembly and CAI’s Virginia Legislative Action Committee
Below are a host of new laws that will become effective on July 1, 2014. There are some significant new items and we urge you to read closely. Mike Inman serves on the Virginia Legislative Action Committee and can answer any questions you might have about the bills. Read more……….
How long should your HOA retain its records?
You are elected Secretary of your homeowners’ association. Congratulations! Someone hands you the minute book, owner roster, and the governing documents. You think, hey this is not overwhelming at all. Then the retiring Secretary mentions in passing that “If you’re home tomorrow I’ll deliver the boxes.” You ask “What boxes?” “Oh, all of the HOA’s […]
Simple Tips for Effective Due Process Hearings in your HOA
This blog post focuses on addressing one major source of discontent in community associations: due process hearings for alleged violations of the community’s governing documents or condominium instruments. Read more………
Homeowner Association – Easements (VA)
Cases involving HOA powers are frequently fact specific and governing document specific. Recently, the Frederick County Circuit Court decided a case in which a homeowners association was held in violation of the homeowners association’s restrictive covenants and liable for compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees because it removed a wall on a homeowner’s property. Read […]
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 […]
“Aging In Place” – How can community associations address aging communities?
When we think of the challenges of overseeing homeowners associations, we might think of overgrown lawns, late assessment payments, and aggressive pets. But another challenge has been waiting in the wings: the aging of America’s “baby boomer” generation, many of whom are choosing to live out their golden years in their homes. This rising trend […]
Raintree of Albermarle Homeowners Ass’n Inc. v. Jones case brief
Raintree of Albermarle Homeowners Ass’n Inc. v. Jones case brief summary 413 S.E.2d 340 (1992) CASE SYNOPSIS Plaintiff homeowners association brought an action to enforce a restrictive covenant against defendant resident. The Circuit Court of Albemarle County (Virginia) granted partial relief but refused to grant an injunction prohibiting the resident from parking a wrecker in […]
Virginia has a Santa “clause” ….and he brings dollars
Did you know that Virginia has a law which requires all licensed contractors to contribute towards a fund that helps victims of fraud and dishonest conduct? While many states have similar consumer laws, Virginia also includes Property Owners Associations as potential victims. Read more…….
Boards – Take Notice – 3 big reasons properly funded reserves are essential
Only a few years ago the Virginia General Assembly recognized that many association boards just would not face up to the need for reserves in an effort to keep “dues” at a lower and more competitive level. Many are paying a price for those decisions now. It became such a problem that several years ago […]