Legal & Legislative News from CAN
- Bill Seeks to Raise Emission Caps, Delay Penalties for Garden Co-ops and Condos (NY) April 26, 2024City Councilmember Linda Lee, a Queens Democrat, has introduced a new bill that updates an old idea. The bill, known as Intro 0772, seeks to delay penalties and increase carbon emission caps for thousands of buildings that must comply with Local Law 97. Read the article…………………………….
- House Bill 1029: My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program April 25, 2024This act intends to provide condominium associations with a program similar to the My Safe Florida Home Program by establishing what is known as the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot (MSFCP) Program. Eligible condominiums can now apply for mitigation grants to help harden their buildings in an effort to mitigate hurricane damage. Read the article…………………………….
- FTC’s Final Rule: Understanding the Ban on Non-Compete Clauses April 25, 2024On April 23, 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its final rule on non-competition clauses, voting 3-2 to adopt the final regulations, known as the “Non-Compete Clause Rule.” This rule marks a significant milestone, establishing a comprehensive ban on non-compete agreements. The decision comes fifteen months after the FTC released its proposed rule in January 2023. The final rule will not take effect until 120 days after publication in the Federal Register, and lawsuits have already been ...
- Homestead lawsuit goes to trial on April 30 (WA) April 25, 2024The plaintiffs’ side alone lists 66 witnesses and 101 exhibits in the multi-sided Homestead case scheduled to come to trial in Whatcom County Superior Court on Tuesday, April 30. Trial may last three weeks. The four-year-old civil lawsuit concerns both the closed Homestead Farms Golf Club of north Lynden and some 600 surrounding properties of the residential golf development created between Benson and Bender roads in the 1990s. Read the article…………………………….
- FinCen Confirms CTA Applies to Associations April 24, 2024Although many concluded that the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) applies to homeowners associations, we now have verification of this. On April 18, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCen”) issued 16 new FAQs and updated two more. Under Category C, question C.10 of the FAQs, a Q&A was added confirming that CTA requirements apply to most homeowners’ associations in the country. Read the article…………………………….
- Colorado Senate to consider bill to further regulate towing industry April 24, 2024Small business owners, apartment owners, and homeowners’ association representatives are raising concerns that the bill’s intent to require property owners to pay for most tows will result in “towing anarchy” and could drive up the costs of affordable and low-income housing. The issue caught fire last summer when Gonzales found her car had been towed, believing it was illegal. Read the article…………………………….
- Foreclosure Bill Passed House, Now in Senate—Potential Impacts on Your HOA (SC) April 24, 2024As recently reported in previous articles, the South Carolina Legislature is considering a bill that impacts the ability of community associations to collect assessments from non-paying members of their communities. As originally drafted, the bill would have eliminated a community association’s ability to foreclose. Read the article…………………………….
- First-of-Its-Kind Injunction for Florida Condo Owners April 23, 2024This first-of-a-kind appellate ruling places significant limitations on the power and rights of developers to take control of condominium associations, amend the governing documents, and terminate condominiums so they may demolish the condominiums and redevelop the property while running roughshod over the individual property rights of innocent unit owners. Read the article…………………………….
- HUD announces final rule to protect against flood risk April 23, 2024The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Monday that it published a final rule, the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS), in the Federal Register. The rule is designed to “help communities prepare for and reduce flood damage” and other extended climate risks, including “heavy storms, increased frequency of severe weather events and disasters, changes in development patterns, and erosion.” Read the article…………………………….
- Corporate Transparency Act and Community Associations: Updates and Compliance (IL) April 23, 2024On April 18, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury issued updated guidance addressing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA directs FinCEN to establish a nationwide database of beneficial ownership of certain corporations and other legal entities including condominium, homeowner (HOA) and townhome community associations. Read the article…………………………….
Legal & Legislative News Archives
Case Discussions
- an a Homeowner’s Association that Allows the Violation of a Restrictive Covenant be Liable in Tort? (FL) April 24, 2024The issue of whether a homeowner’s association that permits a violation of its restrictive covenants is liable in damages in tort was addressed by the Fourth District Court of Appeals in the recent case of Seminole Lakes HOA, Inc. v. Esnard, Case No 4D18-15 (Florida 4th DCA Dec. 19, 2018). In this case, the Association was faced with a “severe parking problem” and therefore permitted on street parking, despite restrictive covenants prohibiting this activity. The relevant municipal code prohibited on ...
- First-of-Its-Kind Injunction for Florida Condo Owners April 23, 2024This first-of-a-kind appellate ruling places significant limitations on the power and rights of developers to take control of condominium associations, amend the governing documents, and terminate condominiums so they may demolish the condominiums and redevelop the property while running roughshod over the individual property rights of innocent unit owners. Read the article…………………………….
- Accusing Neighbor of Racism Is Not of Public Interest (CA) April 23, 2024Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal held Friday that repeated accusations by owners of a condominium in a six-unit complex of racism and malfeasance on the part of another owner in emails to the homeowners association, an insurance company, neighbors and others, implicates too small and specific of an audience to qualify as a matter of public interest. Read the article…………………………….
- Banks fail to get Villas West lawsuit dismissed (AZ) April 23, 2024A U.S. District Court judge says a lawsuit brought by Villas West Condominium Association against two banks following the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars can move forward despite attempts by the banks to have it dismissed. According to U.S. District Court records, the condo association filed a lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court in July alleging its former general manager, Jesus Daniel Sotelo, stole checks the association made out to vendors on its Washington Federal Bank account, inflated ...
- Is Your Co-op Vulnerable to Unauthorized Pets? The Pet Law is a Beast (NY) April 22, 2024In the case of 360 E. 72nd St. Owners Inc. v. Wolkoff, a New York State Court in Manhattan handed down a decision regarding pets in cooperative buildings that co-op boards and property managers should beware. The outcome underscores the importance for co-ops to take prompt legal actions when dealing with residents who violate pet-related house rules and the risks of delaying enforcement. Time is of the essence. Read the article…………………………….
- Condominium Construction Defect Lawsuits: When Sponsors Bring Architects into the Fray (NY) April 20, 2024Condominium boards embroiled in construction defect lawsuits against developers (sponsors) often see a further complication arise: the sponsor bringing in the project architects as third-party defendants. Sometimes the condo can sue the project architect directly but many times the focus is on the developer and its members and they point the finger at the architect. This tactic can introduce additional complexities into the condo board’s case against the sponsor. A recent New York case sheds light on this dynamic. Read ...
- Smoking in Community Associations: Carey v. The 400 Erie Condominium Association (IL) April 19, 2024The Illinois Appellate Court’s ruling in Carey v. The 400 Erie Condominium Association, a recent Rule 23 opinion of the First Appellate District Court, provided guidance for handling smoking nuisance cases in condominiums, emphasizing that rules may permit smoking within units as long as it does not cause nuisance or unreasonable disturbance to others. Read the article…………………………….
- Supplemental Claims Don’t Need to Include Damage Estimates, Fed Appeals Court Says (FL) April 17, 2024A federal appeals court has, at least for now, put an end to lingering questions about some property insurance claims litigation: The insured does not need to submit a competing damage estimate when filing a supplemental claim if the policy does not require it. Read the article…………………………….
- Family fighting keep chickens as pets in Waxhaw neighborhood (NC) April 16, 2024A Union County family that was fined for keeping chickens as pets has scored a big win. The family was originally located in a Waxhaw neighborhood. However, neighborhood rules said they couldn’t own poultry, but they could have household pets as long as you don’t make money off of them. Read the article…………………………….
- Do E-mail Exchanges Constitute A Meeting Of The Board? (CA) April 16, 2024In LNSU#1, LLC v. Alta Del Mar Coastal Collection Community Association,94 Cal. App. 5th 1050, 312 Cal. Rptr. 3d 707 (2023), two homeowners in a common interest development argued that their homeowners’ association violated state law governing open meetings when certain directors discussed items of association business by e-mails without giving all association members notice and opportunity to participate in the discussions and without preparing related minutes. Read the article…………………………….
Legislative Items
- an a Homeowner’s Association that Allows the Violation of a Restrictive Covenant be Liable in Tort? (FL) April 24, 2024The issue of whether a homeowner’s association that permits a violation of its restrictive covenants is liable in damages in tort was addressed by the Fourth District Court of Appeals in the recent case of Seminole Lakes HOA, Inc. v. Esnard, Case No 4D18-15 (Florida 4th DCA Dec. 19, 2018). In this case, the Association was faced with a “severe parking problem” and therefore permitted on street parking, despite restrictive covenants prohibiting this activity. The relevant municipal code prohibited on ...
- First-of-Its-Kind Injunction for Florida Condo Owners April 23, 2024This first-of-a-kind appellate ruling places significant limitations on the power and rights of developers to take control of condominium associations, amend the governing documents, and terminate condominiums so they may demolish the condominiums and redevelop the property while running roughshod over the individual property rights of innocent unit owners. Read the article…………………………….
- Accusing Neighbor of Racism Is Not of Public Interest (CA) April 23, 2024Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal held Friday that repeated accusations by owners of a condominium in a six-unit complex of racism and malfeasance on the part of another owner in emails to the homeowners association, an insurance company, neighbors and others, implicates too small and specific of an audience to qualify as a matter of public interest. Read the article…………………………….
- Banks fail to get Villas West lawsuit dismissed (AZ) April 23, 2024A U.S. District Court judge says a lawsuit brought by Villas West Condominium Association against two banks following the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars can move forward despite attempts by the banks to have it dismissed. According to U.S. District Court records, the condo association filed a lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court in July alleging its former general manager, Jesus Daniel Sotelo, stole checks the association made out to vendors on its Washington Federal Bank account, inflated ...
- Is Your Co-op Vulnerable to Unauthorized Pets? The Pet Law is a Beast (NY) April 22, 2024In the case of 360 E. 72nd St. Owners Inc. v. Wolkoff, a New York State Court in Manhattan handed down a decision regarding pets in cooperative buildings that co-op boards and property managers should beware. The outcome underscores the importance for co-ops to take prompt legal actions when dealing with residents who violate pet-related house rules and the risks of delaying enforcement. Time is of the essence. Read the article…………………………….
- Condominium Construction Defect Lawsuits: When Sponsors Bring Architects into the Fray (NY) April 20, 2024Condominium boards embroiled in construction defect lawsuits against developers (sponsors) often see a further complication arise: the sponsor bringing in the project architects as third-party defendants. Sometimes the condo can sue the project architect directly but many times the focus is on the developer and its members and they point the finger at the architect. This tactic can introduce additional complexities into the condo board’s case against the sponsor. A recent New York case sheds light on this dynamic. Read ...
- Smoking in Community Associations: Carey v. The 400 Erie Condominium Association (IL) April 19, 2024The Illinois Appellate Court’s ruling in Carey v. The 400 Erie Condominium Association, a recent Rule 23 opinion of the First Appellate District Court, provided guidance for handling smoking nuisance cases in condominiums, emphasizing that rules may permit smoking within units as long as it does not cause nuisance or unreasonable disturbance to others. Read the article…………………………….
- Supplemental Claims Don’t Need to Include Damage Estimates, Fed Appeals Court Says (FL) April 17, 2024A federal appeals court has, at least for now, put an end to lingering questions about some property insurance claims litigation: The insured does not need to submit a competing damage estimate when filing a supplemental claim if the policy does not require it. Read the article…………………………….
- Family fighting keep chickens as pets in Waxhaw neighborhood (NC) April 16, 2024A Union County family that was fined for keeping chickens as pets has scored a big win. The family was originally located in a Waxhaw neighborhood. However, neighborhood rules said they couldn’t own poultry, but they could have household pets as long as you don’t make money off of them. Read the article…………………………….
- Do E-mail Exchanges Constitute A Meeting Of The Board? (CA) April 16, 2024In LNSU#1, LLC v. Alta Del Mar Coastal Collection Community Association,94 Cal. App. 5th 1050, 312 Cal. Rptr. 3d 707 (2023), two homeowners in a common interest development argued that their homeowners’ association violated state law governing open meetings when certain directors discussed items of association business by e-mails without giving all association members notice and opportunity to participate in the discussions and without preparing related minutes. Read the article…………………………….
College of Community Association Lawyers
Since 1993, the Community Associations Institute has recognized excellence in the practice of community association law through the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL). Of the thousands of attorneys practicing community association law in the United States, fewer than 150 have been granted membership in the College. Members of the College distinguish themselves through contributions to the development of community association law.