You are a board director in a no-pet building. And you’re happy about it. But an owner has come to you and said “I need an emotional support pet.” Welcome to the world of reasonable accommodations. In this video you’ll learn what you have to accommodate, when it is necessary, and how to do it. […]
Capital Reserves and the Future of Your Community
I went to see a fortune teller recently. She took me into her reading room and asked me to gaze into her crystal ball. She then predicted my future. “I see wear and tear on your buildings. I see a new roof will be needed. I see aging windows that need replacing. I see… a […]
Conflict Resolution Insights: Why Conflicts Escalate
On two recent occasions, I have been involved in interactions that started with a minor miscommunication and quickly elevated to full-blown conflict. In both situations, the other person and I pretty quickly recognized what was happening, and we managed to get our communications back under control. Read More……
CO: Manager Licensure Bill Clears First Hurdle in the House
Earlier this afternoon, on a 6 to 5 party line vote, the House Business, Labor, Economic & Workforce Development Committee passed an amended version of HB 1277 – the manager and management company licensure bill. Read More……
Court Says HOA Can Issue Speeding Tickets; What’s Next, Undercover Ops?
The Illinois Supreme Court held in January that an HOA’s hired security officer could stop and issue a valid speeding ticket againsta home owner. Here, we explain the court’s decision in Poris v. Lake Holiday Property Owners Association and whether the court’s reasoning would likely be upheld in other states. Read More……
Transition Study, Reserve Study. What’s the Difference?
Most board members understand what a reserve study is and the beneficial role it plays in managing the financial future of the community association. Another study that comes up for recently constructed associations and is equally as important is the transition study. Read More……
99 Candles: Bob Simon Celebrates Near-Century, Remains Awesome (Reston founder)
Reston founder Robert E. Simon turned 99 today, which is pretty amazing. In many ways, he looks as good as, if not better than the community he founded (which turns 49 today). He celebrated the eve of his birthday by attending the RA annual members meeting last night, which is more than most of us […]
Smoking in Your Community – Is it a Nuisance?
We frequently get questions about what an association can do to restrict or regulate smoking in the community. These questions have increased now that Colorado law permits growing and smoking marijuana. Typically, but not always, the issue is exacerbated in condominium or townhome communities. Read More……
Take charge of that meeting: 8 ways to make sense of Robert’s Rules of Order
If you’re going to chair meetings or rise to a high post in your professional society, you’re likely to run up against Robert’s Rules of Order. In the U.S., it’s the most widely used authority on parliamentary procedure–and many a meeting chair has struggled to follow those rules. A reader of The Eloquent Woman wrote […]
CO: HOA Debt Collection Bill Approved by House Business Committee
Late yesterday afternoon, the House Business, Labor, Economic and Workface Development Committee passed an amended version HB 1276. Highlights of the bill as originally introduced include the following: Read More……
The Gender Wage Gap For Managers Doesn’t Look Good
The median wage gap between genders fell since 2000, but progress is currently stalled. Women still earn less than men in nearly every occupation, though some suffer from greater wage disparities than others. The following is a list of the top 10 occupations with the largest and smallest gender wage gaps. (Check first category […]
The Quorum Requirement: A Creative Solution to Getting Stuff Done
“Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen to our owner’s association meeting. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the quorum requirement to vote on anything tonight, so we’ll need to reconvene this meeting for a later date. Sorry.” Sound familiar? Lamentably, this scenario is more frequently a reality than a hypothetical for many community associations. If you’ve ever served on […]
Are The Homes At Your HOA FIre Safe?
Over the years a number of our condo and homeowner association clients have suffered the loss of homes or units as a result the fires. Some of these fires were as a result of smoking in bed, a couple of them as result of propane tanks leaking or exploding, some from clogged dryer vents, bad […]
Leadership Withdrawing Land After Purchase? Oh I Don’t Think So!
CCIOA has an interesting provision, contained in Section 210(4), which allows developers to withdraw property included in an association only if: (1) a portion of the real estate is subject to withdrawal; and (2) a unit in such portion of real estate has not yet been sold to a purchaser. Although this Section seems clear […]
New Jersey Condominiums are Able to Limit Certain Liability Claims
On March 20, 2013, the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled in Irma Sanchez v. The Villages Association that the burden of proving the validity of a community association’s bylaws limiting its liability in personal injury cases rests with the injured plaintiff. It is beneficial for community associations, their boards, professional managers and unit owners […]
New Arizona Law Restricts HOA Parking Enforcement
Up until now, homeowners associations (HOA) throughout Arizona have been able to set the rules for parking when it came to their neighborhood. With a new law that was passed in April of 2013, future HOA communities will find it a little difficult to set the rules on how those in their community will park. […]
Are California Community Managers Required to have a Contractor’s License?
The blogosphere has been burning up lately over a new California law that some commentators say might require community association managers to have a General Contractor’s license to perform their jobs. Since property managers can be said to “oversee” bids for construction projects it has been suggested that they might fall within the expanded definition […]
Creating Community: The Art of Empowerment in Community Association Living
Creating Community: The Art of Empowerment in Community Association Living is quickly becoming one of the most popular educational resources in the HOA/condo industry for homeowners, board members, managers and business partners. Utilizing proven strategies for creating community unity based on the principles of empowerment, Creating Community is being widely used in board orientation programs, […]
Effective Steps Co-op / Condo Boards Can Take with Disruptive Members
The managing agent remembers it well. There had been an incident in a co-op she managed that caused some damage to the building. She advised the board that, based on her experience, it would not be to the property’s advantage to file a claim with the insurance company. “It was not significant enough, and if […]
It’s Spring, Time to Ward Against Water Issues
It may be April Fools Day, but it’s no joke that every year around this time insurance companies see many flood issues and claims from homeowner associations. What’s worse, flood insurance is expensive and the typical HOA insurance policy does not provide coverage for flood and surface water claims. So, how do you protect yourself […]
One way to address the S.B. 1062 fee shifting issue
S.B. 1062, currently in the Maryland State Senate (see two posts on it below), deals with the problem of attorney fee shifting in covenant enforcement cases where the fees are grossly disproportionate to what is at stake in the case. Here is one way it could be amended, using the California approach. This is from […]
The Emperor’s New Economic Loss Rule
For years, litigating breach of contract cases in Florida meant having to struggle with the array of cases dealing with the Economic Loss Rule. In its simplest form, the Economic Loss Rule is a judicially created principle that prohibits tort damages in a breach of contract action where the damages are limited to an “economic […]
Members of a community association want board members linked to embattled MP Scott Driscoll removed
MEMBERS of the community association that Scott Driscoll secretly controlled to the benefit of his wife’s company, are staging a revolt to try to remove board members associated with the embattled MP. Read More……
What is S.B. 1062 about? (MD)
I testified at the Maryland State Senate hearing yesterday in support of S.B. 1062. The hearing was long and emotional at times, as unit owners told how they have been subjected to foreclosure actions by association lawyers seeking up to $70,000 in fees on top of fines in the hundreds of dollars. The current draft […]
Bills That Passed This Legislative Session and How to Comply
The 2013 Utah General Legislative Session has ended and the bills that passed have been finalized in their enrolled form to await signature by the Governor. Which bills passed and which ones didn’t? Only three of the six bills I discussed in my last post ended up passing the House and the Senate. They all […]
Maryland Senate Passes Amendment To Provisions For Termination Of Developer Contracts
By a vote of 37 – 7, the Maryland Senate passed SB 162, which provides for amendments to the current provisions applicable to the rights of condominiums and homeowners associations to terminate contracts that were entered into by the developer prior to the property owners having assumed control of the community.
Two Significant Bills Introduced Impacting HOAs in Colorado
The following communication from CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) has been sent to CAI members in Colorado on the introduction of bills addressing manager licensure and HOA debt collections. In addition to future communications from CLAC, stay tuned to this blog for important updates on these significant bills as they proceed through the legislative […]
Not All HOA Bylaws Are Etched in Stone
Many people who live in housing developments are required to join homeowners associations. A homeowners association is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of any common areas, such as swimming pools, tennis courts and other recreational areas. Read more….
Leaning In: Is there a Gender Gap on Community Association Boards?
I just finished reading Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, about women, work and the leadership gap that still exists. For those of you who don’t know, Sandberg is the COO of Facebook and her book has stirred up quite a bit of water cooler talk. Read more….
Self-governance is the root of our problems
I live in a small rural community of about 130 homes built in a pine forest. The community, like many in America, is not within the city limits but is instead governed by a homeowner’s association. The community was designed and built by a developer some fifteen years ago. There are a set of covenants […]
New Condo Laws Scheduled For Monday Public Hearing In Hartford
A public hearing has been scheduled for Monday on several proposed bills involving Connecticut condominium laws, including legislation that would require banks to reimburse associations for up to 12 months of maintenance fees in case of foreclosures. Read more……
CO: Foreclosure ‘Reform’ or Headache for Associations?
Recently introduced House Bill 13-1249 has been promoted as an attempt to ‘reform’ the public trustee foreclosure process by requiring lenders to prove that they hold the Deeds of Trust being foreclosed and further requiring them to negotiate and work with borrowers requesting a loan modification or other foreclosure prevention alternatives. If the Bill is […]
How to Overcome a Stagnant Board of Directors in Your Homeowners Association
A stagnant board of directors slows down the business initiatives of an Association and may cause the Community to lag behind comparable neighborhoods. Overcoming stagnation at an HOA requires establishing more open lines of communication with board members and seeking to identify key problems. Solving those same problems may also require the removal of board […]
The Big Bad HOA: Not Actually So Big and Definitely Not So “Bad”
We see many news articles about a big, bad homeowners’ association interfering with Harry Homeowner’s “right” to live peacefully in his neighborhood. Whether it is demanding the removal of a flag pole that is too tall or forcing an owner to paint a faded mailbox, the stories we read often leave us asking the question: […]
Maryland House Passes Bill To License And Regulate Property Managers
By a vote of 103 – 35, the Maryland House of Delegates has passed HB 576, which would establish a new regulatory agency for the licensing of community managers of condominiums, cooperative housing corporations, and homeowners associations. Read more…
Architectural Standards
One of the central roles of a homeowners or condominium owners association is the enforcement of architectural standards. The establishment of architectural standards is at the core of many declarations of covenants, conditions and restrictions (CCRs or “declaration”). Owners want to know that nobody will build a monstrous pink house next to them. Read more…
What is an Association Document?
Many owners believe that as members of a community association, they are entitled to inspect association records at will and at any time. An owner’s request to see the association records may happen for any number of reasons, such as when an owner feels that assessments are too high and sets out on a quest […]
Texas homeowners may have drought-resistant lawns
he Texas Legislature has guaranteed the right of landowners to install drought-resistant landscaping. The Senate passed a bill Monday denying homeowners’ associations the power to ban landscaping designs intended to save water. The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature. Read more…
Community Association Living [Part 4:Staying Out of Trouble]
My practice consists mostly of representing homeowners against their HOA (single-family homes) or COA (condos) and about half of my clients retain my services because they are being sued or about to be sued by their association. The problem is most homeowners do not understand their associations are in a superior position. Read More…
Ontario: Directors personally responsible for costs of litigation to quash owners’ rights
Noteworthy costs awards were recently released in Middlesex Condominium Corporation No. 232 v. Owners, which we cited as number 6 in our top 10 condo law cases of 2012 as follows: Faced with an increasingly unhappy ownership, the board commenced an application for appointment of an administrator. Read More……
Before Litigation, Community Associations Should Consider Mediation
The March edition of the King County Bar Bulletin contains the following article that I co-wrote with my paralegal Elizabeth Demong. We argue in this article that community associations and owners should strongly consider engaging in mediation before initiating litigation. Read More……
Health Concerns and Economics Are Leading More Condominium Associations to Ban Smoking
The battle between smokers and non-smokers may be reaching a tipping point in community associations. More boards are introducing master deed or by-law amendments prohibiting smoking completely – in individual units as well as in the common areas of their communities. And those proposals are attracting considerably more support and considerably less opposition than they […]
California Community Associations May be Liable for Injuries Suffered in Trip and Fall Accidents on City Sidewalks
There have been a number of articles written over the last few years regarding the fact that municipalities do not have the money or resources to repair sidewalks broken up by tree roots. There had been some programs in some California cities that would reimburse homeowners up to one half the cost of repairing sidewalks […]
Taming Transient Turmoil: Managing Renters in Condos
As housing markets in many parts of the country—including New Jersey—have foundered, many developers have opted to convert portions of communities originally intended to be condominiums into rental properties. When a development with no owner-occupied units converts to rental, it’s not such a big deal—after all, no units sold means no unit owners are affected. […]
Neighbor to Neighbor: A Guide to Alternative Dispute Resolution
Can’t we all just get along? It’s a million-dollar question. When people move into a community, they often look for the friendliness and camaraderie that living in an association brings. But with many personalities often butting heads on everyday-living situations, it can often get tense and things can go awry. Read More……
Building a Better Board: Common Traits of Successful Boards
Working in groups can be a challenge. Working in groups when people’s homes—and possibly their life savings—are involved can be a far greater challenge. It’s one faced every day by those brave souls who volunteer to serve on their co-op or condo board. While there is no sure-fire recipe for building a board that is […]
Eco-Friendly Landscaping: Long-Term Savings for Your Condo Community
In the face of rising water costs, maintenance costs, and a continued depressed housing market, many community associations are finding long-term savings through new landscape strategies that also help our environment. Eco-friendly landscaping practices are not just the domain of the nature lover anymore. They can mean significant returns on your investment. Read More……
Chemical Concerns: Organic Approach Reduces Costs and Health Risks
Since the 1950s, American lawns have been “hooked” on petroleum-based and synthetic chemicals. A plethora of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers have been eagerly embraced by both homeowners and landscape professionals, who cannot resist the dramatic results—an almost instantaneous, lush, green lawn Read More……
Treating Trees: Landscape Elements Deserve Some TLC
Months have slipped by, but it’s not easy to forget the damage that last year’s brutal weather brought to the trees in the New England area. In June, severe tornadoes touched down in Massachusetts, leaving total devastation in their wake. Read More……
Feeling Flowerful? Colorful Flowers Add Punch to a Community’s Eye Appeal
The phrase, “April showers bring May flowers” is a classic—but in real-life condo communities, beautiful, abundant flowers are a bit more complicated than merely a little bit of rainfall, and don’t just spring up overnight. Read More……