eAlerts

A pair of state senators expressed their support for residents of a Florida homeowners association at a recent town hall meeting primarily concerned with gaining control of their community. Association homeowners from a community that includes about 27,000 homes are fighting legal battles with the association and with the community’s developer over the number of votes the developer would be able to cast in elections. Meanwhile, the developer sued the association in Circuit Court to get the maximum number of votes for undeveloped tracts.

Q: I manage a condominium building that was previously owned before the current association took it over. A handicapped unit owner claims that some elements of the building—namely, some doors—are difficult, but not impossible, for him to use as a result of his disability. He is suing the association under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and asking that the association spend what would be a considerable amount of time and money redoing the design and construction of the building to accommodate him.

A recent amicus curiae brief aims to help protect associations' financial stability. Virginia-based Community Associations Institute (CAI) has endorsed a new amicus curiae brief supporting community association priority lien rights. CAI, an international authority in community association governance, management, and education, announced that Jaime Fraser Carr, Esq., and Marvin J.

Sometimes, to comply with the law, association boards must be restructured. If you find yourself in the position of having to deliver the news and help with the restructure, you could be faced with accusations by board members that you’re improperly trying to oust them for your own motives. For example, if you’ve had difficulty working with the current board members, they could assume that you’d like to replace them with members who will be more accommodating. The laws that apply to condo association and HOA board term limits vary from state to state.

Paying a contractor up front to do work for your association isn’t a good idea. If it does a shoddy job, your only recourse would be to sue the contractor for not living up to the agreement. But this can be costly. And it’s avoidable—if you protect yourself from subpar workmanship or a failure to finish the job. Having the contract state that the association can make “progress payments” as the contractor moves ahead with the work, and including a “retainage” clause, is a way to encourage a contractor to complete the job to your satisfaction.

Because the decisions that a board makes very rarely please everyone, you could find yourself having to prevent unacceptable behavior toward board members. Most displeased owners may focus their energies on building consensus and replacing current board members. But there are some members whose tempers will flare and who will handle their displeasure with the board in completely inappropriate ways in the short term.

Managing a condominium building or planned community is undeniably challenging; balancing the needs of members, the board of directors, your own staff, and contractors or third-party vendors can be like a juggling routine. You might feel as though each day you’re interviewing for your own job. A great opportunity to both shine as a manager and execute one of the most important events of the year is the annual member meeting.

It’s crucial to make sure that meeting notices are properly handled. Otherwise, a court could rule that decisions stemming from such meetings are not valid. That was the situation in a recent Colorado community association lawsuit. There, the board of directors of a condominium association wanted to effectively rewrite its declaration, originally drafted in 1983, because the original document was so outdated that the board felt it was necessary to start over from the beginning. After the declaration had been amended, two condominium members sued the association.

Rules passed by a homeowners association are for the good of the community, and safety rules are especially geared towards protecting members. In a planned community that’s laid out in a neighborhood fashion, a major risk of accidents is traffic—specifically, speeding or careless driving that’s even more common thanks to some drivers feeling that it’s okay to use smartphones while they’re behind the wheel.

Community Associations Institute (CAI), the leading authority for community association education, governance, and management, has awarded the most prestigious and respected designation—Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM)—to 86 community association professionals. The PCAM designations were earned between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2016, and the recipients joined the more than 2,800 total managers who have earned the prestigious PCAM designation. For the first time, the PCAM case study was administered outside the United States—in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.