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A Los Angeles condo association received bad news when it recently landed in court after prohibiting a disabled octogenarian owner and her two caregivers who had tested positive for COVID-19 from its high-rise building. (Thompson v. The Diplomat Condominium Association, Inc., L.A. Cty., Sept. 29, 2020) Not only did the trial judge grant the owner…

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, many community associations have turned to virtual or telephonic meetings, but some have run into members who object. A recent ruling by a New York state court provides some reassurance that your clients have some wiggle room when it comes to strict adherence to annual meeting requirements amidst…

Managing community associations means dealing with a nonstop carousel of complaints — those that are novel, those that are evergreen and never seem to go away, and those that pop up in new or unexpected ways. Here are some of the issues currently beleaguering association managers across the country. 1. Smoking This classic has gained…

COVID-19 vaccine development is looking very promising. Some high-risk groups may even be able to get vaccinated before the end of 2020. As vaccines become widely available, some of your clients, particularly those with older populations, may start wonder if they can — and should — require residents to be vaccinated. “People aren’t thinking about…

Community association managers can help prove their worth by prompting their clients to tackle an issue many probably haven’t considered — continuity planning. Almost every association and manager have certain board members they rely most heavily on, often long-standing members with impressive amounts of both institutional and practical knowledge. What happens if one of those…

The Fair Housing Act may prohibit racial discrimination, but a surprising number of community associations’ deed covenants still contain racial restrictions — and some of your clients could be among them. With civil rights a mainstay in the media since the death of George Floyd in May 2020, associations with such restrictions should take action…

Pharmaceutical companies and the Food and Drug Administration are hopeful that a vaccine against COVID-19 will be available in the coming months. As that date nears, some of your clients, particularly those with older populations, may start wonder if they can — and should — require residents to be vaccinated. “People aren’t thinking about it…

Short-term rental arrangements continue to plague community associations, with owners and powerful lobbying groups for companies like Airbnb constantly devising new tactics for avoiding restrictions. “With Airbnb and those platforms becoming such a huge percentage of rentals,” says Jennifer Biletnikoff, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff, “we’re going to see…

A Texas Court of Appeals has found that the failure to enforce a subdivision’s restrictive covenants constituted an abandonment of the restrictions as a whole — despite the fact that the covenants included a severability provision intended to protect the other provisions if one or more were struck down as unenforceable. “I’ve defended associations in…

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, many community associations have turned to virtual or telephonic meetings, but some have run into members who object. A recent ruling by a New York state court provides some reassurance that your clients have some wiggle room when it comes to strict adherence to annual meeting requirements amidst…