Condo Meltdown:  Some condo buildings get blacklisted by lenders

Beatriz Bustos has been trying to sell her Brickell condo for about a year. She has found a few prospects and has gotten close to sealing a deal several times but all the potential buyers ran into the same obstacle — they couldn’t get financing. “No one qualifies for financing,” said Bustos, who is facing foreclosure. But the problem isn’t the buyers, it’s the building — the Vue at Brickell. What Bustos didn’t realize is that her building has been blacklisted by lenders as have dozens of other condos in South Florida. Banks and mortgage lenders compile lists of buildings they find too risky for lending, and they refuse to finance purchases there.  Read more

Roofing Warranties: Always Read the Fine Print

Few roofs are installed without a warranty, but few roofing warranties are actually read and understood. Clearly, warranty documents are not exactly beach reading. Understanding the legalese of a roofing warranty may be a challenge. But reading and understanding the fine print of a roofing warranty before signing the contract is essential. It’s the only way facility executives can find out what lurks in the fine print. They might be surprised.  Read more

Coverage Under Occurrence Policy Even Though Claimant Not Yet Formed At Time Of Incident

A California Appellate court has issued an interesting opinion helpful to insureds involving the tender of claims under occurrence policies of insurance. A condominium association sued a developer in a construction defect lawsuit.  The dispute arose in connection with a condominium project which, as early as 1990, showed evidence of defective construction.  From August 1991 through June 1992, the developer was insured under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy issued by Standard Fire Insurance Company (“Standard”) which covered liability for property damage occurring “during the policy period.”   At the time of the incident, however, the Association had not yet been formed.   Read more

Can't Get The Interview? 3 BIG Reasons Why

Last month we discussed resumes, and how a well-executed resume is going to be key to obtaining an interview. For this month’s discussion, let’s assume the quality and format of your résumé is stellar: No typos, correct acronyms, professional email address, etc. You send it out diligently and wait patiently for  responses.  But you just can’t seem to get an interview. There are several reasons why this may be, but let’s talk about the top three reasons that I see: Your career path thus far, your qualifications and your location.  Let’s talk:   Read more

Rental Compliance

Community Associations help retain and improve the standard of living and property values within a community. While all owners sometimes wish that a particular restriction did not apply to them, most are grateful that the restrictions apply to their neighbors. In some cases their neighbor may not own the home; but have leased the home. Through the direction of your Board of Directors, the Management Firm should serve your community by coordinating common needs, overseeing and enforcing the governing documents (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, Articles of Incorporation, By Laws, Design Guidelines and Rules & Regulations). The communities governing documents may allow rentals; but in most cases the governing documents are not specific and allow broad interpretation. An example of the verbiage may be “each residential dwelling unit constructed on the Property may be occupied only by a single-family. Any dwelling unit may be rented to a single-family tenant from time to time by the owner, subject to the Association Rules”. Unfortunately for some community associations, especially the owner living next to the non-compliant renter, governing documents that are not specific or silent allow on-going problems and aggravations.  Read More

Avoiding the Litigation Nightmare

Ask any board member, property manager, insurance agent or attorney what is one of the most important legal concerns for any community association and the answer will likely be unanimous… AVOID LITIGATION. Any board that has found itself in the midst of protracted litigation knows all too well the reason for this sentiment. Litigation is costly, time-consuming and often results in neither side getting what it wants. Not to mention the fact that community associations are where we live. It’s just not enjoyable being embroiled in litigation with one’s neighbor. In an effort to avoid litigation, boards need to be aware of several pitfalls that are ripe for controversy and an ever-increasing source of community association litigation:   Read more

HOA Meetings by Design

Meetings are the venues wherein homeowner association business decisions are made. Since these meetings are usually infrequent, the importance of the decisions made cannot be understated. However, some HOAs are decision challenged because:   Read more

Greening the HOA

While there is continuing debate about global warming, one related issue that all agree on is the need for better stewardship of the Earth. We all owe a debt of caring for our world. What better place to start than at home? While governments often move at a glacial pace to enact green policies, self help is readily available today.   Read more

THE EFFECT OF FORECLOSURES ON COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS  

A few years ago, when “community association” and “foreclosure” appeared in the same sentence, it was typically a situation where the association was acting on its right to foreclose on the unit for unpaid assessments. However, the sharp increase in lender foreclosures affecting households across all income brackets is beginning to hinder associations leaving them to wonder what rights they can assert against the unit, the owner, or the foreclosing lender.   Read more (Word Doc)

A Potential Directors and Officers Lawsuit Avoiding the Nightmare

Did you ever think one of your neighbors would initiate a lawsuit against the association, the board, each of the members individually, and the property manager long after the event you now have trouble remembering ever took place?  Well, hold on to your hats, because that is quite a ride and removing yourself from the board this instant does not mean you won’t be included in a future lawsuit. These hornet nests don’t materialize immediately. Instead they fester in someone’s head until one day they decide to make the leap and there on your doorstep are the papers outlining only the beginning of the education you are now going to receive.   Read more  (Word Doc)

MD: Crofton letters ban troublemakers

Note to criminals: Check your mail, it may keep you out of jail. To curtail nuisance crimes, residents of a Crofton neighborhood are sending letters to people they deem unsavory, telling them if they return to private property owned by the neighborhood they will be arrested for trespassing, a crime that could result to a $500 fine or 90 days in jail.   The Crofton Meadows Homeowner's Association also is encouraging neighboring communities to start doing the same thing,  Read more

Good association financial practices

In 1994, many associations were devastated by earthquake, and in 2007 some were destroyed by fire. However, annually a number of associations suffer an event in many ways just as jarring – the discovery that a director or agent trusted with finances abused that trust. Unlike earthquakes, this can largely be prevented. Boards and managers should calmly address the unthinkable –that some future employee or board member might betray the association's trust. Of course, the majority of directors and managers are trustworthy, and breaches of that trust are quite rare. However, accusations of financial mismanagement or even dishonesty often too quickly arise in HOA's. Healthy financial practices can quickly prove the integrity of a board or manager.   Read more

TX: Fines, lawyer fees lead to HOA power battles/a>
Bland said with the authority given to HOAs in Texas, abuse of power can happen. But he also said some homeowners can be part of the problem when they do not know what restrictions may exist against their property....

FL: Beach Condominiums has been vacant since Hurricane Ivan in 2004  The Beach Condominiums at Navarre Beach took walloping punches from Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis but did not fall. The knockout blow will be delivered at about 8:30 Saturday morning when, barring bad weather, dynamite will be used to implode the vacant, seven-st...

TX: Frisco parents fight judge's sex offender order   While the HOA and its lawyers are confronting Harris County in an attempt to figure out why the judge made the ruling, they said they have had no response...

FL: Suits seeks part of deposit for buyers who walked away  Becker's contract says, "If buyers default after 15 percent of the purchase agreement, exclusive of interest, has been paid, the seller will refund to the buyer any amount which remains from the payment made after subtracting 15 percent of the purchase price,...

SC: Wild Dunes sandstorm settled
Wild Dunes beachfront property owners and the state on Tuesday settled a stalemate over removing sandbags in front their properties on the severely eroding beach...