|
|
 |
|
Recent Articles Around the Web |
Proceed With Caution:
Common Defenses to Covenant Enforcement
Actions
Covenant enforcement … explaining to a
homeowner that the expensive new fence he
built all by himself, but without permission
from the architectural committee, must go …
breaking the news to the elderly woman who
holds her new puppy in her arms that the
association’s rules prohibits animals …
telling the belligerent couple on the corner
that although purple is a great color for
grapes, it’s not approved as an allowable
color for their siding. As a board member,
your duty to enforce your association’s
covenants might well be one of your least
favorite responsibilities. However, as
unpleasant as taking action may be, it is
imperative not to put it off until another
day. Remember, because of the application of
certain defenses, time and careful planning
is indispensable when it comes to successful
covenant enforcement.
read more
|
|
Special Assessments Are
Unavoidable but Trustees Can Reduce the Pain
for Owners and for Themselves
Special assessment. The mere mention of
the term infuriates condominium owners and
terrifies condominium trustees, who duck and
cover instinctively whenever the topic comes
up.
In an ideal world, special assessments –
levied to finance major and unanticipated
expenditures – would never be required,
because community associations would always
have the funds they needed, either in their
operating budgets or their reserves, to
cover the costs. But the world, as you have
no doubt noted, is not ideal, and even the
best managed communities, overseen by the
most conscientious trustees, sometimes
encounter problems they didn’t expect and
couldn’t predict. An unusually severe winter
can bury the snow removal budget; a roof
that was expected to last for 25 years may
have to be replaced much sooner, because it
is damaged by storms or falling trees, or
simply because it ages more rapidly than
projected; siding may prove to be less
durable than the contractor suggested it
would be.
read more
|
|
|
|
|
New at CAN
Hurricane
Katrina
We've offered to post a web page of information and
contacts for community associations in the storm
area. To
post the information and a
list of charities and resources
New Blog
Coming
The Community Associations Network
will be creating a new blog in the next week aimed
at Boards of Directors of Community Associations.
This one will be a little different in that it's
purpose will be to build a Board "How To" manual
drawing on the talents of a number of different
writers. Look for it soon.
Blogs
The Community Associations Network
can host your blog. If you
have an interest in writing
items that would be beneficial to the
community association industry, please
contact us for more information.
Pass this along
Do you know someone in your office or
association that could use the information
that is in this newsletter? Why not
forward them a copy? The subscription
is free and we
don't sell, lease or give out the mailing
list.
PDF Version - we know have a PDF
version of the E-newsletter available. The
link to it is at the top of the page and also on the
Newsletter page of the site.
E-Newsletter is best viewed in HTML
|
|
|
|
|
HOA Pluralistic Ignorance
Homeowner associations
sometimes come under attack for suppressing
Bill of Rights freedoms. Sometimes the
accusation is one of principle (I'm not
allowed to do what I want) rather than a
specific instance (I'm not allowed to post
signs). While the media makes it appear that
this phenomena is pervasive, in reality,
they are isolated cases caused by an overly
aggressive board, member, or both, who lock
horns.
read more
Project Planning = Success!
Cameo Woods is a 384-condominium
association sitting on 24 acres with over
600 trees that add to the beauty and value
of the property. After many years of a
hit-and-miss style of tree maintenance, we
took a much different approach this year.
We selected an arborist to assist in
determining the type, condition and level
of trimming necessary to improve the
condition of all our trees. We had started
this process in the past, but the
association did not follow through with
the arborist’s advice and allowed
themselves to be influenced by the advice
of residents and the limitations of the
budget.
read more
Contract Check List
In every contracting situation from the
smallest everyday project to the largest
construction project, consider the
following issues:
read more
Managers and Boards Affected by Katrina
- Post Contact Information
The communications problems created by
Hurricane Katrina will be around for
awhile. In the meantime, boards,
owners, managers, banks, insurance
companies, attorneys and contractors need
to somehow find a way to contact each
other. CAN is offering its web site
and encouraging other organizations to
offer theirs to create a temporary
reference resource that will help them get
together. For more information:
read more
|
|
Ice Damming
Leaks: What Happened?
It's that time of year again. The snow
that is pretty for some is scary for
others. You have experienced, read, or
heard about ice damming. You are familiar
with the damage the phenomena can cause.
Perhaps your Association has spent several
hundred thousand or even over a million
dollars on roofing improvements and/or
replacements within the last few years.
Why do we have leaks from ice damming?
Wasn't the roof replacement performed
correctly or designed correctly? The
answer is simple, with a properly designed
and installed roof system, the possibility
of damage resulting from ice damming
should be significantly reduced.
read more
Making the
Connection with Your Local Government
Recognizing the need to
work with your government officials will
be an advantage in maintaining and
enhancing the quality of life for your
community. Please note that many of the
local development ordinances mirror your
own Association standards and criteria.
When reviewing your zoning and design
guidelines, it is not unusual to find that
the goals and objectives of the
municipality parallel those of your
Association. Previously adopted and
implemented local ordinances ensure that a
community is developed with consistency
and provide aesthetic appeal as well.
read more
Splitting Legal Hairs:
Improvement vs Replacement is Not Always
Clear Cut
Of all the work a condominium board
approves, perhaps the most legally murky
is what is known as an improvement to the
condominium. A board can order repair,
replacement, and maintenance of existing
common area elements without the approval
of the unit owners, but before the board
can approve an improvement, it must first
get at least 50 percent of the owners to
vote for it.
read more
Individual cities
ponder management ordinances.
Florida -
A proposed state law imposing greater
oversight on condominium management
companies foundered in the most recent
legislative session. So activists are now
turning to individual cities. In the first
such move, on Thursday Miami Beach
Commissioner Luis Garcia introduced an
ordinance requiring condo management
companies to obtain a license from the city
before they can be hired by a condo
association. The measure also calls for
standardized hurricane preparedness
guidelines and requires condo managers,
condo boards and companies doing business
with condos to disclose any personal
relations.
|
|
|
|
|
in the News
Natural Gas Prices Set to Skyrocket, Expert Says. The
cost of keeping the nation cool this summer will
slam those who use natural gas to heat their homes
next winter. "Natural gas prices are very high and
ugly on the futures board," said Tom Schneider of
the Montana Public Service Commission. I don't see
anything good for next winter." While most of the
nation has focused on the extreme heat across the
country this summer the price of natural gas has
been pegging up to unprecedented levels, Schneider
said. At the same fame, the amount of natural gas
going into storage for use during the heating season
- November through March - is sharply below normal
for this time of year.
|
CA: Ducheny foreclosure bill approved by
legislature. Senator
Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego) announced Monday
that Senate Bill 137 was approved by the
legislature. The vote in the Senate was 29-3 and
64-12 in the Assembly.
|
FL: Ocala subdivision apologizes for barring
temporary housing of evacuees -
A homeowners association has apologized for telling
residents that subdivision rules would keep them
from temporarily housing Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
|
OH: Age-targeting in hot seat.
A federal court lawsuit filed by the non-profit Fair
Housing Center of Toledo accuses Waterside and local
developer Duane Ankney of violating those laws. The
case could be one of the first nationally to
challenge an increasingly popular way of setting up
and marketing so-called "active adult communities,"
according to lawyers.
|
N.H. Judge rejects plea deal for condo manager. A
judge has rejected a proposed plea bargain for a
woman accused of stealing several hundred thousand
dollars from the condominium association she once
managed.
|
Justice Dept. Sues NAR for Anti-Trust. The
Department of Justice's Antitrust Division today
filed a lawsuit against the National Association of
Realtors (NAR), challenging a policy that obstructs
real estate brokers who use innovative
Internet-based tools to offer better services and
lower costs to consumers. The Department said that
NAR's policy prevents consumers from receiving the
full benefits of competition and threatens to lock
in outmoded business models and discourage
discounting.
|
TX: Two Sienna residents asked to "depose" on
weblog postings . Chris
Calvin, co-chair of a group of Sienna homeowners
opposing apartments, and Matthew Feinberg, owner of
MissouriCityTalk.com, a website for Sienna
homeowners to discuss issues in their community,
have received a notice from Sienna/Johnson
Development Corporation of their intent to take
depositions, as a prelude to a potential lawsuit
that the developers may file against the two
residents.
|
FL: Homeowners Fear More Rentals. One
or two rental homes in a deed-restricted community
was once the norm across much of Southwest Florida.
But with speculators investing in the area's robust
housing market, hundreds of rental homes are on the
market, many in more affluent communities
unaccustomed to sharing the neighborhood with more
than a few renters.
|
Rooftops reign as effort to curb urban runoff.
When it rains on the Yorktowne Square Condominiums
in Falls Church, VA, one of its buildings doesn’t
pour as much runoff into local waterways as it did
in previous years—nor is there as much of the
sediment and nutrient pollution that travels with
it. The reason is a new layer of rooftop greenery.
|
AZ: Old homes, new colors. "A
lot of people are asking for darker colors if their
homeowners association will allow it," said Jim
Schriner, who has painted three homes for Fulton.
Schriner, owner of Chandler-based Arizona Repaint
Specialists, said HOA boards are slowly switching
approved palettes to include darker, earth-tone
colors.
|
IL: Homeowners claim they were bilked, Lockport
residents say association is owed $100,000.
Joseph Burke didn't think twice about paying $3,200
in homeowners association fees when he built two
Lockport homes — one for himself and one for his
daughter — in 2002. But he and other residents of
the large Thunder Hill of Broken Arrow subdivision
were surprised when they took over the association
one year later — and found only about $4,100 in the
coffers.
|
IL: Commonwealth on Prairie haunted by old tax
bill. Two
years after the completion of the Commonwealth on
Prairie development near 18th and Prairie, an
overdue tax bill of nearly $150,000 has town house
and condominium owners fretting. While the
developer, the Rezmar-owned South Prairie LLC, has
acknowledged its liability, the company has a little
more than a month to settle the bill or risk the
possible foreclosure of some of the now-carved-up
property.
|
|
View All News Stories |
|
|
DAily News on
Your Web Site |
 Would you
like to get the Community Associations
Network's Daily News Headlines on YOUR
website. It's pretty easy - just
copy and paste some code - where you would
like it to appear. You can get as
many stories as you like and they update
automatically. If you're interested,
the code is
available. You
can see a
sample on a site.
Special news feeds for California,
Florida and New England, with just local
stories, are also available.
See the current news articles.
|
|
|
|
