The Power Struggle - Savings is a Priority 

Even in the best of times, owners tend to resist, and boards tend to avoid, proposals that will increase their fees or require special assessments. But with energy costs rising, financial pressures today are putting communities between a rock and a hard place,¨ Ralph Noblin, P.E., president of Noblin & Associates, a Massachusetts engineering company, observes. They know it makes sense to replace the siding or add energy-efficient windows, but money is tight and owners aren't willing to approve those expenditures.    Read more

To Pave or Not to Pave?

If I was given a dollar for every time that question was asked of me, I would be a very wealthy person.  But, If I had to pay a dollar for every time I had to respond: "I don't know", I would be broke.  Why this is such a tough question to answer is not my lack of knowledge or experience, it's more based on the lack of direction of the clients, their budget, and what they are trying to accomplish.  A good community sets aside reserves for projects as large as an asphalt overlay.  However, what I run into the most, is their confusion on the many different opinions from the contractors they meet.  Additionally, the multitude of asphalt maintenance products presented to them only adds to their confusion.  Read more  (PDF)

A New England Town where History Conflicts with Progress

When a person purchases a piece of property at the far end of a quiet neighborhood, they should expect privacy. Where cemeteries exist, persons who are descendants of the buried should expect to have access to their ancestor’s burial sites. This is the core of the conflict facing New England residents in a condominium development and descendents of those buried in a small family cemetery. The kernel of the debate is whose rights triumph. Can the condominium management bar non-residents from using the road that is the only access to the cemetery?   Read more

An excellent set of blog posts regarding ecology issues and the association, from the New Jersey law firm of Stark & Stark

Balancing the Ongoing 'Green Revolution' & Fiduciary Duty, Restrictive Covenants, Rules and Regulations

The "Green" Association

Current Economic Climate Encourages Homeowners and Associations to "Go Green

Existing and Pending State Laws concerning Community Associations and "Going Green"

Save some paper, save some trees

Community Association Governing Documents - Black and White, or Shades of Gray?

In a nation founded on an individual’s rights, the wording provided in any given set of community association Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), Declaration or Master Deed (for brevity’s sake, we’ll call these similar documents “Declaration”) is clearly directive and controlling, concepts many people seem to find hard to live with. Obviously, it was the intent of the authors of every Declaration in existence today to place very specific use restrictions on the land within the community in order to provide for the protection of the appearance of that property and to enhance its value into the future. At first blush, one might say that Declarations seem to violate the basic tenets our forefathers envisioned for this country when we became a nation.  Without a doubt, the restrictive nature of Declarations brings inherent challenges to every board member when it comes to their interpretation and implementation. We know that most sets of rules and regulations require interpretation to facilitate their effective implementation and that the task of understanding and implementing these documents falls squarely on the shoulders of the association’s board. In many instances, a board will hire a management company to assist with the application and enforcement of the governing documents. Generally, association boards fall into two basic categories when it comes to this enforcement task:    Read more

Welcome to the HOA Board!

The annual homeowner meeting convenes. The president of the homeowner association announces that the floor is open for nominations. A fellow homeowner say to you, "You know, you would make a good board member."  Before you have a chance to reply, some body movement indicates that you are willing, ready and able to serve. "The nominations are closed," a vote is taken, and suddenly YOU ARE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. You ask yourself, "What does being on the board mean and who is going to teach me?" Here are some basic guidelines on how to become a successful board member and enjoy it at the same time ... a lesson in HOA responsibilities and practices. What does it mean to be on the board?   Read more

CA Appellate decision that developer's waiver of trial by jury in documents "unconscionable"

In a recent Appeals Court decision, language in the documents that waived the association's right to sue the developer in a trial by jury, the court ruled that "the Legislature did not intend the CC&R's be sufficient to effectively and permanently waive the constitutional right to a trial by jury."  Read the opinion  (PDF)

The Smart Things Managers Do ...when it comes to looking for work.

As you can imagine, a big part of my job involves talking with managers who are either thinking about changing jobs, seriously thinking about changing jobs, or changing jobs involuntarily. And although I am able to assist many of them, there are a lot of folks out there that I just can’t help because they haven’t started to help themselves be competitive in the manager employment market. Here are just some of things smart managers do to help themselves when it’s time to seek employment (and there will be a test at the end – open book!).   Read more

Night Board Meetings - Do Away With Them!

Take a long day at the office, plus long commutes to and from home, add dinner and a cocktail or two and you have the makings for an ineffective individual. Unfortunately this is the exact scenario that is in place for a typical community association board of directors meeting. The setting for any board of directors meeting should certainly be at a time and place when people can function at their fullest. IBM doesn’t hold their meetings at night and neither should a community association. Even though it could be argued that a community association is non profit and simply consists of a tract of homes, boards of directors for these communities have immense decision making obligations to their membership.     Read more

Line of Credit for Associations

It is often said “The hardest time to get credit is when it  is needed most”. This is true of households, businesses  and Associations. One only has to go back to 2004 and 2005  when we were hit with a series of hurricanes that  devastated our area. Most associations learned that their  operating budgets and reserves did not take into account  the possibility of these events.    Hurricanes, natural disasters and emergencies always come  at a high cost. Years ago we could rely on our insurance  coverages to take over and the Association would only be  out $1,000.00 for the deductible. The rest being covered  by the insurance policy. Today, we have 5% to 10%  deductibles, exclusions and overall less coverage (for much  higher costs). The association (its owners/members) are to  make up for the rest of these costs. How can an  association pay for these costs when they happen? There  are several ways and I will explain each.    Read more

Fiduciary Responsibility of Association Directors: Practical Application of Legal Theory

The law of fiduciary responsibility can be viewed as having two purposes. The first is moral or educational in nature. The law sets a standard for appropriate conduct of association directors. It is intended to guide proper conduct and avoid inappropriate actions. The other role of the law of fiduciary duty is to act as a practical tool for restitution. If a homeowners association is damaged because of a breach of fiduciary duty by the director, the law affords a remedy to recover the resulting damages. A wealth of resources are available to directors to assist in understanding and meeting their fiduciary responsibilities. Books, pamphlets, magazines and newsletters are one source of information.       Read more

The Fight Against Abusive Boards

One of the worst situations in the development of community associations is the problem of an abusive board. Not all boards are abusive and perhaps most boards act properly and in good faith. But certainly there are a large number of abusive boards. We observed that there are two kinds of abusive boards. The entrenched board and the weak board. The entrenched board exercises too much power, while the weak board exercises too little power.   Read more