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FACTS: A couple filed a fair housing case, alleging discrimination based on familial status at the condominium community where they lived with their two minor children. The couple claimed that the condo association and its management company created an “atmosphere of hostility” against families with children.

At first glance, an association’s structure and management seem straightforward. A planned community or condominium building typically has a set of governing documents, a board of directors who make sure that the rules and regulations in those documents are followed, and a manager who, with her staff, oversees maintenance, compliance, and organizational aspects of the community. But that’s not always the structure.

The Coalition for Community Housing Policy in the Public Interest’s most recent national survey has uncovered higher dissatisfaction with associations from their members. A whopping 81 percent of community association residents cited a lack of transparency and poor communication as the top concerns among those who live in planned communities and condominiums.

Q: Some of the economically distressed members in the community I manage have decided to lease their homes to tenants to help cover their expenses. At the same time, the landlord-members seem to have made paying assessments a low priority and may have become delinquent. Can an association collect rent directly from a tenant to pay any delinquent assessments? If so, what is the best way to do this?

At first glance, an association’s structure and management seem straightforward. A planned community or condominium building typically has a set of governing documents, a board of directors who make sure that the rules and regulations in those documents are followed, and a manager who, with her staff, oversees maintenance, compliance, and organizational aspects of the community. But that’s not always the structure. Some communities have more than one association that oversees them, or some portions of a community but not others might have two associations.

The safety and security of the community you manage should be a top priority. You’re faced with many challenges when trying to keep your community safe and secure. You can take care of many cut-and-dried problems on your own or with help from your staff, if you can get the association to approve your recommendations. For example, investing in certain types of landscaping can increase visibility at the property and reduce blind spots where intruders could commit crimes unnoticed. Or you could install a surveillance system in your parking lots or common areas.

Facts: A homeowner in a planned community that was situated on a lake witnessed an employee of the community’s hired landscaping company spraying fumes without wearing protective clothing or a face mask. The homeowner complained to the association and also made a report to the state’s department of agriculture, regarding “an environmental and public health incident.” According to the homeowner, the board of directors and management staff had willfully failed to take any safety precaution to prevent this incident.

Facts: Two homeowners with a townhouse in a planned complex sued the association for making alterations to and performing work on a protective berm located in the complex’s common area near their lot. They alleged that the alterations to the berm resulted in a loss of seclusion and privacy for their lot, thus lowering its value. The homeowners asserted six causes of action for: breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional damage of property, negligence, trespass pursuant to state law, and an accounting.

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.

Finances are a huge consideration for community association boards and managers. It takes money—and sometimes lots of it—to keep a community or condominium building up to high standards and running smoothly. If you manage an association or serve on your association’s board of directors, you already know that almost everything you do depends to some degree on whether you have a budget that you can work with realistically.