Articles

Sadly, domestic violence incidents have become a regular presence on the news. And, chances are, a member in your community has experienced domestic violence, threats of violence, stalking, or harassment of some sort. As a manager, you have many roles; keeping residents safe is within your purview. You might’ve taken all of the steps you think you need to protect community members: installing a security system or cameras of some sort, maintaining landscaping that makes it difficult for would-be assailants to hide, and enforcing a curfew in situations that called for one.

Q: An elevator repair person injured himself while working on one of the elevators in the common area of the condo building I manage. He’s threatening to sue our board of managers, as well as the company that previously owned the building before it was recorded as a condominium, and 200 individual unit owners. What are some factors that could determine which defendant is held liable for the accident?

Facts: A condominium unit owner was obligated to pay a percentage of the condominium common area expenses. The condominium association sued the owner, seeking collection of unpaid condominium assessments. The owner claimed the association did not have the legal authority to require him to pay the assessments. He alleged that the condominium developer and real estate agents made misrepresentations and errors of omission, and as a result, the initial sale of units was a fraud.

Facts: A homeowner in a planned community sued an association and some of its board members, claiming that they violated her constitutional rights by prompting the police to harass her. Specifically, the homeowner claimed that the board members reported that her son was involved in something illegal and encouraged the police to arrest him. As a result, eight police officers came to her house, drawing their guns and threatening to come inside. The association and board members asked a trial court to dismiss the claims.

Meeting by conference call is different from meeting in person, so when you must conduct association business that way, you need to think about certain practical issues before going forward. Use the following four tips when you hold board meetings by conference call. Also, ask your association’s attorney whether your state law requires your association to pass a bylaw amendment allowing board meetings to be held by conference call.

Hiring and retaining good employees—who are essential to effective management—can be hard. Some unqualified applicants might want the job simply because they need a salary. If you already have conscientious management team members, use them as a resource by implementing an employee referral program that pays them for referring job candidates whom you hire.

When enforcing your community association’s house rules, you’ve probably heard members claim they weren’t aware that they were in violation because they never received a copy of the house rules in the first place. This could lead to a sticky situation if a member’s violation has damaged common areas or other members’ units, but the member claims that he’s not liable because, without a copy of the house rules, he had no way of knowing that his behavior was prohibited.

Record keeping is an essential part of running an association. Not only does the law require associations to keep certain types of records for specified periods of time, but records also can prove that the association acted as it was required to in certain situation, and help you keep track of things like association spending, complaints and requests by members, and board decisions.

Despite widespread warnings about the dangers of cigarettes, you’ll no doubt have at least some smokers in the community you manage. This is especially problematic in condominium buildings, where smoke from one unit can permeate other units and common areas—leading to bitter complaints or damage that you’ll have to deal with. Some cigarette smoke complaints might even purport that the smoke is causing health issues for other members.

Q: I’ve had to send several notices to homeowners in the planned community I manage. They’ve installed fencing that isn’t compliant with association requirements. There has been so much correspondence regarding the issue—do I have to reference in each notice exactly what the homeowners are being warned about?