Articles

Facts: Two homeowners sued the association. They asked for a temporary restraining order to stop the association from locking them out of their home due to the foreclosure on their home. They claimed that the president of the association began harassing one of the homeowners due to her nationality and language barrier.

By Andrea Brescia

By Andrea Brescia

As times and social tastes change, your board might explore adding amenities to keep your community association current and in line with newer associations. The amenities that were in place when your association was founded might not be completely satisfying to your membership today—or attracting new buyers.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently ordered a condominium association in Puerto Rico to pay $20,000 in damages plus a $16,000 civil penalty for refusing to allow a resident with disabilities to keep his emotional support animal.

Eventually, a community association will face the question of whether to update its governing documents. Laws change, and with that, governing documents are superseded. Should your declaration be changed with every new law? When is the right time to address previously unforeseen quality-of-life issues? How do you update your governing documents so that they provide the framework for your association’s current and future needs, without creating unexpected problems?

By Andrea Brescia

Facts: A homeowner asked her HOA for permission to build a fence for her German shepherd puppy. Under its restrictive covenants, the HOA was required to answer an application for architectural changes within 30 days of submission. The HOA rejected her application.

Facts: A condominium owner who enjoyed playing tennis purchased a unit in 1986 that had a tennis court for the common use of all unit owners. Over the years, the tennis court fell into disrepair. In 2013, the condominium’s owners’ association (COA) proposed removing the tennis court and converting it to a different common use.

Facts: On Jan. 17, 2010, a pedestrian, while walking his dog, slipped and fell on patch of black ice in the roadway owned by the condominium homeowners association (COA). The COA had contracted out snow removal for the roadways and walkways to a landscape company for the 2009 and 2010 winter season. If a weather event met certain conditions, the contractor would automatically perform the snow removal. Otherwise, the COA would call the contractor for any additional services. The contractor last plowed the roadway on Jan. 2 and 4. At that time, sand and salt were applied.

In recent years, as more people have moved away from rural and suburban communities and into cities, demand for condos has surged. In most major metropolitan areas, prices for condos are increasing faster than single-family home prices, according to real estate website Trulia, and condo sales are gaining market share at the expense of other types of home sales.