Articles

Facts: The declaration for a Pennsylvania planned community prohibited swimming pools on individual lots. A homeowner requested that the board consider changing the restriction on swimming pools. The board agreed that the owner could gather additional information regarding applicable city codes, insurance, and liability and present this information to the board.

Facts: When a gated retirement community was developed, it had a variety of recreational amenities, such as an Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis courts, playgrounds, clubhouses, picnic areas, a marina, lakes, beaches, and a campground. The association was organized to collect dues and assessments from property owners to pay for maintenance of the common areas and amenities. An owner based his decision to buy two homes in the community solely on the recreational activities and the availability of a dock for his pontoon boat.

A Reston, Va., couple say they won’t remove an American flag flying from their mailbox, despite a request by their community association to take it down. One of the homeowners said that, as a Navy veteran, he believes strongly in the country’s flag and is disregarding the “poorly written” letter informing the couple that the flag violated community rules. The letter also asked the couple to trim overgrowth on their property. The Fairfax, Va.-based management company that sent the letter asserted that it was only doing what the board of directors asked it to do.

If a hearing-impaired member in your community asks for a sign language interpreter to be present at a special meeting or at an annual meeting as a reasonable accommodation, be sure to provide one. Without a sign language interpreter, the disabled member may not be able to participate in any meaningful way at the meeting. As a result, your refusal to provide an interpreter could lead a hearing-impaired member to claim that you discriminated against him based on his disability.

If your condominium community uses a fuel-burning appliance such as a gas or oil furnace to heat your building or pool, you need to worry about carbon monoxide (CO), a hazardous material that your members cannot see or smell. Many people die and many more become seriously ill from CO poisoning each year.

As more military personnel are being called to active duty, you may find that service members in your community are falling into financial hardship from decreased income, and they may be having difficulty receiving notification of pending litigation against them. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) protects these persons called to active duty from debt collections, foreclosure, and eviction.

Some associations have tried to perform a reserve study using their members to save money. Not only may the members lack the engineering experience to accurately evaluate the property, but their judgment may not be objective. They may be reluctant to apply accurate assessments of the costs that must be set aside to perform long-term repairs, because members “know where they live.”

Federal agencies recently released a new set of criteria to help members and inspectors determine whether recent renovations or construction definitively has defective drywall. During the housing boom, it is estimated that more than 500 million pounds of possibly defective Chinese drywall was used throughout the country.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently affirmed the right of condominium associations to enter into exclusive marketing contracts and bulk-billing agreements with video service providers, but it also expressly reserved the right to change its mind down the road if circumstances warrant.

This FCC order was a follow-up to its original order banning exclusive contracts between condo buildings and cable companies as unfair competition. The FCC had sought comments in that original order about whether the prohibition should extend to bulk billing and marketing.

When a member makes a modification either to the interior or exterior of his unit without notifying the board, it could harm your community. For example, low-quality or hasty and ill-advised construction can drive down property values, increase the premiums on your community's liability insurance, or even render important warranties void. And some types of work, such as a new roof deck, if not done right, can lead to injuries and increase your community's exposure to personal injury liability.