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When you hire independent contractors to perform work at your community, you risk being sued if any of the contractors' workers are injured on the job. Any good community association manager will want to ensure that work is being done correctly, on time, and without risks to the community or its members. So, it's good to keep a keen eye on contractors' employees as they work on projects for which you've hired them.

The most unique house in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, is creating controversy among neighbors in a quiet Herriman planned community. Many of the community's owners said they were attracted to the area by the “muted” paint tones of the homes there. The yellow, orange, green, and lavender color palette of the controversial house—inspired by the Disney-Pixar cartoon movie “Up—has drawn national attention for its retro design and bright siding.

In a new proposal, Marin County, Calif., health officials are circulating an ordinance cracking down on smoking in multi-unit apartment and condominium complexes. The antismoking law, due for review by county supervisors in December, is almost identical to the ordinance adopted earlier this year by Larkspur, Calif. That city's ordinance bars residents from lighting up in most condominium and apartment units. County officials have said that the smoking crackdown is necessary to “preserve healthy communities.”

Smoking not only poses dangers such as fire and health risks to a community, it also annoys nonsmoking members and their guests, resulting in more complaints that you have to address. Cigarettes or cigars that haven't been completely extinguished can spark flames. And secondhand tobacco smoke—Environmental Tobacco Smoke or ETS—has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a “Group A” carcinogen, a known cause of cancer.

Faced with a growing number of complaints from Colorado homeowners about American flags, access to financial documents, and the right to speak up at meetings, the Colorado Legislative Action Committee of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) is asking the state to investigate the need to license community association managers.

Community members may want to inspect the records of their association for a variety of reasons, some legitimate and some improper. It may be hard to tell whether a member wants access to records for a harmless reason, to harass the association, to gather confidential information to which the member isn't entitled, or for information that will support his case if he's planning to sue the association. This makes it difficult to know when to grant and when to deny requests when they're made.

Facts: A member in the penthouse apartment of a New York City cooperative building sued the co-op, its board, and its manager, claiming that they failed to maintain the building in good repair and that they concealed from the co-op's members that dangerous problems existed in the building's fireplaces and flues.

Twenty-four-seven security patrols can be very expensive and, if your community doesn't experience a lot of crime, you may be tempted to cut corners and use only part-time patrols. But if you do this, stagger security guards' shifts to keep criminals off guard. If you change the shifts your security patrol works every day, it will be more difficult for criminals to anticipate when the best opportunity for them to commit a crime by avoiding the patrol will be.

To eliminate potential hiding spots for criminals on community property and reduce the potential for crime, consider assessing and possibly changing your community's landscaping. Doing so could also help reduce your liability for any crimes that do occur, says attorney and security expert Norman Bates. That's because, if a crime occurs, the victim may sue you for negligence, claiming that you didn't take reasonable steps to prevent the crime.

The Alarm Association of Florida recommends six safety and security tips that can help you keep your community crime free:

Tip #1: Avoid having trees or hedges that block doors or windows.

Tip #2: Install motion detector lights for the property's perimeter and areas that are typically dark at night.

Tip #3: Periodically update locks for doors in common areas or other areas of the property where criminals could hide.

Tip #4: Beware of cheap security cameras and alarm systems sold door-to-door or online.