Articles

A white man who challenged a black family’s use of a gated pool in a North Carolina planned community resigned from the homeowner’s association board. After the board member, who also was the community pool chairman, asked a mother and her son to produce identification verifying that they were residents of the community, a verbal altercation began. The board member called the police, who diffused the situation.

Inevitably, in any homeowners association or condominium, there will be community-related conflicts. The bad news for associations when a dispute arises is that going to court can be extremely expensive, and the association might end up paying for litigation costs in the end. The good news when a homeowners association is asked to resolve conflicts is that there are ways to avoid costly legal battles: Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can address issues that don’t truly require a trip to court.

Q: The association for the community I manage is a nonprofit corporation where all lot owners are members of the corporation. The association recently decided to assess higher maintenance fees for those lots that have better and nearly sole access to some of the community’s amenities. The vote was taken at our annual meeting and the board followed all requirements under the governing documents to adjust the fees.

Facts: The restrictive covenants and bylaws for a homeowners association set out that no homeowner should “decorate, change or otherwise alter the appearance of any portion of the exterior of a dwelling or the landscaping, grounds or other improvements within a lot” unless approved by the association’s architectural review board (ARB), to “preserve the architectural and aesthetic appearance of the development.”

Proper and timely maintenance of every feature in a planned community or condominium is key to keeping things running smoothly. But members will inevitably have a wide range of attitudes toward their own maintenance obligations. On one end of the spectrum will be members who understand that, depending on the governing documents, they have maintenance obligations that are not the responsibility of the association. On the other end, you’ll encounter members who either don’t understand their obligations or don’t take them seriously.

Q: The board of the association I manage is trying to reduce costs for operating the community. One way to do this would be to drop an insurance policy for specific risks, like flooding. What is the risk for the association of not providing this type of insurance?

A New York community association is facing a discrimination lawsuit brought in federal court by Jewish members of the community who say that the association is hostile to their religious practices. According to the members, the association has adopted rules that are “expressly designed to harass Hasidic Jews.”

Proper and timely maintenance of every feature in a planned community or condominium is key to keeping things running smoothly. But members will inevitably have a wide range of attitudes toward their own maintenance obligations. On one end of the spectrum will be members who understand that, depending on the governing documents, they have maintenance obligations that are not the responsibility of the association. On the other end, you’ll encounter members who either don’t understand their obligations or don’t take them seriously.

Typically, if decisions made by the board turn out well, members are happy. But if the decisions lead to unforeseen costly expenses to the community, some members might sue, regardless of the board members’ good intentions. That’s why it’s more important than ever that your board’s judgments be the result of a sound, deliberative decision-making process. If they are, there’s a much better chance that courts will defer to them in case of a lawsuit.

Q: The board of directors of the community association I manage has the authority to approve or deny proposed leasing and sales transactions. If there is a denial, should we disclose the reasons behind it? If so, what is the best way to do so?