eAlerts

A couple of homeowners in a Phoenix planned community feel they’ve been painted into a corner by their homeowner’s association. The couple was informed after repainting their home the same color it had been for 10 years, that painting—even if it’s not a new color scheme—requires a special application to the association to be made two weeks before the project.

Inevitably, for one reason or another, a community association board member will give up her position. When this happens, the association has the sometimes difficult task of replacing the outgoing member—and you may be asked to help the board determine who the best replacement for an outgoing board member is. If so, there are specific important qualities that make for a successful community association board of directors, or can change the makeup of the board in a meaningful way.

Security is one of the most important aspects of managing a community. After all, if members don’t feel safe, they won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of association living. Review your security policies and practices frequently. If you’re on a tight security budget and don’t have access to a lot of resources, or if your community doesn't experience a lot of crime, you may be tempted to cut corners—for example, by using only part-time patrols. But if you do this, stagger security guards' shifts to keep criminals off guard.

Q: Several community members, and, occasionally some guests, use wheelchairs. Because of the size and design of some of the common areas, the walls have been dented, paint has been scratched on the walls and doors, and corners and doorways have been nicked. There has also been damage to carpets and wood floors from wheelchairs. It has been expensive to repair wall and floor damage caused by those wheelchairs to the common areas. What can I do to prevent this damage?

An Arizona HOA board has succumbed to pressure from owners in the community to reverse its ban on residents smoking medical marijuana in their yards and on their patios. The HOA board had voted to ban the use of medical marijuana in those areas, prompting residents to accuse the board of overstepping its bounds. A petition to rescind the ban had been circulated by several homeowners, many of whom cited their personal freedom as one of many reasons that they were outraged.

If you're in a part of the country experiencing harsh winter conditions, you may be worried about the possibility of being hit with slip-and-fall lawsuits filed by members or guests. Although it’s inevitable that accidents will occur, the association can try to make the community as safe as possible for members and consequently avoid liability for any slip-and-fall accidents.

Before you remove or cover up graffiti at your community, take color photographs of it. Your first instinct will naturally be to remove graffiti immediately so that it doesn't send the message that your community is in decline or give the vandals the recognition they want. But graffiti is a crime. And the police can use color photographs of graffiti to identify, track, and prosecute the graffiti artists responsible.

A couple will receive nearly $1.2 million to settle their lawsuit against a Molokai, Hawaii, condo association. The husband and wife claimed that they became targets for abuse after attempting to elect new board leaders for their condominium. Two insurance carriers for the association and its directors will pay the couple $1.175 million, as part of a recently approved settlement.

It’s crucial for associations to comply with the Fair Housing Act (FHA). It not only makes living in the community easier for members with disabilities, but it also helps you avoid a lawsuit stemming from a member’s accusation that you haven’t accommodated their needs. Parking is an especially hot topic when it comes to reasonable requests for accommodation by members and their renters.

When a homeowner in your community makes a reasonable request for accommodation in order to modify their property, consider very carefully how you’ll handle your approval or denial of the request. In a recent Alabama case, a trial court determined that an association’s “conditioned approval” of a disabled owner’s new garage was actually a constructive denial of his reasonable request for an accommodation.