eAlerts

If you and your clients have become hesitant to deny any request for an accommodation, a federal district court has just sent a message that denials made after a thoughtful and careful process may get more support than you’d have expected. Brenda and David Norman had lived in their home in Rancho del Lago at least six…

Many community association management firms are reaching outside the traditional pool of candidates and bringing on managers with no experience in the industry. This approach can work — but only with proper support. “Letting people new to the industry just hit the ground running is where we’re seeing companies have trouble,” says Katie Anderson, CEO…

Many associations are taking a second look at their insurance coverage these days. That makes this a prime time to remind them that omitting potential legal claims or other so-called “material” information can come back to bite them. A California HOA learned this lesson the hard way association when a court found it concealed important…

Rising inflation has been all over the news, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier for boards and owners to swallow the climbing costs for both large projects and day-to-day operations. Fortunately, many associations saw the writing on the wall and increased their budgets for 2022. “Most of the increases we planned for in…

We’ve covered several cases over the past couple of years where state courts found that an association’s residential use restriction prohibited short-term rentals. But now the South Dakota Supreme Court has held otherwise. That court concluded that the definition of the term “residential purpose” includes short-term rentals. “This is a different interpretation than I’ve seen…

A grand jury recently released a report on the Surfside condo collapse. What do the report's recommendations mean for managers? The report doesn’t specifically refer to managers, but they would certainly feel the effects of any enacted recommendations. “I’d expect that if some of these recommendations are adopted, the burden will end up falling on…

In a previous article, we dove into the upswing in condo deconversions in some parts of the country, with multi-unit buildings that were converted from apartments years ago reverting back to rental units. The Illinois Court of Appeals recently issued an important ruling addressing owners’ ability to challenge such moves. “The ruling is good for…

Board member burnout isn’t new, but recent events also have members concerned about their potential liability, only compounding the effect on board retention. “It’s just been a really tough time for boards, and it already wasn’t a glorified position,” says Jennifer Biletnikoff, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff. “I have…

In the wake of pandemic delays and a new focus on deferred maintenance since the Surfside tragedy, many associations have significant projects to bid out to contractors. But the process has changed in the past couple of years. Gone are the days of the board considering a project, the manager putting out a request for…

Various parts of the country are seeing an uptick in condo deconversions, with multi-unit buildings that were converted from apartments years ago reverting back to that status. Owners may have dollar signs in their eyes and dreams of avoiding the costs of long deferred maintenance or modern upgrades, but they need to have the full…