Departments

Facts: A member sued her association for wrongful foreclosure. Beginning in January 2007, the member stopped paying her monthly assessment. In August of that year, after giving the member notice of default, the association conducted a nonjudicial foreclosure on her condominium and then sold the property.

Facts: A condominium community's units were developed in several different styles. Some were built with two stories and others with one. Over time, several owners asked the board for permission to build second-story additions to their one-story units, and the board liberally granted permission.

Homes with tainted Chinese drywall should be stripped down to the studs, according to a recent recommendation from two federal agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In a joint statement, the agencies stated that the corroded electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes, and other systems should also be removed.

A new law has taken effect in New York State that aims at protecting repossessed homes from becoming eyesores by requiring banks to maintain the properties during the foreclosure process, but before they legally own the homes.

Your community may set reasonable rules to protect the safety of your members' children and respect other members' right to enjoy their property. But your community must be careful that your rules do not unfairly single out children, or your association may be charged with discrimination based on familial status. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status, which generally refers to minor children.

Facts: A condominium association raised its monthly assessment. A member continued to pay the old amount, claiming that he was not notified that the condominium's board of directors had approved the increase.

Facts: A townhouse community charges its members an annual assessment. Since 1974, the assessment has increased three times. For a few years, some members did not paid their assessment because they believed that an increase imposed in 2002 was not valid. As a result of nonpayment, the association filed a lien on the members' properties and pursued foreclosure for a money judgment.

Facts: An association's architectural committee is charged with reviewing plans for any improvement within the community to ensure that they comply with the governing documents and are in harmony with neighboring buildings. Once the plans are approved by the committee, actual construction of any improvements is required to comply strictly with the approved plans.

Facts: A group of members sued the board and a wireless telephone company to invalidate a lease contract between them and to prevent the company from constructing and erecting cellular telephone antennas and related wireless communications equipment on the roof of the condominium.

An Omaha condominium association and its former president have agreed to pay more than $127,000 to settle allegations of discrimination against families with children.

The association and its former president were sued in 2008 and accused of interfering with the sale of one of the units. The lawsuit claimed that the association's rules barred the sale or rental of condos to families with children. The lawsuit also alleged that the former president's conduct constituted a pattern of discrimination.