Departments

Another election season is upon us, and that means political signs and flags are starting to pop up. Such displays can lead to some thorny situations for community associations. Read on to learn some of the risks associated with rules regarding political signs and flags — and how your clients can help protect themselves from…

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that an HOA’s governing documents grant the board broad discretion in setting assessments. The court also ruled that the board’s decision on assessments was entitled to substantial deference — but not because of the business judgment rule (Surowiecki v. Hat Island Community Ass’n). “This is a major win for…

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…

As the effects of climate change become harder to ignore, more community associations are ready to move past debating the pros and cons of converting to sustainable landscaping and finally start the ball rolling. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for every association. Multiple factors come into play, including geographic location and the owners’ appetite for change.…

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…

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. The court sided with an association that denied an owner’s request for a second driveway as…

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…

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…