Departments

The many domino effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing recession include not only an increase in the number of people performing their current jobs from home, rather than at an office or other workplace, but also a surge in the number of home-based businesses. With so many people looking to replace lost income,…

In the summer of 2019, an owner in the Parkview at Orion Commons Condominium Association chatted with his neighbor about the owner’s concerns regarding the long grass in the common area behind their properties. The owner and his wife worried that it was hospitable to snakes, rodents, and ticks that might enter their yard where…

Disputes over pet restrictions in community associations often are among the most contentious — perhaps never more so than when the association goes to court to get an animal removed after a biting incident. A recent case in Michigan illustrates how courts might tackle such disputes and how you can help your clients prepare to…

A Virginia court has issued a ruling that’s welcome news to community associations struggling with how to keep owners happy while reducing the risk of COVID-19. The court found an association’s requirement that users of the common area pool first sign an assumption of risk form reasonable. Such forms are becoming more common. “We have…

A Virginia court has issued a ruling that’s welcome news to community associations struggling with how to keep owners happy while reducing the risk of COVID-19. The court found an association’s requirement that users of the common area pool first sign an assumption of risk form reasonable (Norman v. Foxchase Owners Ass’n, Albemarle Cty. Oct.…

You and your clients probably think the business judgment rule protects their good faith interpretations of their governing documents, but a recent ruling from the Washington Court of Appeals raises questions about that. The court held that the rule applies only to individual directors and not to associations themselves (Bangerter v. Hat Island Community Ass’n,…

Community associations increasingly are installing automated license plate readers (ALPRs) as a way to bolster security. “As people get more used to the technology, I think more associations will go down this path,” says Kevin Hirzel, managing member of Hirzel Law, PLC, a Michigan-based firm that works with community associations, “especially if they’re looking to…

Community associations increasingly are installing automated license plate readers (ALPRs) as a way to bolster security. “As people get more used to the technology, I think more associations will go down this path,” says Kevin Hirzel, managing member of Hirzel Law, PLC, a Michigan-based firm that works with community associations, “especially if they’re looking to…

The federal government’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic included passage of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) — a law that community associations and managers could inadvertently violate if they’re not careful. An association in Florida learned that the hard way when an employee it had terminated sued it under the law. That…

Even during the pandemic, short-term rental arrangements continue to plague community associations, with owners and powerful lobbying groups for companies like Airbnb constantly devising new tactics for avoiding restrictions. “With Airbnb and those platforms becoming such a huge percentage of rentals,” says Jennifer Biletnikoff, a shareholder in the Naples, Fla., office of Becker & Poliakoff,…