Departments

By Carolyn Zezima

With almost 800,000 bankruptcy filings in 2016 alone, chances are that someone living in your community will declare bankruptcy at some point. So, what does that mean for you and your association? When a person files for a bankruptcy, the court immediately issues an “automatic stay.” This is a big protection of bankruptcy because the automatic stay prohibits any creditor or individual from attempting to collect on a debt or take any action to collect that debt as of the date of the bankruptcy.

If one of your management staff members suspects that a homeowner in your planned community is manufacturing illegal drugs, you’ll need to get a handle on the situation as soon as possible.

Associations often make the news for incidents that reflect poorly on them, or that end in liability. But not every lawsuit against an association is a cautionary tale for a manager and board of directors. A recent New Mexico case highlights what often happens when a litigious member brings a frivolous claim.

By Andrea Brescia

With almost 800,000 bankruptcy filings in 2016 alone, chances are that someone living in your community will declare bankruptcy at some point. And the likelihood grows if your association is in the South, where the highest numbers of bankruptcies are recorded. With one filing, the member living in your community goes by the new name of “debtor” on official documents. And just like that, the way you deal with this member must shift dramatically.

FACTS: A couple filed a fair housing case, alleging discrimination based on familial status at the condominium community where they lived with their two minor children. The couple claimed that the condo association and its management company created an “atmosphere of hostility” against families with children.

At first glance, an association’s structure and management seem straightforward. A planned community or condominium building typically has a set of governing documents, a board of directors who make sure that the rules and regulations in those documents are followed, and a manager who, with her staff, oversees maintenance, compliance, and organizational aspects of the community. But that’s not always the structure.

The Coalition for Community Housing Policy in the Public Interest’s most recent national survey has uncovered higher dissatisfaction with associations from their members. A whopping 81 percent of community association residents cited a lack of transparency and poor communication as the top concerns among those who live in planned communities and condominiums.

Q: Some of the economically distressed members in the community I manage have decided to lease their homes to tenants to help cover their expenses. At the same time, the landlord-members seem to have made paying assessments a low priority and may have become delinquent. Can an association collect rent directly from a tenant to pay any delinquent assessments? If so, what is the best way to do this?

At first glance, an association’s structure and management seem straightforward. A planned community or condominium building typically has a set of governing documents, a board of directors who make sure that the rules and regulations in those documents are followed, and a manager who, with her staff, oversees maintenance, compliance, and organizational aspects of the community. But that’s not always the structure. Some communities have more than one association that oversees them, or some portions of a community but not others might have two associations.