Premises Liability for Community Associations

A Florida Court of Appeals has rejected its own holding from more than 20 years ago, and the change isn’t good news for community associations and their managers. The court concluded that association assessments are consumer debts under the state law that imposes restrictions on debt collection practices — and therefore allowed a class action…

A condominium complex in Florida — and its manager — are facing a class action lawsuit after publishing a so-called “deadbeat” list of owners who were behind on their assessments (Williams v. Salt Springs Resort Ass’n (Fla. App. 2020). The state Court of Appeals that allowed the class action to proceed reversed both a lower…

Easements are common in community associations, and, especially when high-value property is involved, can lead to costly litigation. Associations and owners may feel confident about the rights an easement conveys when they agree to it, but, as a North Carolina case recently demonstrated, easements are subject to expansion. That court, for example, that found an…

Your clients and their owners probably think they understand the rights that so-called access easements convey. “It sounds pretty self-explanatory,” says David Wilson, who heads up the South Carolina community association department at the law firm Black, Slaughter & Black, P.A. But, as a North Carolina court recently found, an access easement isn’t limited solely…

In the June 2020 issue of Community Management Association Insider, we explained why owners’ hoarding should matter to their associations and highlighted several red flags for such behavior. Now we dig into just what an association can do in such circumstances. “You need to be very careful with how you approach the situation because of…

When owners volunteer for their associations’ boards of directors, they probably don’t expect that their responsibilities will include dealing with mental health issues, but they can and increasingly do — for example, when an owner appears to be a hoarder. While your clients may prefer not to get involved in such situations, that would be…

Hoarding is more than just fodder for reality TV fans. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has formally recognized it as a disorder that affects an estimated 2 to 6 percent of the population. According to the APA, sufferers excessively save items that others may view as worthless, leading to clutter that disrupts their ability to…

The importance of solid governing documents may never become clearer than when an association or its manager is sued. That was certainly the case after a new owner in a condominium complex was brutally attacked when his key fob access failed. The owner sued the manager, and the court’s ruling hinged on language in the…

In early April 2020, a Manhattan co-op prohibited the brother of one of the building’s owners from staying in his unit. According to the New York Times, the brother, a physician, had traveled to the city from rural New Hampshire to volunteer his services in the battle against the coronavirus. This incident may have struck…

In early April 2020, a Manhattan co-op prohibited the brother of one of the building’s owners from staying in his unit. According to the New York Times, the brother, a physician, had traveled to the city from rural New Hampshire to volunteer his services in the battle against the coronavirus. This incident may have struck…