Facts: An association sued two of its members to collect outstanding assessment dues and charges required from property owners in the community to maintain the neighborhood, pay for a private police force, and pay management fees. The members hadn’t paid dues for nearly four years.

Smoking not only poses dangers such as fire and health risks to a community, it also annoys nonsmoking members and their guests, resulting in more complaints that you have to address. But if a board decides to go ahead and impose a smoking ban, is simply enacting a new community rule enough?

If your association doesn’t have a dedicated space for meetings, you should find and reserve a space at least three months in advance. It’s important to find an appropriate meeting room—rooms that are too large or small, hot, cold, or noisy can affect participation. Appoint someone to make all the necessary arrangements, such as accumulating and testing the necessary equipment—for example, the lectern, microphone, overhead projector, or computer Internet connections and display.

Several bills being considered by the Texas Legislature this session are posing the question of whether the rights of one individual homeowner should trump the rights of all owners in an HOA. The bills would affect the powers and duties of Texas homeowners associations—some having to do with merely cosmetic issues, such as prohibiting associations from banning flags in front yards, and some substantial, such as giving HOAs more powers of accelerated foreclosure.

Technological advancements have made it easier than ever for association boards to get messages quickly and effectively to members, and for members to communicate with each other. Email and even an association blog or online newsletter could help you as a manager to keep your community operating efficiently and remind members that you’re actively involved and ready to help. But some forms of this communication involve obtaining and using members’ personal information. 

Facts: Two homeowners submitted a bid to buy a foreclosed residential property in their planned community. The president and managing broker of the association also submitted a bid to the same bank to purchase the property on behalf of his clients, a couple who didn’t live in the community. The bank accepted the owners’ bid.

Facts: Homeowners purchased a property in a planned community and moved into it several months later. The community association’s declaration contained certain terms, rules, and restrictions to which all owners were subject. The owners requested, and were denied permission, to make several changes to their property. The owners ultimately made some unauthorized changes on their own. The association sued in Delaware state court for enforcement of certain restrictions contained in the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for the association.

In a community where many members have teenage children, managers sometimes have problems with children spray painting and otherwise vandalizing buildings at night in the community. How can you stop the graffiti and vandalism? You might think that imposing a curfew and prohibiting children under a certain age—say, 16 years old—from being outside after a certain time—say, 10 p.m.—unless accompanied by an adult is a simple solution.

A recent meeting of the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) centered on issues arising from the passage of a 2012 Colorado referendum legalizing the smoking of marijuana and possession of as many as six marijuana plants. CAI addressed managers’ and associations’ fears about pot smoking in communities, including fielding complaints about the smell of marijuana.

Q: Your community just finished an extensive landscaping project to reseed lawns and replace plantings. To protect its investment, the community may adopt a rule prohibiting children from playing outside without violating fair housing law. True or false?