Featured Articles
Election 2020: Can Associations Restrict Political Signs?
In these heated times, anything involving politics has the potential to stir up trouble. With another big election year poised to consume the country, community associations might find themselves descending into dramatic, disruptive, and costly divisions. Even ostensibly non-political restrictions — such as those on signs — might trigger lengthy litigation if your clients don’t…
Legal Compliance for Community Associations
Effective January 1st, California Community Associations and Managers Face New Fair Housing Regulations
It’s taken almost two years of hearings, comments, and modifications, but California’s new regulations aimed at curbing housing discrimination have been finalized and approved. “As far as we can tell, these are the first detailed state fair housing regulations in the country,” says Kelly Richardson, a principal with Richardson Ober DeNichilo PC, a California law…
Featured Articles
California Adopts Fair Housing Regulations
From fashion and slang to legal rights, California is known for starting trends. Now the state is poised to launch a sweeping set of fair housing regulations that go beyond the federal rules in some areas and could become the model for other states. “As far as we can tell, these are the first detailed…
eAlerts
Keeping a Lid on the Cauldron: Handling Hostility at Association Meetings
This week, we dig into the rise in incivility at community association meetings. Examples abound of inappropriate behavior these days, making it difficult for managers and boards to perform their duties. Rather than ignoring such conduct, though, they need to take a proactive stance, and we’ll explain how. From profane name-calling to fistfights, the behavior…
Featured Articles
Bickering and Brawls: How to Deal with Rising Tempers and Incivility
From profane name-calling to fistfights, we’re hearing from experts that the behavior at community association meetings has been on the decline. Owners’ anger and anxiety are spilling over, and they’re directing their vitriol at board members, fellow owners, and managers. “The ability to contain oneself and act appropriately in a public forum seems to be…
eAlerts
Owner Is Liable for Previous Owner’s Violations
This week, we dig into a landmark case out of Michigan. The state Court of Appeals ruled that a condo association could hold a unit owner liable for the previous owner’s bylaw violations, even though the association had let them go unabated for at least two years. The case is full of good news for…
Featured Articles
Court Puts Owner on the Hook for Previous Owner’s Bylaw Violation
A bylaw violation is a bylaw violation — and it doesn’t matter who created it. That’s the essential point made by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a recent case involving unauthorized alterations to a unit’s entrance door. The court ruled that an owner is responsible for violations even if they were committed by a…
eAlerts
Majority Vote Can Amend Restrictions in Missouri
This week, we tell you about a landmark ruling out of Missouri that dramatically expands the ability of associations to add restrictions by amendment. It frees associations there — and potentially elsewhere — from a rule that has handcuffed them for 80 years. The new case involves a subdivision that was established in 1923, with…
Featured Articles
Missouri Court Strikes Down Long-Standing Unanimous Consent Requirement to Amend Restrictions
The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected its long-standing rule requiring unanimous consent among owners to amend restrictions. The decision, which the attorney who represented the subdivision in the case described as a “sea change,” could have a ripple effect across other states when it comes to restrictions affecting a variety of hot topics in associations.…
eAlerts
Bright Lights, Big Lawsuit: Court Says HOA Lacks Authority to Enforce Holiday Decorations Rules
It’s not unusual for a community association board to develop rules and regulations for holiday decorations — but do they have that authority? You might be surprised. This week, we discuss a case where the Virginia Supreme Court struck down an HOA’s decorations guidelines because the declarations didn’t give the board authority to impose such…