It’s crucial to make sure that meeting notices are properly handled. Otherwise, a court could rule that decisions stemming from such meetings are not valid. That was the situation in a recent Colorado community association lawsuit. There, the board of directors of a condominium association wanted to effectively rewrite its declaration, originally drafted in 1983, because the original document was so outdated that the board felt it was necessary to start over from the beginning. After the declaration had been amended, two condominium members sued the association.

Because the decisions that a board makes very rarely please everyone, you could find yourself having to prevent unacceptable behavior toward board members. A board may have just approved a large special assessment to finance an improvement, and some owners may not be pleased with how the association’s finances are being handled. Most displeased owners may focus their energies on building consensus and replacing current board members.

Pets can enrich the lives of their owners, and many associations understand this and do allow members to have pets. However, dealing with pets in condominium communities requires balancing the freedoms pet-owning members enjoy on their privately owned property with the rights neighboring members have to enjoy their property. Some communities avoid this balancing act by banning pets entirely; others impose strict pet size and quantity limitations on members.

Q: I manage a community association through a property management company. The association itself has some employees—namely, a superintendent for repairs—but I am the person who controls his workload. The employee had an accident on the property and filed a workers’ compensation claim. He’s also trying to sue the association and the management company for a second recovery. I was under the impression that there couldn’t be a double recovery for an injury in this type of case.

Rules passed by a homeowners association are for the good of the community, and safety rules are especially geared towards protecting members. In a planned community that’s laid out in a neighborhood fashion, a major risk of accidents is traffic—specifically, speeding or careless driving that’s even more common thanks to some drivers feeling that it’s okay to use smartphones while they’re behind the wheel.

Community Associations Institute (CAI), the leading authority for community association education, governance, and management, has awarded the most prestigious and respected designation—Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM)—to 86 community association professionals. The PCAM designations were earned between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2016, and the recipients joined the more than 2,800 total managers who have earned the prestigious PCAM designation. For the first time, the PCAM case study was administered outside the United States—in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Q: I manage a condominium building that was previously owned before the current association took it over. A handicapped unit owner claims that some elements of the building—namely, some doors—are difficult, but not impossible, for him to use as a result of his disability. He is suing the association under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and asking that the association spend what would be a considerable amount of time and money redoing the design and construction of the building to accommodate him.

Rules passed by a homeowners association are for the good of the community, and safety rules are especially geared towards protecting members. In a planned community that’s laid out in a neighborhood fashion, a major risk of accidents is traffic—specifically, speeding or careless driving that’s even more common thanks to some drivers feeling that it’s okay to use smartphones while they’re behind the wheel.

Especially in major cities and the surrounding areas, “luxury” buildings seem to be going up left and right. As these properties are developed, you might have to get competitive to keep members from selling their home or condo unit in your community, and to entice new members to buy there instead of a new place. Upgrading dated aspects of the community can go a long way in retaining residents and attracting new ones.

Facts: The board of directors of a condominium association wanted to effectively rewrite its declaration, originally drafted in 1983, because the original document was so outdated that the board felt it was necessary to start over from the beginning. After the declaration had been amended, two condominium members sued the association. The members argued that they hadn’t been given proper notice of the meeting where the proposed amendment would be discussed with members.