We discussed Governing Documents for homeowners associations and Governing Documents for condominium associations. These governing documents for your community association must be read in conjunction with certain state and federal laws. In this article, we will discuss those relevant laws that must be considered by your HOA.

Continue reading “How important are state statutes and case decisions in governing your HOA?”

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We blogged about the extension granted by the Department of Justice for existing pools to comply with the new ADA Standards for providing accessible entry and exits. Just days after issuing its “Final Rule,” the Department of Justice published a fact information page with Questions and Answers regarding Accessibility Requirements for Existing Swimming Pools at Hotels and other Public Accommodations. The DOJ’s Q&A attempts to answer questions regarding whether your pool shall require accommodations. This blog post analyzes the Q&A.

Continue reading “(Yet Another) Update on ADA Compliance regarding HOAs, Condos and Swimming Pools”

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A Virginia Beach jury found a condominium association liable for failing to permit unit owners an opportunity to inspect and copy association records. Not only must the condo board allow inspection and copying, they must pay for an audit of the association records and pay $50,000 for the unit owners’ attorneys’ fees.

These questions arise frequently. This blog post reviews the various Virginia statutes that address the right to inspect and copy records for companies, HOAs and condominium associations.

Continue reading “Requests to Inspect and Copy Community Association or Company Records: Should it be this complicated?”

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Imagine if someone told Don Draper and Roger Sterling of Mad Men that they could no longer smoke in their apartments. They would look at you curiously, smirk and light up a cigarette. But Mad Men, the television show about a Madison Avenue advertising agency is set in 1965 and as the ad for Virginia Slims said, “[we’ve] come a long way, baby.” Almost half of all adults smoked in 1965 but that percentage has dropped to 18% by 2012.

The negative health effects have been documented and the reported adverse health effects caused by second-hand smoke has resulted in smoking bans in restaurants. One of the next areas in which smoking bans have been put in place is in condominium communities. Some of the smoking bans address common elements only but others have imposed a ban on smoking in the condominium unit.

Continue reading “Smokin’ in the Condo”

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Flying the flag is an important way that Americans celebrate their liberty and the sacrifices of past and present heroes who defend it. There were news stories about a dispute between an Ohio homeowners’ association and a Vietnam veteran over a flagpole that brought an important issue to the forefront.

In Ohio, a homeowner erected a large flagpole on his property to fly the flag. The homeowners’ association told him that the flagpole (not the flag) violated the declaration of covenants for the neighborhood, and asked him to take the flagpole down. It offered to place flagpoles in common areas in the neighborhood, and suggested that the covenants would allow him to fly a flag on a pole attached to his house. He refused. After a firestorm of publicity, the HOA averted litigation by permitting the homeowner to keep his flagpole. The underlying question remains: can a homeowners’ association really prohibit an owner from flying the American Flag?

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The Virginia Code has provisions that provide members of condominium associations and homeowner associations with the ability to request copies of books and records. The statutes have also permitted  associations to recover the costs of copying the requested books and records.

This blog post highlights a new statutory provision affecting common interest communities. On July 1, 2012, HOAs and condo associations will only be able to recover these copying costs if the association has adopted a cost schedule.

Continue reading “Virginia Statute – HOAs must adopt “Cost Schedule” to recover copy costs”

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It’s that time of year when we start to see holiday decorations.  Yes, the stores have begun displaying Halloween items along with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other holiday decorations at the same time. As we start to see the orange mini-lights for Halloween, condominium associations and property owner associations begin to deal with the issue of whether holiday decorations are permissible and if so, how long can they be displayed. Although when we read these stories, we may think that homeowners are over-reacting to a small issue, but what looks like a celebration of Halloween to one owner may seem way over-the-top to another. Rules for holiday decorations need to take into account ALL owners to be fair, effective, and enforceable. This blog post provides some common-sense guidance for your community association regarding holiday decorations.

Continue reading “Community Associations and Holiday Decorations: Trying to Preserve Holiday Cheer”

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Once an association has obtained a reserve study, two questions arise: 1) Do we have to fund a reserve account?   and 2) If so, how do we fund a reserve account?

The statutes for condominiums and property owners associations require an association’s budget to include, among other things, an annual amount to fund the reserve account that is consistent with the obligations in the reserve study.  This means that an association should be placing funds into the reserve account that permits it to meet is obligations to repair, replace and restore capital components based on the estimated replacement cost, the estimated remaining life and the estimated useful life of the capital component.

Continue reading “Okay, how do we establish a funding plan for our HOA’s Reserves? (Part 2 of a 3 part series on Reserves)”

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The 2014 session on the  Virginia Legislative Action Committee (“LAC”) created new experiences for our committee. Each year on the LAC brings new challenges, and in my second year as Chair of the LAC, we experienced our most active General Assembly session.

The LAC’s mission is to monitor and advocate for legislation affecting HOAs and condominium associations. All of the bills cited below are effective July 1, 2014 unless otherwise noted.

Continue reading “2014 Legislative Update for Virginia HOAs”

Hard to believe that the CAI Law Seminar in Las Vegas was 7 weeks ago.  I have been meaning to report on the seminar but the practice has kept me very busy.

The Law Seminar provides a unique learning opportunity to discuss emerging trends, practices and legislative issues important to the practice of community association law. Attendees include attorneys, management professionals, and other industry leaders.

The Law Seminar was excellent this year! I attended education sessions each day that were well-presented, topical, and detailed.  My colleagues in the HOA and condominium industry have a lot of experience to share.

I attended a session that reviewed a case study on Repair Projects, Special Assessments, Association Divisiveness and Litigation.  This session provided a lot of good information.  Two of the attorneys involved in advising the association, and in defending the subsequent litigation, provided an in-depth analysis of a community that needed to move forward on repair projects but did not have sufficient funds in its reserve account.  (Sound familiar?).  The program identified the issues faced by the community, the challenges of getting consensus from the owners on the needed repairs, and the solution that the board pursued.   There are many communities in Virginia that have aging infrastructures and will soon, if not already, be facing the challenges of making repairs and having the money to do so.  The presented case study provided a road map for a major repair project.

I also had the opportunity to serve on a “Panel of Pundits.” Along with colleagues from Colorado, Massachusetts, Hawaii and New Jersey, we fielded questions from the audience concerning community association issues.

Attorneys that make the effort to attend and participate in events like these help us all to stay current on issues that affect HOAs. That enables us to provide better service and advice to our clients. Because the law changes quickly, make sure your HOA law firm stays current.

Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law

Williamsburg, Virginia