Another CA Day has come and gone and my enthusiasm for participation with WSCAI is again renewed. I know of no other area of law where clients and the professionals that serve them have so many opportunities to educate each other about issues affecting them and to assist each other with problem solving. I can…
Standard of Care for Boards
Owners and Board members are often confused about what standard of care the law imposes on Board members, and with good reason. The Condominium Act (the “New Act”) imposes one standard of care upon Board members, but that standard of care also applies to board members for “Old Act” condos (those formed under the Horizontal…
Super Priority Lien Basics
A lien is a document that records a debt, using a condo unit as collateral for the debt. Ordinarily, a lien against real estate has “priority” based on the date the lien is recorded. Once a lien is recorded, it becomes next in line to any liens previously recorded – first come, first served. This…
Reasonable Accommodation – Interpreters
Many clients ask us whether they are obligated to pay for a sign language interpreter to be present at meetings at the request of a deaf homeowner. The short answer to this questions is yes. A community association must provide interpreters to enable deaf or hearing-impaired owners to participate in the association meetings. The only…
Renovation Projects and Your Governing Documents
So you’re Association faced with doing a renovation project – where do you start? The first place the Association should start with is the Declaration – the association attorney can help ensure that the Board is complying with the Declaration’s requirements. 1. Following procedures: the Association attorney can help ensure that the Board follows proper…
Resale Certificates – What to Disclose
Sometimes our clients ask us: what are the legal requirements for language used in resale certificates regarding damages where repairs are needed? Our basic recommendation is that it is always better to disclose something and have a sale fall through than to risk a lawsuit against the property manager and/or the association for failure to…
Notice & Opportunity to be Heard
Over the past several weeks, we have dealt with many questions about the proper procedure to follow when issuing fines against owners who do not comply with association rules. One important requirement that many associations do not know about or understand is the obligation to give owners notice and an opportunity to be heard before…
Service Animals: General Information
Our clients contact us frequently to ask what accommodation, if any, must be made for owners (or even tenants) who have service animals. Based on extensive research and multiple experiences with clients responding to discrimination complaints, the information we provide to our clients is as follows. The FHA makes it unlawful to discriminate against any…
Contracts Should Reflect the Agreement of the Parties
This week I was asked to review a $100,000 or so construction contract between a condo association and a contractor. There were many missing documents and specifications as to what work would be done, and lots of work that would be needed was specifically excluded. I responded to both parties that my objective was to…
Accommodating Owners with Disabilities
We receive many questions from our clients related to owner requests for disability accommodations, such as permission to install a wheelchair ramp on association property. Our research on this issue has led us to share the following information with our clients: Associations must follow the requirements of the Fair Housing Act (the “Act”), even those…
Community Associations Day
Another CA Day has come and gone and my enthusiasm for participation with WSCAI is again renewed. I know of no other area of law where clients and the professionals that serve them have so many opportunities to educate each other about issues affecting them and to assist each other with problem solving. I can…
Standard of Care for Boards
Owners and Board members are often confused about what standard of care the law imposes on Board members, and with good reason. The Condominium Act (the “New Act”) imposes one standard of care upon Board members, but that standard of care also applies to board members for “Old Act” condos (those formed under the Horizontal…
Super Priority Lien Basics
A lien is a document that records a debt, using a condo unit as collateral for the debt. Ordinarily, a lien against real estate has “priority” based on the date the lien is recorded. Once a lien is recorded, it becomes next in line to any liens previously recorded – first come, first served. This…
Reasonable Accommodation – Interpreters
Many clients ask us whether they are obligated to pay for a sign language interpreter to be present at meetings at the request of a deaf homeowner. The short answer to this questions is yes. A community association must provide interpreters to enable deaf or hearing-impaired owners to participate in the association meetings. The only…
Renovation Projects and Your Governing Documents
So you’re Association faced with doing a renovation project – where do you start? The first place the Association should start with is the Declaration – the association attorney can help ensure that the Board is complying with the Declaration’s requirements. 1. Following procedures: the Association attorney can help ensure that the Board follows proper…
Resale Certificates – What to Disclose
Sometimes our clients ask us: what are the legal requirements for language used in resale certificates regarding damages where repairs are needed? Our basic recommendation is that it is always better to disclose something and have a sale fall through than to risk a lawsuit against the property manager and/or the association for failure to…
Notice & Opportunity to be Heard
Over the past several weeks, we have dealt with many questions about the proper procedure to follow when issuing fines against owners who do not comply with association rules. One important requirement that many associations do not know about or understand is the obligation to give owners notice and an opportunity to be heard before…
Service Animals: General Information
Our clients contact us frequently to ask what accommodation, if any, must be made for owners (or even tenants) who have service animals. Based on extensive research and multiple experiences with clients responding to discrimination complaints, the information we provide to our clients is as follows. The FHA makes it unlawful to discriminate against any…
Contracts Should Reflect the Agreement of the Parties
This week I was asked to review a $100,000 or so construction contract between a condo association and a contractor. There were many missing documents and specifications as to what work would be done, and lots of work that would be needed was specifically excluded. I responded to both parties that my objective was to…
Accommodating Owners with Disabilities
We receive many questions from our clients related to owner requests for disability accommodations, such as permission to install a wheelchair ramp on association property. Our research on this issue has led us to share the following information with our clients: Associations must follow the requirements of the Fair Housing Act (the “Act”), even those…
