The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) prohibits a community association from discriminating against a person in providing services or facilities in connection with a sale or rental because of disability. Prohibited discrimination includes (1) a refusal to make reasonable accommodations; and (2) a refusal to permit reasonable modifications. In a community association context, a common example of a request for a [...]
Board members and managers frequently ask my firm whether their Association can hire a handyman to complete projects or repairs within their Association. My response is generally yes, but there are a number of considerations that I advise the Board to first contemplate. First, the Board should review the situation to determine whether the work should be done by a [...]
Regardless of what issues your community may be facing, receivership should only be considered as an absolute last resort, and only in the most dire of circumstances. Receiverships are expensive, time-consuming and transfer decision/making power to someone outside of the community. In the community association context, the receivership requires an owner in the community or member(s) of the Board to [...]
Pursuant to A.R.S. Section 33-1256(B) / 33-1807(B), an HOA lien for assessments, late fees related to assessments and collection fees/attorney fees/costs incurred with respect to assessments has lien priority ahead of all other liens, interests and encumbrances on a lot/unit except: (1) liens and encumbrances recorded before the recordation of the declaration; (2) a recorded first mortgage/first deed of trust [...]
We aren't the only ones that have seen this in the news week after week! It has happened; there are funds missing from the checking account. Figures do not line up and you cannot get in touch with anyone. The board always sees a financial statement at each board meeting, so what went wrong? Any organization that believes it is [...]
What is an “electric car”? “An electric car is an automobile with one or more electric motors that uses electrical energy stored in rechargeable batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars are around three times as efficient as cars with a normal internal combustion engine.” (Wikipedia) You’ve probably heard of the Tesla S or X or the Chevrolet Spark [...]
The statistics are devastating: more than 100 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose.[1] The rate of death from opioid addiction has skyrocketed over the last two decades, and drug overdoses now kill more people than gun homicides and car crashes combined.[2] The statistics regarding opioid addiction are no less startling – in 2014, an estimated 2 million Americans [...]
If you’re a Baby Boomer serving on your community association’s board of directors, you may have already begun noticing a shift in the characteristics and tendencies of your neighbors (and maybe even your fellow board members). Don’t call me, just email or text. Can I pay those assessments online? Our community needs to “go green”! Do we have a Facebook [...]
A recent article in the Washington Post chronicled the plight of an upscale San Francisco community, which failed to pay its common area property taxes, and the savvy investors who took advantage (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/08/residents-of-an-exclusive-san-francisco-street-didnt-pay-their-taxes-so-someone-bought-their-street/?utm_term=.f35a82ccda43). We are aware of Arizona communities who have faced similar issues. All property owners in Arizona (including individual parcel owners and community associations who own common [...]
How can your Board of Directors become the Golden State Warriors of community associations? While it might seem silly to compare multi-millionaire athletes playing professional sports to volunteer board members of a non-profit corporation, there are a number of similar underlying keys to success. Teamwork: the Warriors are known for playing unselfish, “team” basketball. In much the same way, your [...]
