09.19.24

ISSUE # 99

CIC Info Bytes 09/19/24

CIC Info Bytes are frequent, succinct updates providing educational and engagement opportunities that help your community thrive!  Please forward and share this newsletter with your peers, neighbors and colleagues so they can connect and join.  Our goal is to curate content that provides a robust basis for contextual understanding to support practical takeaways for you and your association.  Please consider following us on Twitter and Reddit. 

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• Visit our homepage to view events and add them to your own calendar.

  • Upcoming Georgia Senate HOA Subcommittee meetings!  See the Legislation section. 

State Statutes

• Live in Colorado or just want to catch up on the latest community association law?  The Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services has published all updates for 2024 and we’ve excerpted CRS 38-33.3 so you can stay up to date.

• Our Statutes page has everything you need to learn and succeed when it comes to state law! 

DeSantis to the Rescue?

• Florida: Following up on No Bailouts for Condo Owners in Issue# 97.

Legislative action following the 2021 collapse of a condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside that killed 98 people has resulted in financial strains on condominium owners and residents, participants said during a Monday roundtable discussion in Miami Lakes with the governor and Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nuñez...

...“I stand ready, willing, and able to work with the Legislature to make sure that we’re able to make the proper solutions so that folks have peace of mind and are able to continue to enjoy living in the free state of Florida,” DeSantis said...

DeSantis convened a condo building owner, condo resident, condo association president, and state Rep. Tom Fabricio to “solicit input” to potentially make changes before the end of the year.

DeSantis ‘ready, willing, and able’ to work with Legislature on condo solutions

— Jay Waagmeester | Florida Phoenix | September 09, 2024

VIDEO: Gov. DeSantis urges quick action to tackle condo issues before 2025 session

— CBS Miami | September 10, 2024

What Florida's CFO told WPTV about Florida's condo crisis

— Matt Sczensy | WFLX | September 12, 2024

Mandatory ADR in Maryland

• Prince George’s County, Maryland: Two counties have funded offices specifically to address community association affairs.  ADR is the latest addition for one of them. 

In a 9-0 vote, the Prince George’s County Council approved a new law that will require HOAs to participate in a hearing with the Commission on Common Ownership Communities, an agency that’s supposed to have jurisdiction over HOAs. However, even when they were violating their own bylaws, the HOAs could choose to ignore any hearings with the commission…

...Of course, passing the bill is one thing, but funding it might be a different story. It’s estimated that it would cost the county more than $1 million to implement the law, mostly through the hiring of new employees that would be needed. But doing that would eat up about 20% of the Office of Community Relations’ budget.  The earliest the law could be implemented is July 1 of 2025, when the 2026 fiscal year begins and the county can work to find the funding. But county leaders have long warned that next year’s budget gap looks bigger than any other they have dealt with in recent years…

…“We have a board of directors that do not understand protocol and will not follow it,” said resident Ernestine Matthews. “They do not read the bylaws. If you give them the bylaws, they just push them aside.”

“They hire unethical attorneys to fight for them with our funds, and our bylaws state that we should have a special meeting before any legal actions are taken,” she added. “But they don’t care. We have these people, who we don’t even know, that are supposed to be working in our best interest, but are not.”...

What happens when your HOA goes rogue? There’s a new solution in Prince George’s County — John Domen | WTOP | September 17, 2024

CB-031-2024 - An Act Concerning COC Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) — 09/17/24 

Survey Says: HOAs are NOT Popular

• This survey conducted one year ago just popped up on the radar.  It’s a worthy read and one more piece of evidence that truly independent surveys conducted without industry bias have markedly different results from CAI & FCAR’s annual survey.

Residential rules: How Americans view HOAs and their influence — Taylor Orth | YouGov | December 04, 2023

YouGov Survey: Housing and HOAs — September 2023 

Ongoing Assessments for a Condo Razed by Fire

• Lahaina, Hawaii: Assessments do not necessarily stop just because your unit is uninhabitable….or even burnt to a crisp.

Retired Hawaii state senator Rosalyn “Roz” Baker is no longer living in the condo she once owned after it was burned down during the Lahaina wildfires last year.

However, she claims that’s not stopping the state’s Association of Apartment Owners (AOAO) from “demanding” that she continue “paying for maintenance fees.”

Baker said she owned a ground-floor condominium at the Aina Nalu property in historic Lahaina, on the island of Maui, when the wildfires forced her to leave her home last August…

Retired Hawaii Lawmaker Fights Order to Pay Maintenance Fees for Condo ‘Burned to the Ground’ in the Lahaina Disaster…

— Joe Cortez | Moneywise | September 17, 2024

$375,000 Condo Theft = Court Supervision and Restitution 

• Norristown, Pennsylvania: Following up on coverage from Issue# 90.

A Berks County woman faces seven years of court supervision and has a hefty restitution bill on charges she embezzled more than $375,000 while working as the bookkeeper for the Gwynedd Office Condominium Association in Upper Gwynedd Township.

Berks woman sentenced for embezzling $375,000 from Montgomery County condo association — Carl Hessler Jr. | The Times Herald | September 10, 2024

Raiding the Coffers in South Carolina

• Anderson County, South Carolina: $210,000 stolen from the Overlook HOA over 5 years.

Anderson County deputies said Tonya Selman surrendered herself to authorities earlier this month and faces one charge of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, valued at $10,000 or more. She has since bonded out of jail.

“They trust those employees to take their money and use them appropriately, and clearly, that was not done here," said Shale Remien, a spokesperson for the Anderson County Sheriff's Office. "We were kind of surprised by all of the different charges we were seeing.”

Detectives met with William Gray, the president of the Overlook Homeowners Association, in January after they said he noticed an enormous amount of money stolen from the association’s account...

...Deputies said it tallied up more than 160 transactions from retailers, including utility companies, insurance providers and online clothing subscriptions, all of which were charged to the account.  “So, everything from Netflix to Stitch Fix, which is, if you don’t know, a subscription to a clothing company, Hulu, retailers, utility companies, Duke Energy, everything you could possibly think of," Remien said.  They said Selman stole a total of $209,951.83 over the course of five years…

VIDEO: South Carolina: HOA employee steals more than $200,000 — Stephanie Moore and Rey Llerena  | WYFF4 | March 26, 2024

Plumbing Problems

• Greensboro, North Carolina: Having an advocate matters!

Debra Richert wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. Almost every morning she would walk outside her townhome and notice water flowing down the street.  “My water bill was not going up but water was going onto the road,” Richert said....

...A leak detection company was finally able to determine there was a leak in the pipe under a giant tree in the front yard...

...We immediately reached out to the HOA management company to figure out what was going on. A representative talked with us and promised the company would investigate the issue. A couple of weeks later a representative called us back to let us know Richert would be reimbursed for the tree removal and the plumbing bill....

A Greensboro woman calls WFMY News 2 after dispute with HOA and plumbing bills — Kevin Kennedy | WFMY | September 06, 2024

Your Association MUST be Responsible for its Management

• Washington State: No matter what, your association and its Board are ultimately responsible for management, assessments, collections and just about everything else.

Changed property management mid month with no new payment information?

— u/neurotic_169 | r/HOA on Reddit | September 09, 2024

Rants: STRs lead to Noise & Partying

• Atlanta, Georgia: Owner occupiers want to regain control of their condominium.

Why it matters: The Landmark condominium high-rise along the Downtown Connector has become more hotel than home and a cautionary tale about the effect large numbers of short-term rentals can have, residents say.

Driving the news: The Landmark's homeowners association on Thursday will hold its first election for new officers in two years. Residents hope to earn spots to counterbalance the role that investor owners play in the building's management.

The intrigue: In August, the association scuttled an attempt to elect officers after residents raised concerns about the ballot-casting and officer nomination process.

By the numbers: Roughly 90 of the building's 197 units are owned by LLCs, trusts or management companies, according to a review of Fulton County property records.

Landmark Condominium residents says short-term rentals come with noise, partying — Thomas Wheatley | Axios | September 12, 2024

Words Matter.  So Do Language Barriers

• Seattle, Washington: Zhen Jin has endured years of verbal abuse from a Board president.

…In condo matters, Jin has also sought help from her friends to support her communication with the HOA board and the management company. Despite repeated emails and phone calls, water damage from a leak that took over two years to repair and her requests for management to enforce condo rules have been met with active resistance and defensiveness. This is a pattern that illustrates the power her racist neighbor has over the board members, the management company they employ, and also over other residents of the condominium…

Ad nauseum: The impact of language injustice — Jamie Cho | NW Asian Weekly | September 06, 2024

Rules, Rules, Rules

• Singapore: Residents rankled by the perception of heavy-handed rule-making.

Ms Chen YL often feels like a “criminal” whenever she takes her two dogs out of her condominium unit. 

The 35-year-old software procurement lead said that if she is caught walking the dogs within the condominium’s premises, she would be slapped with a S$200 fine. 

At her condominium in the eastern side of Singapore, a by-law does not allow dogs to walk anywhere on the ground floor. This extends to areas near the pool, barbecue pits, function room and gym…

No music, pets in certain areas — condo residents lament 'strict, absurd rules' amid competing needs — Nicole Lam | Today Online | September 13, 2024

The U.S. housing market is sharply divided between those who own and would-be buyers who can’t afford a home. The Federal Reserve’s widely expected rate cut next week will do little to close the gap between the two.

A reduction in short-term interest rates would directly translate to lower rates for home equity lines of credit, making it cheaper for millions of homeowners to tap into their housing wealth.

On top of that, homeowners who bought in late 2023 or early 2024—when mortgage rates were higher—are taking advantage of the recent drop in borrowing costs. Applications for mortgage refinancings more than doubled from a year earlier in the week ended Sept. 6, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

For current home shoppers, mortgage rates have dropped from last year’s highs but not enough to offset other challenges in the market. Home prices are near record highs, inventory is limited in much of the country, and rising costs for home insurance and property taxes add to the expense... 

Why a Fed Rate Cut Won’t Solve the Housing Wealth Gap — Nicole Friedman | WSJ | September 14, 2024

• Florida: Condominium property insurance doubles since 2022.

An analysis of newly released data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation shows that average costs for property insurance purchased by condo associations doubled since June 2022, burdening unit owners with hikes to monthly assessments just as costs for required structural inspections and reserves are coming due…

…The average cost of a commercial condo association policy — the kind that covers common properties like roofs, structures, and irrigation systems — jumped 6.6% in the second quarter, and over the past two years has more than doubled, increasing by 103% from $72,570 to $147,381, according to newly released data by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Smaller condominiums are paying less than the average and larger ones are paying more. But in each case, the increases are added to the monthly assessments paid by condo unit owners who are also facing higher assessments from inflation, as well as state-mandated requirements to undergo structural inspections and to fund reserves to make repairs…

Condo association insurance costs doubled since 2022, new data shows — Ron Hurtibise | South Florida Sun Sentinel | September 14, 2024

Florida: Condominiums can’t get a break in the insurance market.

After riding out repeated double-digit increases in their wind coverage for the last four years, the residents of the Old Port Cove Towers expected new roofing would provide something of a safe harbor from another big insurance premium hit.

“I thought we were being conservative by budgeting the same amount (for insurance) as last year,” said Mike Beck, president of the Old Port Towers Condominium in North Palm Beach. “We thought the new roof would actually mean a reduction” in the wind premium.

Instead, when it came time to renew months after Old Port Cove’s two, 20-year-old roofs were replaced last October, the 171-unit North Palm Beach condo association received word that the latest bill of $855,719 would mean it is paying 150% more than it did in 2022 to insure the association’s common property against the wind. And that’s even with an increase in the deductible to repair or replace the 22-story towers’ common property this year…

Disaster stalks condo insurance market: Even buildings with new roofs face triple-digit hikes — Anne Geggis | Palm Beach Post | September 06, 2024

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Colorado: Massive insurance increases are caused, in part by “social inflation.”

This may come as no surprise to homeowners, but the cost of Colorado’s homeowners insurance is the eighth highest in the nation, according to Bankrate, a financial services company that tracks all sorts of monthly bills.

At an average of $266 per month or nearly $3,200 a year, premiums are higher here than in states such as California ($121) and New York (144), as well as neighbors Arizona ($172), Utah ($104), New Mexico ($169) and Wyoming ($131).

Blame extreme weather, hail damage and wildfires for our lofty rank, said Shannon Martin, Bankrate’s insurance analyst and a licensed insurance agent. But diving a little deeper, Martin also cited how policies are structured by states, the rising cost of homes, and something called “social inflation,” a term used by the insurance industry to describe the impact beyond regular economic inflation…

What's Working: Colorado homeowners insurance increased nearly 60% in five years — Tamara Chuang | Colorado Sun | September 07, 2024

Greensboro, North Carolina: Another condo displacement waiting game.

The waiting game isn’t just costing one group of condo owners time. It’s also wracking up a considerable price tag since the condo building along Lawndale Drive burned down in March of 2023...

...Todd chimed in that it’s been 18 months, and they are nowhere close to having another building.  Currently, there’s a concrete slab where the building used to stand. When FOX8 reached out to the city, a spokesperson shared that plan reviewers have been waiting on the applicant to respond since the end of August.  The work requires a special inspection form before the city can approve it.

The Trifaris say they were surprised by the lack of response from the city to reach out to homeowners and provide support or even help connect them with resources to navigate a challenge like this. Beyond what feels like finger-pointing to them between the City of Greensboro, the HOA and the insurance company for the complex, their son is still paying a lot of money, not to live in the building but in mortgage payments and HOA fees...

Greensboro families stuck paying HOA, insurance fees more than a year after home destroyed in fire — Madison Forsey | WGHP | September 13, 2024

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Emerald Isle, North Carolina: HOAs often own stormwater systems.

Emerald Isle commissioners have scheduled a special session Tuesday, Oct. 8 to meet with the Cape Emerald Homeowners Association (HOA) to discuss stormwater flow and proposed improvements within the low-lying flood-prone gated subdivision off Coast Guard Road...

...Chip Thomas, president of the HOA, said he and other residents welcome the meeting, especially in the wake of torrential rains from Tropical Storm Debby in early August. He said the area received about 15 inches of rain from the storm, and residents had to call the town to get temporary pumps to alleviate the overwhelmed drainage system, which consists of three ponds and a single discharge pipe that exits the northernmost pond in Cape Emerald.

According to Town Manager Matt Zapp, the pipe crosses under Cape Emerald Loop Road and then runs across private property, where the outfall spills into the Bogue Sound.

“The pipe is owned by the residents of Cape Emerald, along with the entirety of the stormwater system and the roadways within the private subdivision,” Zapp said...

Commissioners meet with Cape Emerald Homeowners Association to discuss stormwater problems — Brad Rich | Carolina Coastline | September 07, 2024

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Lancaster, Pennsylvania: An expensive lesson in deferred maintenance and the obligations of living in a property with shared walls, ceilings and floors.

Faith Dieterle says the pipes in her Ephrata Borough condo have worked fine over the nearly five years she’s lived there. But she and other residents of Westpointe Ridge Condominium may have to spend thousands of dollars to replace the pipes in their condos, or risk increased fees and even possible legal action.

The reason? An inspection performed for the 50-unit complex’s insurance carrier found that two units contained Quest piping, also known as polybutylene piping, according to a letter sent to residents in July. The plastic piping is prone to becoming brittle and flaky, which can lead to leaks and can cause the pipes to burst under high pressure, according to Loretta L. Worters of the Insurance Information Institute.

The letter — dated July 12 and sent by Maryellen Chenoweth, association manager at Horst Property Management — gave what at least some residents understood as an ultimatum: replace the pipes to avoid the condominium complex being dropped by its insurance in 2025. Horst Property Management is contracted by Westpointe’s homeowner association’s board of directors to handle administrative duties, said Lori Van Gorden, vice president of operations real estate management at Horst Property Management…

Ephrata condo residents may have to spend thousands to replace pipes — Lucy Albright | Lancaster Online | September 15, 2024

• A member of CAI’s Florida LAC and many others (with decidedly differing opinions) speak out. 

Recent alarmist reports have suggested a collapse in Florida’s condo market, but this perspective overlooks a crucial reality: the market is undergoing a necessary correction, not a crisis. As a member of the Legislative Action Committee of the Community Associations Institute, I can confirm that current conditions reflect the impact of aging buildings with long-neglected maintenance…

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Recent changes to Florida’s condo laws, along with skyrocketing insurance rates and rising homeowner association (HOA) assessments, have placed an overwhelming financial burden on condo owners. For many, these costs have become unsustainable, forcing them to sell their units, despite years of investment and dedication to their homes. As a result, we are witnessing the displacement of long-time residents and communities being disrupted.

At the same time, renters are facing unprecedented challenges. With rents climbing rapidly and affordable housing options dwindling, many are being priced out of the market. Families, seniors, veterans and hardworking people who once had a sense of stability are now struggling to keep a roof over their heads…

Opinion: Florida renters and condo owners face a looming crisis that could displace them — Readers | Miami Herald | September 13, 2024

• The US Federal deficit is huge and growing.  Debt service is a massive portion of our budget.

The U.S. government is on track to spend more than $1 trillion on interest payments this year, surpassing military spending for the first time in history.

Interest payments on the national debt (held by the public in the form of Treasury securities) will cost the government $1.2 trillion in the government's fiscal year ending in October, the Treasury Department said in a monthly report on the budget.  Net interest outlays are the third costliest item in the budget behind Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Economists have grown increasingly concerned about the potential impact of those payments on the U.S. economy. Interest payments took up 2.4% of the entire U.S. gross domestic product in 2023, and The Congressional Budget Office estimates that could swell to 3.9% over the next 10 years…

A Record $1.2 Trillion Interest Payments Are Blowing Up The Federal Budget — Diccon Hyatt | Investopedia | September 13, 2024

Inflation and Monetary Policy

VIDEO: Federal Reserve Chair Powell speaks after Fed announces interest rate cut — Christopher Rugaber | PBS | September 18, 2024

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The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point on Wednesday, an aggressive start to a policy shift aimed at bolstering the US labor market. Projections released following their two-day meeting showed a narrow majority, 10 of 19 officials, favored reducing rates by at least an additional half-point over the two remaining 2024 meetings. The Federal Open Market Committee voted 11 to 1 to cut the federal funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%, after holding it for more than a year at its highest level in two decades. It was the Fed’s first rate cut in more than four years. “This decision reflects our growing confidence that with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained in a context of moderate growth and inflation moving sustainably down to 2%,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference following the announcement. Stock traders decided to “sell the news” after the cut.

— Natasha Solo-Lyons | Bloomberg Evening Briefing | September 18, 2024

Fed Cuts Rates by Half Point in Decisive Bid to Defend Economy — Catarina Saraiva | Bloomberg | September 18, 2024

While the pace of inflation is cooling, prices remain much higher than before the pandemic. The consumer price index has surged 21.5% from the end of 2019. And while incomes have also increased, consumers still say they’re not getting ahead. As stock prices approach a record, the odds Americans see of a comfortable retirement are nevertheless at their lowest level since 2013. After all, not everyone is an investor or has a 401(k) that’s benefited from surging equity prices.

— David E. Rovella | Bloomberg Evening Briefing | September 13, 2024 

The Bond Market Rally Rides on How Fast the Fed Cuts Rates — Liz Capo McCormick and Michael Mackenzie | Bloomberg | September 08, 2024

Massachusetts HOA Rules have an Expiration Date

• Massachusetts: Case law makes ALL the difference!

When a Cape Cod homeowners association hired attorney Richard D. Vetstein of Vetstein Law Group in Framingham to review their homeowner’s association covenants, he made a shocking find.

A little-noticed 2017 Massachusetts Appeals Court ruling meant the restrictions in that association’s covenant, which dated to 1977, had expired unnoticed more than a decade ago. Vetstein said most of the real estate attorneys he has shared this discovery with also have been shocked.

Condominiums are exempt from this law; it applies only to homes in subdivisions governed by a homeowner’s association.

Homeowners in subdivisions with HOAs are still required to pay dues for the services their association provides, such as trash collection, but controls on owner behavior — ones that prevent you from leaving your boat in the driveway, requiring your fence to be a certain height, breed restrictions on your pets, and limits on how long you can keep up your holiday decorations or political signs — have an expiration date.

“If an HOA doesn’t have an extension provision in their covenant, the restrictions expire after 30 years,” Vetstein said. “If they do have an extension provision, they have to exercise it within the 30 years. And the longest they can extend it is 20 years, as long as there is a 20-year extension provision in the original covenant.”...

Hate your HOA rules? There may be a way around them. — Jim Morrison | Boston Globe | September 11, 2024

Berger v. 2 Wyndcliff on Real Estate Law — Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | The National Law Review | December 05, 2017

Safety Isn’t Our Thing

• Houston, Texas: A criminal bursts through a condominium unit wall.  Many condominium declarations eschew responsibility for the safety of residents, but nothing can guarantee absolute indemnity from all liability.

"I thought I was about to die. I was just shocked," Esther Huffman said.

A gaping hole in the bedroom of Huffman's unit at the Woodforest Condominiums is the damage left over from a moment she desperately wants to move on…

…The bedroom is connected to a maintenance room for the pool. Huffman believes he somehow broke in and started to tear down her wall at a time when other residents say crime in the area is on the rise…

ABC13 received a statement from an attorney for the HOA, which is part of the Prestige Association Management Group:

"The Condominiums have reached out to the police on several occasions and have been informed that there is not enough manpower to drive through the complex," a part of the statement said.

It goes on to say that as far as safety and security go, "the Condominiums do not ensure safety or security; such action is beyond the scope of the Condominiums' duties and obligations."

VIDEO: HOA isn't helping tenants amid rise in crime in northeast Harris County… — Mo Haider | ABC 13 | September 12, 2024

Carpets to Collections to Foreclosure

• Prospect Heights, Illinois: Associations need the facts before making accusations.  Owners need to show up at all their court appearances.

Chris Kraszynski lives in a condo in Prospect Heights and said her condo association has falsely accused her of removing the wall-to-wall carpeting, putting her housing at risk.

The ABC7 I-Team walked around her apartment and saw the carpeting that she's being accused of removing firsthand.

"As you can clearly see, carpeting everywhere," Kraszynski said as she showed her condo to ABC 7 Chicago Consumer Reporter Jason Knowles. "It's still here. Never been touched, never removed."

However, The Rob Roy Country Club Village Condo Association sued her for breaking their bylaws which state units must have wall-to-wall carpeting…

…"The judgement was nearly $40,000," she said.

With fees, fines, and interest from non-payment, that total grew in nine years up to $588,000, according to court documents from 2021…

VIDEO: Woman fears foreclosure after carpet dispute with Rob Roy Country Club Village Condos

— Ann Pistone and Jason Knowles | ABC 7 | September 12, 2024

No CC&Rs = No Control

• Palos Verdes, California: The relatively simple, yet thorny case of Colyear v. Rolling Hills Community Association of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Claim: The owner of the parcel without a tree-trimming provision in its CC&Rs claims their trees cannot be trimmed by the HOA since the CC&Rs on their parcel do not contain a tree-trimming provision.

Counterclaim: The HOA claims the parcel is subject to the tree-cutting covenant in other parcels’ CC&Rs since the tree-cutting covenant in the CC&Rs for the initial parcels in the HOA was intended to apply to all parcels within the HOA.

Holding: A California appeals court holds the trees on the parcel may not be trimmed by the HOA since the parcel is not subject to CC&Rs encumbering other parcels in the HOA and its CC&Rs do not contain a tree-trimming provision.

May an HOA trim trees on a parcel within the HOA when its CC&Rs do not include a tree-cutting provision while other parcels do have a provision?

— Robin Jennings | First Tuesday Journal | September 06, 2024

Road Standards Rankled by Rumors

• Myrtle Beach, Florida: Sounds a bit messy.

…“No, the city has not sent a letter to the HOA members of the Meridian community,” her email said. Some of the confusion about the city’s involvement stems from rumors about road standards within the Home Owner’s Association. The community’s association manager, Chris Lozier, said over the phone that none of the roads are currently owned or operated by the city.

In order to turn the roads over from D.R Horton to the City of Myrtle Beach, before the company turns the community over to the HOA, Lozier said some homeowners will need to redo their sidewalks or aprons from their driveways in order to meet code. The issue is that 25 homes in the association hired someone to paint their driveways, and Lozier said the job was done incorrectly…

…If the roads don’t get turned over to the city, he said the association is looking at between $4 million to $5 million in repairs in the future for potholes, cracked sidewalks and leveling new asphalt…

Did the City of Myrtle Beach get involved in HOA violations? The facts behind the story — Elizabeth Brewer | Myrtle Beach Online | September 09, 2024

PLEASE Stop Adopting Your Financial Reports!

• It’s nice to see advice we’ve provided elucidated by a law firm.  Even industry stalwarts publish good material…sometimes.

…A standard financial report is the best example of a report that should not be automatically adopted. Associations everywhere hear the treasurer give a financial report and then move to Adopt the treasurer’s report. Robert’s says you shouldn’t do that. After all, we don’t have the slightest idea if any of the bank amounts are accurate. Or even truthful. For all we know, our vote is the equivalent of “Yes, you’re robbing us blind, but why don’t we go ahead and approve whatever you just said.” 

Robert’s goes so far as to provide: “No action of acceptance by the assembly is required-or proper-on a financial report of the treasurer unless it is of sufficient importance, as an annual report, to be referred to auditors.” The auditors’ report is what should later be adopted by the body.

Might not seem a big deal, but we’ve had several clients that faced major issues of embezzlement (sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars). A question that was asked in efforts to assign blame and responsibility by insurance carriers, law enforcement, and association members was why the board had for so long considered and approved by vote the financials at every meeting. Was it because the board was (a) complicit in the embezzlement?, or (b) paying no attention? 

Are You Handling Your Consent Calendar Right? — Jim Slaughter | Law Firm Carolinas September 06, 2024

Municipal Liability for Housing with Government Assistance 

• Washington, D.C.: The D.C. Court of Appeals is granting an opening for weary owners.

A group of homeowners who purchased condos under a D.C. government assistance program — only for the condos to soon begin falling apart, leading to their evacuation from the building — got a step closer this week in their pursuit to hold the city accountable.

After the homeowners argued for years that the District government facilitated the sale of uninhabitable condos on Talbert Street in Ward 8, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the District can be held liable under a consumer-protection law. The three-judge panel sent the case back to the trial court to determine whether D.C. acted unfairly or deceptively when it helped the first-time homeowners move into what turned out to be unstable new homes.

“We do not find it facially implausible that a reasonable homebuyer … could believe that a partially District-funded housing development, made available only to District residents deemed eligible by the District through a District-run housing assistance program, would provide housing that was, at a minimum, habitable,” Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby wrote for the panel…

D.C. could be liable after approving buyers for unsound condos, court rules — Meagan Flynn | The Washington Post | September 06, 2024

Judge rules DC can be held liable for shoddy housing purchased through government programs

— Jess Arnold and Delia Goncalves | WUSA9 | September 13, 2024

City Loans Come with Liens

•  Henderson, Nevada: The city will pays now and liens into these HOA homeowners.

The Somerset Park community in Henderson is seeking relief as a failing water distribution system has led to massive leaks and sinkholes in the community.

During an HOA board meeting Monday night, the board decided to go with the City of Henderson's plan to fully replace the water distribution system.

While the city will be replacing the leaky system at Somerset Park, why did the city have to supply the cash? It's all about missing money and desperation…

…Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero told Channel 13 last week the city's replacement plan would put a tax lien on residents of at least $200 per month…

VIDEO: Somerset Park repairs are coming, but how did it come to this? Where did the money go? — Ryan Ketcham | KTNV | September 10, 2024

Accommodation Granted, but Warnings Follow

• Ohio: This HOA should have left things alone.

A father has told Newsweek how he grew "angry and disappointed" after receiving a letter from his housing association regarding a swim spa installed in the garden for his disabled daughter.

Dan, who asked not to be formally named, is a teacher and lives in the Newell Creek development in Ohio and, for almost a year, his family has benefited from the use of a swim spa donated to them by the charitable organization A Special Wish to support and comfort his daughter...

..."This is simply a reminder that a medical exception was granted for having the larger swim spa to be used by immediate family and as a form of therapy," the note read. "It should not be used by others that are not residing in the home or for parties etc."...

Family Gets Approval For Disabled Daughter's Swim Spa, But HOA Has Warning — Jack Beresford | Newsweek | September 17, 2024

Developers Need to Pay Their Share

• West Virginia: A 750 home planned community prevails in part.

West Virginia’s Supreme Court sided with Glade Springs homeowners on most issues in a complicated financial dispute with a development company owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family.

The Supreme Court’s 57-page order written by Justice Haley Bunn sided with the homeowners association on most matters, went against them on a few and sent some details about assessments back to be resolved at the circuit court level...

...“While this conflict is not entirely over since the Supreme Court has remanded the issue of developer assessments back to circuit court, we are pleased that several major issues have been finally resolved,” the homeowners association board of directors wrote in a memo to other property owners at the resort community....

Supreme Court sides with Glade Springs property owners on most issues against Justice Holdings — Brad McElhinny | WV MetroNews | June 19, 2024

WV Supreme Court 19-C-357-RAL - Glade Springs (GSVPOA) v. Emco et. al.

YES! The HOA can Enforce Cleaning Your Roof

• Florida: Roofs needs to be cleaned.

The vast majority of homeowner’s association covenants provide that owners are obligated to keep their homes in a neat and well-maintained condition. Further, the board usually has the power to promulgate more specific rules regarding the use of the property, including the manner in which homes are maintained.

Rules requiring owners to keep their roofs clean are commonplace. Frankly, I can’t offhand recall an HOA community where that wasn’t the case. You say that you don’t want anyone on your roof because you have a 2-story home, but roof cleaning is an extremely common activity — there are scores of companies that specialize in cleaning roofs, and most of them do go up on your roof to do the cleaning (usually by pressure washing the roof, sometimes with an added chemical that resists mold and mildew). However, there are even companies that are able to clean your roof from the ground, and so that is going to solve your primary concern. A quick web search turned up multiple companies that are able to clean your roof without ever setting foot on it…

'I don't want anyone on my roof.' Can HOA demand owners have roof cleaned? Expert weighs in — Ryan Poliakoff | The Palm Beach Post | September 15, 2024

• COLORADO: Engagement like this helps create positive change!

"Listen, I feel like people are getting activated. I feel that people are inspired to come and tell the stories," Ricks said. "As a lawmaker, I'm willing to pass laws. I'm willing to step out, but it really takes the stories of the people that are here, the homeowners talking to the legislators talking and coming and testifying…”

Rally for HOA reform held at Colorado State Capitol — Maggy Wolanske | Denver 7 | September 15, 2024

‘We need some government oversight’: Colorado homeowners plan to push for greater HOA reform with rally at state capitol

— Robert Tann | Summit Daily | September 12, 2024

• GEORGIA: A year gone by without yet another subcommittee dedicated to condos and HOAs would be an anomaly!

Senate Rules Chairman Sen. Matt Brass (R–Newnan) has appointed a Senate Subcommittee on Homeowners Associations, where he will serve as Chair…

…Sen. Brass spoke on the importance of the subcommittee, stating, “HOAs undoubtedly serve a purpose in our communities, but like any governing body, their power cannot be limitless. I look forward to chairing this subcommittee and working alongside my Senate colleagues to tackle this issue.”

The Senate Subcommittee will hold hearings to gather input from concerned citizens and HOA leadership. The subcommittee will include Vice Chair Donzella James (D–Atlanta), Majority Leader Steve Gooch (R–Dahlonega), Minority Leader Gloria Butler (D–Stone Mountain) and Senators Brandon Beach (R–Alpharetta), Clint Dixon (R–Gwinnett) and Michael “Doc” Rhett (D–Marietta). The subcommittee is scheduled to meet on September 24 and October 22 in Room 450 of the Capitol. 

For more information on the subcommittee’s work and upcoming meetings: Senate Calendar

Sen. Matt Brass to Lead Senate Subcommittee on Homeowners Associations — Senate Press | September 17, 2024

• NORTH CAROLINA: Following the failure of the NC legislature to move forward with recommendations from their subcommittee via HB959, reform is on hold until 2025.

Those hoping to see oversight and reform for homeowners’ associations (HOAs) and property owners’ associations (POAs) will now have to wait until 2025.

The issue of HOA reform has gained attention over the last few years, and residents in the Wilmington area are appealing to legislators to strengthen protections for those living in the state’s more than 14,000 HOAs and POAs.

Brunswick legislator believes 'some great bills' on HOA reform are coming. Here's when.  [alt 🔗] — Renee Spencer | Star News Online | September 12, 2024