Virginia Condominium & Homeowners Association Lawyer

 HERE ARE FIVE WAYS that  boards can minimize collection-related legal fees and maximize collectability:

A News Release from the Department of Housing and Urban Development

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it is charging a Philadelphia condominium association with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to revise its “no pets” policy as a reasonable accommodation for condominium residents with disabilities who required assistance animals.  HUD's charge alleges that The Philadelphian Owners' Association (POA), which manages the 776-unit Philadelphian condominium complex, required that residents provide burdensome and invasive medical documentation before requests for accommodation would be considered, severely limited access to the complex's facilities for residents accompanied by assistance animals, and failed to address several instances of harassment of residents requiring assistance animals.

Since the virtual collapse of secondary market financing options for the purchase and refinance of condominium units occurred several years ago, it is more important than ever for Condominium projects to obtain certification from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Veterans Administration (VA) and Fannie Mae.   FHA and VA currently account for an overwhelming majority of the available financing options for condominium units in today’s market. 

                     CAI’S VIRGINIA  LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE (VALAC)

REPORTS ANOTHER BIG YEAR

The VALAC monitored approximately 50 bills introduced in the General Assembly in the 2011 legislative session.  The following two are the most significant new laws which will affect every day life for those who are running community associations.

Q.        I reside in a large homeowners association with a Board of Directors that are questionable at best. Our Bylaws and resolution documents state that we are to have a Board of no less than 5 people. At this time there are 3. There have been people that have volunteered to the Board but were not chosen because they ask too many questions, or they were not liked by the current Board. They have hired a manager that has no management experience. We are self-managed and we were supposed to receive a copy of the budget by mail by November 1, and we are hearing that the HOA’s finances are in a mess and we have not passed our budget because of the mess. There is no response to our calls or emails to the management or the Board. Our community newsletter has stopped, so we know nothing about what is happening. If you start to ask questions at meetings, you are asked to leave or they will call the police. I am concerned about the legality of their actions and do not know where to turn. Who can we call to help our community?

Q. Our association is fairly new and we have just taken over control from the developer. I have been elected Treasurer and want to make sure we are doing all of the steps necessary to manage the Association’s finances. One of my major concerns is collection of delinquent assessments. We are not a large Association and almost everyone knows everyone else. We have just a few who are always behind and a couple who are way behind.  I don’t want to be the bad guy, but I also know that everyone must pay their dues. Can you make some suggestions that will get us on the right track?

With the federally mandated switch from analog to digital signals the interest in satellite dishes has increased. A brief refresher on the Rules is in order. OTARD, the acronym for Over the Air Reception Devices prohibits community associations from enacting restrictions that unreasonably impair the installation, maintenance, or use of antennas used to receive video programming.

A couple years ago a new state law was passed requiring that associations have an internal complaint procedure once the regulations for such are issued by the Department of Professional & Occupational Regulation.  The state agency responsible for prescribing an internal complaint procedure for all associations has proposed the regulations for it and those regulations are in the public hearing stage.  The regulations are expected to be final soon. It is unlikely that there will be any changes to the proposed regulations at this time so now is a good time to prepare and implement your complaint procedure. 

In these times of declining real estate values, more and more homes are "underwater," meaning that more is owed to the holder of the first deed of trust than the property is worth.  Sometimes owners simply stop paying the mortgage walk away from the property as a consequence and the holder of the first deed of trust forecloses.  However, what happens if an owner keeps paying their mortgage but stops paying his assessments.  What is an Association to do?

Q:       As a board member of a 180 unit condominium association, I am trying to figure out how we can have our upcoming annual meeting if we don't get a quorum of members present. Our bylaws say we have to have fifty percent of our owners present in person or by proxy to have a quorum for a meeting. That is 90 members. We did not achieve that number last year and could not have the meeting and elect new directors. What can we do to have a successful meeting?