Virginia Condominium & Homeowners Association Lawyer

Question:

I have a contract on my Virginia condo to close next week.  After the contract was signed, a special assessment was voted on and passed. The first due date for the assessment is after the closing.

The contract says "Unless otherwise agreed to in writing, Seller will pay any special assessments and will comply with all orders or notices of violations of any county or local authority, condominium unit owners' association, homeowners' or property owners' association or actions in any court on account thereof, against or affecting the Property on the Settlement Date."

The title agency is saying that because the special assessment was passed before the closing I must pay the whole assessment.  Is this the correct interpretation of the above language from the contract?   I will pay it if I have to, but as it is not even due until after the settlement date; I would like to confirm.

     Consider the situation where the Board of Directors has decided that they want to upgrade the appearance of an aging townhouse style condominium and they are talking about requiring all the unit owners to replace certain areas of vinyl siding with Hardiplank or similar high grade exterior product which is a much more expensive material. They are also going to require solid wood decorative shutters on some of the windows. The plan is to get bids, enter into a contract, and assess the owners because the association doesn’t have any money in reserve for this project. Some owners consider these improvements to be upgrades and say that the Board shouldn’t be able to require the owners to pay for upgrades as opposed to replacements.   This article can also apply to some degree to townhouse communities which are not condos but where the association has the responsibility to maintain the exteriors of dwelling units and common facilities.

The Community Association Law Team will be participating in the SEVA CAI Chapter's Annual Legislative and Legal Update which will be held on the Southside May 11, 2012 and on the Peninsula May 18, 2012.   This is a half day event ending at 12:45 and is packed with excellent legal material of a timely nature. Learn about new laws passed by the Legislature, court cases decided regarding community associations, and the latest trends in various areas of association operations.

Yet another example of the risk involved in deciding not to make a requested accommodation in a prudent manner in light of the requirements of the Fair Housing Act.  This often stems from board members and managers not knowing that "handicap" is a very broadly defined term under the Fair Housing Act.  Handicap is defined as follows: 

"Handicap" means, with respect to a person, (i) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities; (ii) a record of having such an impairment; or (iii) being regarded as having such an impairment. The term does not include current, illegal use of, or addiction to a controlled substance as defined in Virginia or federal law.

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

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.