Virginia Condominium & Homeowners Association Lawyer

Mike and Jeanne will be on Cathy Lewis's one hour program discussing current community association issues and answering questions from local callers.  This is their third appearance on the show which generally yields discussion of some interesting topics.

If you have a chance to listen in, tune in to 89.5  WHRV-FM/WHRO...the show is called  Hearsay with Cathy Lewis

We have received a few inquiries regarding the authority of an Association (typically exercised by the Board) to assign parking spaces located in the common areas for the exclusive use of particular unit or lot owners.  This issue arises occasionally in Southeastern Virginia, where parking is relatively plentiful, but it tends more frequently to be a contentious issue in other areas, such as the Washington DC suburbs of Northern Virginia.

Acts of Malice

Q: My homeowners association passed a resolution that allows the board to suspend a member's voting rights and attendance at board meetings indefinitely due to acts of malice, such as verbal assault or menacing gestures, toward board members. Whether something is an act of malice is determined by the board members themselves. Can a homeowners association take away a member's voting rights indefinitely and restrict attendance at the meetings?—Alexandria, Va.

A: The first issue is the suspension of voting rights and the second is the prohibition from attending board meetings. I question the legal propriety of a board resolution that suspends a member's voting rights. What do the governing documents say about the suspension of voting rights? Who has the power to suspend voting rights?

Your Virginia Legislative Action Committee,  (LAC) is hard at work monitoring and taking appropriate action on approximately 30 bills that have been introduced in the legislature this month.  Mike Inman serves on the LAC, as he has for over 15 years, and wishes to direct you to the LAC website for detailed information on what is happening in Richmond.  The web site includes a tracking chart for all the bills.  Please see www.cai-valac.org.  for legislative alerts and the tracking chart, as well as other information.

We have recently learned of a relatively new Federal law which gives some protection to tenants who reside in homes owned by folks who don't pay the mortgage resulting in foreclosure UNTIL December 31, 2012. Below is a summary published on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) website:

SAVE THE DATE!!! The Annual COMMINITY ASSOCIATIONS DAY 2010, will be held on March 27, 2010 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. This event includes over 50 vendor booths and programs presented on a wide variety of community association topics all day long. Lunch is provided. It is a great event for board members  and owners to learn a lot in a short time. The theme for 2010 is TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION LIVING.  Please put this on your calendar NOW!!

PREPARING PROXIES FOR A MEMBERSHIP MEETING – A TRAP FOR THE UNWARY

Sometimes we have the unhappy duty of telling a client that the proxy they have sent out (or, worse, used) for a member meeting was invalid due to lack of compliance with the Virginia Condominium Act, or simply doesn't constitute a proxy.   It seems that many folks think that a proxy is something that is simple to do and should not require professional assistance.  Unfortunately that is not the case.  There are also a couple myths about proxies that we need to dispel...

For the average person, these words are usually harbingers of doom.  But for common interest communities and the professionals associated with them, they are simply an annual chore.  For a number of years the law has required residential condominiums and homeowners associations to file annually with the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.  Recent changes to the law have added professional management companies as entities required to file as well.  The online link to verify compliance is For the average person, these words are usually harbingers of doom. But for common interest communities and the professionals associated with them, they are simply an annual chore. For a number of years the law has required residential condominiums and homeowners associations to file annually with the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Recent changes to the law have added professional management companies as entities required to file as well. The online link to verify compliance can be visited here. The same link allows you to check the status of many professionals, including contractors doing work at your home, and is a terrific source of information.

A comment was recently posted to Mike Inman's article about the limits of Board authority.  The commenter asked:

1. What authority does a Condo or HOA Board have to censor the content of:

(a) a community newsletter?
(b) a community website?
(c) notices posted on a community notice board?

2. What authority does a Board have to prohibit Owners (or other Residents) from puttng notices or flyers (relating to community matters)on or uder doors in the community?

The answers to these questions nicely highlight certain laws that apply to help facilitate communication among members of both Condominium Associations and Property Owners Associations.

We bring you news on two popular topics; Insurance and collections.  Two of our team members, Jeanne Lauer and Mike Inman, recently participated as presenters in an enjoyable association Leadership Retreat sponsored by two Virginia CAI chapters at the Boars Head Inn in Charlottesville and hope to repeat the experience next year – as do most who attended. It was a first time event which was well organized and executed. Much credit goes to our local Chapter Executive Director, Rebecca Woodring.