Published By: Michael A. Inman, Jeanne S. Lauer, Gregory J. Montero, Robert V. Timms, Jr., Matthew J. Weinberg

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Hello, Board members and managers.  Next Thursday, June 18, our team member, Jeanne Lauer will be providing a legislative update on a webinar sponsored by the SEVA CAI Chapter.  The program will also deal with other legal topics. To sign up please go to the following website: https://sevacai.memberclicks.net/

All of us are looking forward to more normalcy in our day to day activities.  Thankfully we are about to enter Phase 2 of the Governors re-opening program.  To assist you to comply with swimming pool operations and rules below we share the information that is on line as part of a very lengthy document from the Governor’s office on Phase 2.  That full Phase 2 information can be found at:  https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/governor-of-virginia/pdf/Virginia-Forward-Phase-Two-Guidelines.pdf
Continue Reading LEGISLATIVE UPDATE AND SWIMMING POOLS

As a result of superb effort of CAI’s Virginia Legislative Action Committee and its lobbyist Virginia common interest community associations will benefit from amendments to laws proposed by Governor Ralph S. Northam. These changes, adopted by the General Assembly on April 22, 2020, override requirements in the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act and Virginia Condominium Act which require at least two board members be physically present in the same location in order to convene a meeting properly.
Continue Reading NEW RULES FOR BOARD MEETINGS DURING COVID-19 DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY

Last year we informed you that effective October 1, 2019 the Virginia General Assembly reorganized Chapter 55 of the Code of Virginia. Chapter 55 includes the Condominium Act, the Property Owners Association (POA) Act and the Real Estate Cooperative Act. This reorganization did not amend the content of these Code Sections but did change the Code Section numbers. Prior to October, 2019 the Condominium Act was comprised of Sections 55-75.45 through 55.79.85. The Condominium Act is now comprised of Sections 55.1-1907 through 55.1-1969. Prior to October, 2019 the POA Act was comprised of Sections 55-508 through 55.516.2. The POA Act is now comprised of Sections 55.1-1801 through Sections 55.1-1836. Fortunately, a conversion table is available which makes it easy to correct form documents containing Code section citations. That chart can be found at https://www.vsb.org/docs/sections/realproperty/appendixb.pdf.
Continue Reading NEW STATE CODE SECTION NUMBERS FOR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS – FORMS NEED UPDATING

We want you to know that at this time we are maintaining regular office hours with some of our attorneys and staff occasionally working from home.  We are committed to be available to our clients in this difficult and uncertain time. Our attorneys and staff are also prepared, if necessary, to work remotely from our homes. We hope and pray that it will not become necessary and that we will soon be over the peak in the number of cases.

 DO YOUR ASSOCIATION’S GOVERNING DOCUMENTS NEED TO RETIRE?  OR MAYBE JUST GO TO REHAB?

If the community association you live in is showing some age, then most likely the association’s governing documents are as well.  When was the last time your Board of Directors reviewed your documents to make sure they are keeping pace with the way we all live in the modern world?  Do your documents comply with current provisions of the Virginia Condominium Act or the Virginia Property Owners Association (POA) Act?  Have you ever tried to find an answer to a problem your association was experiencing and found your documents were inadequate in giving the Board clear guidance?  Do you have difficulty finding certain topics in your documents? 
Continue Reading THE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS LAW TEAM IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

COVID 19 is raising new questions and concerns for all of our clients, especially community associations. While our office is currently open, we are prepared and equipped to function on a remote basis, so we will continue to be available to answer your questions and respond to your legal needs while fully respecting all important public health protocols.
Continue Reading How to “Stay Legal” with COVID 19

With the increasing popularity of security cameras and hi-tech doorbells and other systems, Virginia residents should be aware of a couple of criminal statutes that are implicated by the use of these technologies.

Virginia has a wiretapping statute which prohibits a person from capturing simultaneous audio and video recordings of someone without that person’s consent. The single best way to avoid violation of these statutes is to ensure that any video equipment you install does not have the capability of capturing any audio.  Yes, you could just employ a policy that you never activate or use the audio component but at some point, someone will succumb to the temptation to listen “just once.” VA Code §19.2-62. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title19.2/chapter6/section19.2-62/ 
Continue Reading SECURITY CAMERAS AND DOORBELLS IN VIRGINIA

We’ve posted articles in the past about the importance of associations maintaining adequate reserves for the repair and replacement of the capital components in their communities that the association has the duty to maintain, repair and replace.  Section 55.1-1965 of the Virginia Condominium Act and Section 55.1-1826 of the Virginia Property Owners Association (POA) Act both require that associations conduct a reserve study every five (5) years.  Both Acts also require that the Board of Directors review the reserve study on an annual basis to determine if the association is collecting adequate reserves in the annual budget to make sure funds are available each time a capital component needs major repairs or replacement and to adjust the reserve budget annually if necessary. 
Continue Reading THE CIC BOARD ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF ASSOCIATION RESERVE STUDIES

Recently we posted the first of two parts about the changes in qualifications for FHA loans for condominiums. In this part we provide information on the rest of the changes.

 

REDUCTION IN OWNER OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE PROJECTS

 

FHA’s primary motive for requiring that at least fifty percent (50%) of the units in a project be owner occupied or secondary residences is because it is statistically more likely that condominiums with a high percentage of rentals will have higher foreclosure and assessment delinquency rates than condominiums that are primarily owner occupied. It appears that FHA has settled on a compromise in order to avoid penalizing projects with higher rentals but lower delinquency rates.  FHA currently requires that no more than fifteen percent (15%) of the units can be sixty (60) days or more in arrears in the payment of assessments.  Effective October 15, if only ten percent (10%) or fewer owners are sixty (60) days or more in arrears, FHA will accept owner occupancy rates of only thirty five percent (35%).  This could be a significant boost for Hampton Roads.  We have seen many projects with strong financials rejected for FHA certification simply because of owner occupancy requirements.  Because of the high concentration of the military in our area, many condominium projects can have a higher percentage of rentals but still maintain low delinquency rates.

FHA has also expanded on what qualifies as an owner occupied or secondary residence which we believe will also help increase the rate of owner occupancy in some projects and take the guess work out of defining which units qualify as owner occupied and which do not.  These expanded definitions include {emphasis added}:

  • “any Unit that is occupied by the owner as his or her place of abode for any portion of the calendar year and that is not rented for a majority of the calendar year;
  • any Unit listed for sale, and not listed for rent, that was previously occupied by the owner as his or her place of abode for any portion of the calendar year and that is not rented for a majority of the calendar year; or
  • any Unit sold to an owner who intends to occupy the Unit as his or her place of abode for any portion of the calendar year and has no intent to rent the Unit for a majority of the calendar year.”

 
Continue Reading FHA LOANS – MAJOR CHANGES REGARDING CONDOMINIUM QUALIFICATIONS – PART II EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 15, 2019