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Lindsay S. Smith

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Lindsay Smith is a partner at WLPP Law, where she practices in general community association and real estate law. She provides legal representation in covenant enforcement, document amendment, and general association litigation; contract and document drafting and review; general business and governance advice for association clients; and meeting protocols.

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We often hear the terms “proxy” and “ballot” used interchangeably. The documents are not one and the same, and Associations should take care to treat them differently.

A proxy is a document executed by an owner that grants to another person the owner’s right to vote on a given matter in the Association. Generally, an individual who cannot attend a meeting will grant a proxy to another person who will attend the meeting. This helps to ensure that the Association reaches quorum and is able to transact business, and allows the absent party to have a vote in the matters at hand.Continue Reading Proxies and Written Ballots – What’s the Big Difference?

The Federal Housing Administration is implementing a new approval process for condominium projects.  All projects must now obtain re-approval every two years.  Most current approvals are scheduled to expire on December 7, 2010.

Check your condominium’s approval status at the following link, and contact us if you need assistance obtaining re-approval before the December deadline.

We occasionally receive calls from distressed board members or managers when individual community members take steps to amend an association’s governing documents without going through a board process. Usually, a packet arrives in the board member’s or manager’s mail at the same time everyone else in the community gets the proposed amendment. This type of owner-initiated document amendment drive can result in substantial expense and, if not handled properly, can leave the association with vague, poorly drafted documents that make governance close to impossibleContinue Reading The Owner-Initiated Document Amendment

 Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are becoming more common methods for American communications. Sites that were once reserved for college students are now used by parents, grandparents, businesses, and movements to keep in touch and disseminate information. Many homeowners associations and condominium associations have joined the new media revolution, with varying degrees of success.

Facebook and Twitter can allow users to customize who can see information posted. While most association governing documents are matters of public record, if an association wishes to post other information, like meeting minutes or budgets, it may wish to limit access to association members. Any association that intends to make full use of the communications aspects of social media should take care to ensure that the site or page is regularly reviewed to grant access to members.

 Continue Reading The Use of Social Media in Association Governance