Governance

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As we slide into 2012, it’s important for the boards of HOAs to take a careful look at the status of their reserve funds. By now, every HOA should have adopted a Reserve Study Policy that is required under Colorado law. C.R.S. 38-33.3-209.5(1)(b)(IX) provides that a Reserve Study Policy must include the following:Continue Reading 2012 HOA To Do List Reminder: Review Reserve Study Policy and Make Contributions to Reserves

In the busy-ness of day to day work, once in awhile I get a chance to reflect on what is causing all of this busy-ness. It seems that the last several years have, unfortunately, brought out much conflict in the operations of community associations, resulting in contentious board meetings and annual meetings, as well as disputes between associations and their members and owner to owner disputes. The Foundation for Community Association Research, a national 501(c)(3) organization devoted to common interest community research, development and scholarship recently published a paper by Courtney L. Feldscher, a Ph.D. Candidate at Boston University addressing managing conflict in community associations.Continue Reading Conflict Management in Your Association

For those of you who follow our blog, you know that in recent entries I have been compiling a 2012 HOA To Do List for managers and directors of homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”). My first additions to the To Do List addressed planning ahead for annual disclosures and renewing your HOA registration in 2012 with the Colorado Division of Real Estate. While these initial entries were housekeeping items required by Colorado law, this latest addition is much more strategic in nature and is intended to enhance the governance of your communities.Continue Reading 2012 HOA To Do List Reminder: Groom Future HOA Leaders

On Monday, I blogged a reminder to HOA managers and board members about the annual disclosures associations are required to make within 90 days after the end of the association’s fiscal year. As I was thinking about creating an HOA checklist for 2012, it occurred to me that it’s important to add a reminder to renew your HOA’s registration with the Colorado Division of Real Estate (“Division”).

As you know, HOAs in Colorado were required to register for the first time with the Division prior to March 1, 2011, or face the possibility of penalties for failing to register. In early March, the Division published a Position Statement providing the opinion that pre-CCIOA communities (those HOAs created prior to July 1, 1992) were not required to register. However, since this Position Statement is not binding on the courts and the reasoning is subject to differing opinions, we have advised all of our HOA clients to register with the Division to avoid potential penalties.Continue Reading 2012 HOA To Do List Reminder: Renew HOA Registration

As we enter the homestretch for 2012, it doesn’t hurt for managers and boards to put on their radar screens the “annual disclosures” homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”) are required to make pursuant to the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”). C.R.S. 38-33.3-209.4(2) provides that within 90 days of the end of each fiscal year, HOAs must make the following information readily available at no cost to unit owners:Continue Reading Planning Ahead for Annual Disclosures

Bullying is a huge headline lately.  Lady Gaga is starting a foundation to fight the problem, the government’s involved with www.stopbullying.gov, and there are hundreds of news articles every week on the subject.  Bullying is pervasive and infects every area of life.  As an association attorney, I see bullying every day.

Sometimes the bully is a board member, refusing to allow other board members or association members the right to speak and discuss a subject.  Other times, the bully is a homeowner who has a personal issue with another homeowner, and brings the association into that conflict. The bully can also be a homeowner who disagrees with association policy, and disrupts meetings in an attempt to assert his position.

I know a lot of people probably figure I’m a bully – after all, I’m the attorney who tells you to take down your tree house and that you have to re-paint your purple trim white.  Surprisingly, lawyers get bullied too.  We’ve received simple death threats, insults about our practice, professionalism, intellect, and personal grooming, and even threats of biological weapons.  A homeowner once chased one of our attorneys with a machete.  A lawyer involved with the widespread association fraud in Nevada was found severely beaten yesterday.  It is not clear whether the beating was related to his involvement in the fraud, or just his graduation from law school.Continue Reading Homeowners Associations and Bullying

A Parker couple recently made the news after an unknown person spray painted offensive language on the couple’s garage, and left a noose on their front porch.  The couple, Aimee Whitchurch and Christel Conklin, rent a unit at a condominium development in Parker.

It is never good news when your association makes the news for a hate crime.  Aimee and Christel have been on most local stations, and their story is being picked up by blogs everywhere (including this one).  While the individual who vandalized the unit is the person ultimately responsible for the crime, the couple’s homeowners association is feeling heat as well.

When I saw video of the garage after someone covered the offensive language, I groaned to myself.  This screen capture, taken from KWGN News, shows a sloppy attempt to hide the offending words. 

Unfortunately, the white primer does little more than to highlight the crime.Continue Reading So You’ve Got a PR Disaster…Now What?

I have been teaching a series of workshops in the mountains focused on the Responsible Governance Policies (commonly referred to as “SB 100 Policies”) which homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”) in Colorado are required to adopt under the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”). This week we talked about the role of directors in governing their communities with an emphasis on fiduciary duty. We reflected on the fiduciary duty of directors and how directors sometimes unintentionally – or with the best of intentions – breach this duty. 

As Suzanne Leff wrote in a blog posting entitled Fiduciary Duty of Board Members: An Overview , directors of HOAs have the following duties to their associations: (1) Duty of Care; (2) Duty of Loyalty; and (3) Duty to Act Within the Scope of Their Authority. Continue Reading Reflections on a Director’s Duty of Loyalty

My Fox Houston just reported on a story where a homeowner in a patio home community replaced a brick wall in front of his home with a wrought iron fence.  Van Tru admitted he took this step without receiving approval from his HOA because of safety concerns.  Mr. Tru reported that as his daughter went out to the family car, a man was hiding behind the brick wall and followed her. Tru believes his daughters screams caused the man to run away.

The Mission Bend Subdivision is not happy with the changes Mr. Tru made to the brick wall and have given him 90 days to restore the wall.  Legal counsel for the HOA contends that Tru could have utilized other security safeguards like an alarm system or surveilance cameras to address his concerns. Continue Reading Safety Concerns v. Architectural Approval – You Decide

Do you remember the childhood fable about the infamous Henny Penny who had an acorn fall on her head and was convinced the sky was falling? Our dear little Henny Penny freaked out telling the King and every other animal who would listen to her (including Cocky Lockey) that the "sky is falling!" Ms. Penny and her cohorts, on a quest to warn anyone who would listen about the fate of the universe, met with an untimely demise when a fox invited them into his lair and ate them all. The moral of the story: Do not believe everything you are told.

I couldn’t help but reflect on poor Henny Penny, when I read  an article published in the Green Valley News entitled HOA NUGGETS: Deal with problems early on. The article recounts a real life tale about a “previously very important person” in a Fortune 100 Company who moves into a well run high-end retirement community and convinces residents the community is going down the drain as a result of wasteful spending. He proceeds to bully folks into believing his story, gets elected to and is appointed President of the Board. From that point on, things really do go downhill for this community. Four years later, residents of the community were so fed up with this fellow’s reign that they threatened a recall. The “previously very important person” quietly resigned. Continue Reading Don’t Be A Henny Penny!