So, you are probably asking yourself what a lawsuit against Nordstrom (a department store) has to do with community associations. Plenty. Let me explain. In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal determined that the trial court had NOT made a mistake when it granted summary judgment in favor of…
By David Swedelson, Esq.; Senior Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb This article follows an earlier post entitled To Foreclose Or Not To Foreclose; That Seems To Be The Question. We had hoped that the economy would have improved so we would not have to revisit the issue. However, board members and managers…
A recent column in the Los Angeles Times addressed an interesting issue regarding assessment collection on units or lots owned by soldiers who are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere. The article referenced a community association in Texas that proceeded to foreclose on its lien recorded against a home owned…
The Los Angeles Times publishes a column entitled Rent Watch. Recently, the column addressed a situation where a tenant maintained in that tenants apartment a seeing eye dog that barked at night bothering the neighbor(s). The answer applies to community associations as well as rental units. Follow this link to…
September 22, 2010 marked the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. This holiday starts on a different date between late September to late October each year and has agricultural orgins, celebrating the harvest. If it is Sukkot, we can be assured of getting calls asking us what to do…
An interesting trial court decision was reported in the Daily Journal, a newspaper for attorneys. The article dealt with a the trial judge’s decision in a lawsuit between two owners in a Newport Beach gated zero lot line community regarding a purported landscaping encroachment. A zero lot line refers to…
On August 13, 2010, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a proposed regulation to ban the use of deed-based or covenant-based transfer fees. The proposal would prohibit Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and all federal home loan banks from purchasing mortgages for properties in communities with deed-based transfer fees. While…
Calemine v. Jared Court Homeowners Association, Inc. In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeals, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Lamden, upheld a trial court ruling that a condominium association, acting in good faith and in the best interests of the community, can decide not to take…
Lately, a number of our firm’s clients have contacted us regarding disputes they are having with vendors or their management regarding termination of their relationships. One association was very dissatisfied with the laundry room service/equipment provider, and when they went to terminate that relationship, they received a letter from the…
Posted by David Swedelson From time to time we hear from association clients that are in a dispute with owners over documents that the owner wants to inspect or copy. They often want copies of the attorney’s billing statements. The problem is that most attorneys are descriptive as to the…