Knowingly or unknowingly, sometimes boards adopt rules which are in conflict or more restrictive than the association’s CC&Rs. For example, they make specific rules regarding prohibitions on the installation of washing machines when the CC&Rs are silent on the matter. Boards sometimes prohibit hard surface flooring when this is likewise…
SwedelsonGottlieb is proud to announce that our firm’s senior and managing partner Sandra Gottlieb has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Channel Islands Chapter of Community Associations Institute (CAI). She will serve as President-Elect in 2010 and as the Chapter’s President in 2011. Sandra looks forward to…
It is October, and many association boards of directors and managers are in the process of preparing their associations’ 2010 budgets and statutory disclosure mailings. As we have done every year for the last decade, we have posted SwedelsonGottlieb’s Annual Disclosure and Notice Checklist to assist you with that process.…
You have most likely received emails regarding proposed new legislation that would allow California community associations’ Boards the power to enter into long term contracts for water or energy efficiency programs. After considering the pros and cons as expressed in these emails, we have let the Governor know that we…
On July 30, 2009 the California Association of Community Managers (CACM) awarded SwedelsonGottlieb’s senior partner Sandra Gottlieb with the organization’s coveted 2009 Vision Lifetime Achievement Award. This is only the second time in CACM’s history that it has awarded an affiliate (meaning a member who is not a manager) the…
Chee v. Marina Seagate Condominiums, (2006) 143 Cal.App.4th 1360, 50 Cal.Rptr.3d 40. Lila Chee (“Chee”) is a 71-year-old resident owner of a condominium at the Marina Seagate condominium complex. She was allegedly injured when a Jack Russell Terrier owned by Olga Kiymaz, at the time a tenant in the condominium…
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that secured bank lenders to General Motors would get a full recovery on $6 billion in loans made to the auto maker, under the bankruptcy plan being finalized by the U.S. Treasury. If you are asking what this has to do with California community…
On May 28, 2009, in the matter of Dee v. PCS Property Management Inc. the California Courts of Appeal – 2nd District ruled that proposed expert testimony is properly excluded where experts relied on unsupported assumption that mold exposure caused plaintiff’s symptoms. In this mold case, the plaintiff Darcee Dee…
The Wall Street Journal reports that there is another sign that California’s foreclosures could jump in 2009: Delinquencies on dues (assessments) owed to homeowner associations have risen sharply. This is not a surprise to those of us in the trenches. Many managers report to us that they can barely keep…
Association Lien Services has been successfully collecting delinquent assessments, non-judicially, for over twenty years and has weathered a few economic downturns along the way. However, never before have we encountered such a perfect storm of economic turmoil. In the past, as now, when there has been a burst in the…