Community Associations Institute (CAI) has weighed in on the side of a Vail, Colorado condominium owner who won a costly and contentious, seven-year court battle with his association over who was responsible for resolving a water-intrusion issue. The court determined that the association should pay $550,000 in attorneys’ fees and…
July’s 5.4-magnitude Chino Hills Earthquake was a jolting reminder that we all need to prepare for the “big one”. It is no secret that California is riddled with earthquake faults. Click here for a map which shows seven of the faults with the probability of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. Scientists…
As part of an association’s preparation for an earthquake, inevitably there is the “issue” of earthquake insurance. In 1994, at the time of the Northridge quake, less than half of all associations had earthquake insurance. I do not believe the statistics have changed much since 1994. Earthquake insurance is not…
I, along with over 70% of other California citizens, have or will vote today (11/4/08). And then, not wanting to pass up a good deal, I went to my local Starbucks for my free cup of joe. That’s right, Starbucks offered a free cup of coffee to anyone that came…
As a reminder, Tuesday, November 4th is Election Day, and it is important that you exercise your right and duty as a citizen to vote. We are not voting on just who will be our next President, but there are a number of other initiatives on the ballot that are…
Early voting is underway and, as expected, we have received calls complaining about political signs. You may be getting questions or comments about sign regulation in your communities, so we thought it would be a good idea to let you know what goes, and what does not, in community associations…
For the last two years, we have been recommending that California community associations add a bad debt allowance in their budgets. Since about 2000, rising home prices and the level of equity in those homes meant that few homeowners were willing to lose their homes through foreclosure for non-payment of…
Associations Must Act Timely and Decisively to Enforce Covenants This summary of a recent Court of Appeals decision was published in the October 2008 edition of the Community Association Law Reporter published by Community Associations institute. What do you think of the Court’s decision? Pacific Hills Homeowners Association v. Prun,…
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As you hopefully know by now, as of July 1, 2006, the way all California community associations conduct elections and membership votes was changed. Among the major changes is the requirement that all elections and certain other membership votes be held by secret ballot pursuant to operating rules. This includes…