HOA Law Blog

Blog post by David Swedelson, Condo lawyer, HOA Attorney and Senior Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

We receive a lot of inquiries regarding FHA loans. Many condominium association boards have not sought or obtained approval from the FHA as a result of objections to the agency’s strict criteria. Many California condo associations have found that the requirements to difficult to comply with. Things could be changing. Recent news articles state that “the Federal Housing Administration is readying changes to its controversial condominium rules that have rendered large numbers of units ineligible for the agency’s low-down-payment insured mortgages.”

“The revisions could remove at least some of the obstacles that have dissuaded condominium homeowner association boards from seeking FHA approval or recertification of their buildings for FHA loans in the last 18 months. Under the agency’s regulations, individual condo units in a building cannot be sold to buyers using FHA-insured mortgages unless the property as a whole has been approved for financing.”

“FHA officials defend their requirements as prudent and necessary to avoid insurance fund losses but have expressed a willingness to reconsider some of the issues that have upset condo owners and the real estate industry.”
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By Sandra Gottlieb, Esq., HOA Attorney and Condo Lawyer

As discussed in a previous blog post, our firm has received many inquiries regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) 2010 Revised Requirements as they relate to swimming pools, with a March 15, 2012 effective date. Do the ADA’s revised swimming pool requirements apply to your homeowners association? The good news is that nothing has changed from what was previously required and it is likely that these new requirements do not apply to most California community associations. We thought we would provide some additional details regarding these questions.

On September 15, 2010, under ADA Title III (“Title III”), The U.S. Department of Justice published revised, final regulations implementing the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (“2010 Standards”) for public swimming pools applicable to “public accommodations” (see Title III, Sections 242 and 1009). Compliance with the 2010 Standards is permitted as of September 15, 2010, but was not required until March 15, 2012.

According to the ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual (“ADA Manual”), in order to be considered a “public accommodation” with Title III obligations, an entity must be private, and it must own, lease to or operate “a place of public accommodation.” According to the ADA Manual, “a place of public accommodation” is a facility whose operations affect commerce and fall within at least one of 12 categories. Bottom line, if your association opens itself up to the public, it may be subject to ADA and thus these new regulations.
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By David Swedelson, Senior Partner SwedelsonGottlieb; Condo Lawyer and HOA Attorney

Owners often want to hold their condo or HOA liable for their damages suffered after a burglary of their unit or home or other criminal act. They claim that their association was required to provide (more) security, that the gates were not working or that a light in the common area was out. An association’s liability may depend on many factors such as whether it is a secured complex, the nature of the security services provided, if any, the association’s knowledge of criminal activities in the area and whether the criminal activities are the kind of activities that the complaining homeowner has complained about, etc. But is an association liable merely because it does not provide security? Is the lack of security the cause of the crime? We have found that sometimes the answer to these questions is “yes”. However, more frequently, the answer to these questions is likely “no,” that the association is not liable for the alleged damage(s). And that was the holding in a recent unpublished California court of appeal decision.

In the Girardi v. San Rafael Homeowners Association case, a husband (a prominent attorney) and wife who owned a home in a luxury planned development (located in Pasadena) sued the Alta San Rafael HOA, where their home is located, for negligence after their house was burglarized twice (jewelry and other valuables with a value in excess of a million dollars was alleged to have been taken). The Girardis claimed that their association owed them, as owners, a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, and breached that duty by failing to hire a security guard, monitor gates, and maintain the streetlights.

Blog post by David Swedelson, Senior Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorney; Condo Lawyer and HOA Attorney

We have been receiving calls and emails asking whether California condo, planned development, or stock cooperative HOAs are required to comply with a 2010 change in Federal law that requires that pool lifts be installed at public pools. We are hearing about this now because there is a deadline for their installation.

Have not heard about this pool lift requirement? The 2010 changes to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) for public pool facilities require public pools to be more accessible for disabled persons. Small pools must have at least one accessible means of entry, either a lift or sloped entry. Larger pools must have two accessible means of entry such as a lift, sloped entry with handrails, transfer wall with grab bar, transfer system with steps, or accessible pool stairs. Slope entries and lifts are by far the most common.

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Blog article by David Swedelson, California Condo Lawyer and HOA Attorney, Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

We sometimes see community associations that are out of control, treating some of the owners or residents very badly, refusing to make repairs, perform maintenance in or around some owners’ units or homes or worse. As this case out of Hawaii tells us, this type of wrongful conduct can have disastrous results.

According to a news article, a jury awarded Molokai residents and condo owners $3.87 million in general and punitive damages against their condominium association. The couple said they were targets of threats, harassment and intimidation by an unlicensed contractor (who was alleged to have had a criminal record and was hired to do various tasks around the Ke Nani Kai Condominium in West Molokai) and the resident manager.
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Blog post by SwedelsonGottlieb Partner David Swedelson, Condo Lawyer and HOA Attorney

Interesting and thought provoking article by Florida community association attorney Donna DiMaggio Berger, Esq. that addresses an issue that many of us have thought about, namely a community association’s responsibility for volunteer Community Watch members as well as for the acts of other association volunteers. Follow this link to read the article.

For those that do not know the story, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old kid was shot and killed by on February 26, 2012 by a volunteer Captain of the Neighborhood Watch in a gated Orlando, Florida community association.
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