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By David Swedelson, Senior Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

As reported in several publications, including this article from MSNBC, Timothy Adams, a member of a homeowners association in Omaha, Nebraska, has taken some unusual steps to engender support for his fight against his homeowners association as he battles to keep solar panels installed on his home.

According to the MSNBC article, homeowner Adams is being sued by South Shore Heights Homeowners Association after he refused to take down the solar panels he had installed on his roof. While we have seen owners publicize their positions in letters in an effort to garner fellow owner support for their positions, Adams is spending a lot of money (and vows to spend even more) trying to generate support for his cause by putting up billboards, launching a webpage, sending letters to neighbors and utilizing social media.

OmahaBillboardSolar.jpg
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By Joan E. Lewis-Heard, Esq., Attorney, SwedelsonGottlieb

Edited by David C. Swedelson, Esq.

Many California condominium associations have common area storage lockers, rooms or areas that are made available to the owners. Sometimes, the storage area is assigned in a deed as exclusive use common area. More often than not, these areas are not assigned, and the board has the ability to assign and rent them to owners. And boards and the association’s management often have no idea of the issues that storage areas can create until they are smack dab in the middle of a dispute with an owner.

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SwedelsonGottlieb, Condo Lawyers and HOA Attorneys

You may not be aware, but 2011 has been a historical year for California hockey, as California’s three NHL teams, the San Jose Sharks, LA Kings, and the Anaheim Ducks, all made the playoffs for the first time together. Or perhaps you were aware of this incredible feat due to the multiple proud fan displays, signs, and banners gracing the homes in your community.

But what would this momentous occasion have to do with HOA law? I am so glad you asked.

In Florida, some homeowners associations had their hands full this year as the Tampa Bay Lightning, who also made the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, sent banners, flags and lawn signs to its devoted fans for display. Alas, as this news story reports, some Tampa HOA members who displayed such signs on their property were met with opposition by their association. Read the story as to how the ingenious owner got around the association’s objections.
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We just received CACM’s 20th Anniversary publication. SwedelsonGottlieb and Association Lien Services congratulate the California Association of Community Managers (CACM) on providing 20 years of leadership and education for California’s community managers. CACM’s record of support for managers and the communities they serve is truly extraordinary, and homeowners across the state have CACM to thank for a better quality of life in their associations.

CACM’s publication included a retrospective of the major milestones in its development from its formative years through today. It contains a number of photographs of members, attendees at events and participants, and we were pleased to see a 1999 photograph of Senior Partners David Swedelson and Sandra Gottlieb and a 2009 photo of Sandra Gottlieb receiving CACM’s Lifetime Achievement Vision Award.

We look forward to many more years of working closely with CACM and supporting California’s community association managers.

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By David C. Swedelson, Senior Partner and Joan Lewis-Heard, Senior Associate at SwedelsonGottlieb
It is a good day for the Bridgeport Community Association, a SwedelsonGottlieb client. Today escrow closed and this association was paid the sum of $147,375.65 for the attorney’s fees and costs the Association incurred to obtain the owners and their tenant’s compliance with the CC&Rs. For those of you that think that it cannot be done, read on. The Board and Management at this planned development association located in Valencia, California persevered and took the case through the trial court and appeal and recovered $147,375.65. And they did this because it was the right thing to do, despite all of the time, effort and money it cost the Association.
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By David C. Swedelson, Senior Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

As you have likely noticed, lately there have been a lot of significant earthquakes all over the world. Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, and Japan. Since May 1st, California has experienced over 400 earthquakes, most too small to be noticed. But experts say that it is only a matter of time before California suffers a new and significant earthquake. Are you prepared? What about your community association? Probably not. But all of us can certainly learn from prior experiences. So I found an old article I prepared following our experiences working with hundreds of condominium and planned development homeowner associations following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Follow this link to read my August 1994 article, Lessons Learned from the January 1994 Earthquake, that was published in Condo Management magazine.

David Swedelson can be contacted via email: dcs@sghoalaw.com

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By Sandra L. Gottlieb, Senior Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

Our firm’s work with United Laguna Hills Mutual, a large master community association, is attracting some attention. Follow this link to an article from the Orange County Register. SwedelsonGottlieb assisted the association in crafting a new rule to deal with this association’s serious hoarding problem. Among other things, the new rule defines when the line is crossed from harmless clutter to a hoarding problem that creates a fire and/or health hazard that must be dealt with. The association’s efforts to address hoarding were also highlighted in a recent issue of Community Association Institute’s Common Ground magazine.

If you are experiencing difficulty enforcing your governing documents when it comes to hoarding, contact us at 800.372.2207. Let us evaluate your hoarding issues and let you know the association’s options for dealing with this issue.

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By David Swedelson, SwedelsonGottlieb Partner

Japan’s massive earthquake has caused many of us to be concerned about earthquakes in California. A March 20, 2011 L.A. Times article reports that the Japan quake has created a surge of interest in earthquake insurance in California.

The article reports that only about 12% of Californians with homeowner’s insurance policies have quake coverage. The article did not report on condominium associations, but Tim Cline, a respected California insurance expert and broker, advises that while there is no statistical data published as to the percentage of California community associations that do carry this coverage, he estimates it at 25%. Tim does indicate that the percentage is closer to 50% of condominium associations, and that makes sense as they have more to protect and deal with than other types of community associations.
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Senate Majority Leader Ellen M. Corbett (D-San Leandro) has introduced SB 561 which will, if signed into law, make some fairly significant changes to the law impacting how California community associations collect delinquent assessments. Senator Corbett has been quoted as saying that “[u]nscrupulous debt collectors are increasing the amount owed based on penalties and fees, and foreclosing on people’s homes… It’s a terrible practice. The penalties are just way too harsh.” Unfortunately, Senator Corbett has failed to provide any examples or proof that delinquent owners are incurring anything more then the reasonable costs and fees of collection. We really have no idea what penalties or fees she is referencing, and based on our more than 20 years of experience, what Senator Corbett is quoted as saying is not accurate.

David Swedelson and Sandra Gottlieb have analyzed SB 561, and based on their many years of experience dealing with assessment collection issues, they believe that this is bad legislation based on incorrect facts and circumstances. They have written an article summarizing their analysis. This bill has been approved by the California State Senate and will soon be taken up by the Assembly. We are hoping that a massive showing of opposition will motivate the assembly to reject SB 561. We will be forwarding additional information soon.

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Blog post by David C. Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

How many times have you heard a delinquent condo or HOA homeowner (or their attorney) complain that the fees and costs of collection are almost as much as the amount of the unpaid assessments or fees they owe their community association? I am betting that you have heard this complaint before. But the fact that the collection and attorneys’ fees are not proportionate to the amount sought to be collected is not a defense that can legitimately be asserted by a delinquent owner. Had they timely paid their assessments or not let the collection action go on for so long, the fees would not have been that much. And what do they expect their association to do? Not seek collection?
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