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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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Blog post by David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

On May 6, 2011, the Community Associations Institute (CAI), the Institute for Real Estate Management, the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors united in calling for greater transparency and opportunity for public input into the development of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lending rules for condominiums. In addition to calling for greater public input, the group united in specific recommendations on key elements of the FHA Condominium Insurance Program. Follow this link to read the entire article.

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By David Swedelson, Esq., Senior Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

Check out this interesting article about former potential presidential candidate, TV star and real estate mogul Donald Trump and all his bankruptcies. Four, to be exact. They do not seem to have stunted Trump’s prospects. The article addresses how Trump has made bankruptcy work for him. And in case you have not noticed, there are a lot of people filing bankruptcy these days. Since the beginning of the “Great Recession,” our office has been involved in hundreds of them, monitoring, filing claims and motions for relief from stay.

Bankruptcies impacting your assessment collection efforts? Interested in more information regarding bankruptcy? Check out the following articles and hoalawblog posts on the subject:

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By Sandra L. Gottlieb, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

Now that the “spot loan” approval process (which allowed for on-the-spot FHA approval of an association for the benefit of a buyer) has been eliminated, it is only possible for an owner or prospective purchaser of a condominium to obtain an FHA-insured loan if the association is or becomes FHA certified. This leads to the question of what, if anything, California community associations should do to obtain FHA certification. FHA certification is effective for two years, after which time the association must be recertified, although it is worth noting that the certification process has changed so frequently that there is no guarantee that the same certification requirements will be in place two years from now.
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Blog Posting by David C. Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb

Mother’s Day is coming up, and I was thinking about my mom, who passed away almost 25 years ago. I still remember some of the sage advice she handed out, although I must admit that, at times, I did not appreciate everything she had to say.
In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m sharing an article I read in May of 2010 by LA Times Personal Finance reporter Kathy Kristof, who shared some of her mom’s words of wisdom and advice as it related to the workplace. What her mother had to say about being respectful, listening, honesty, being responsible, apologizing and not whining applies to all of us, whether it relates to the work we do for community associations, or serving on the board. Follow this link to read the article. And if it applies to you, Happy Mother’s Day.

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