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E-mail has become the communication method of choice for many board members and association management. It is a rare board member or manager that does not utilize e-mail, and while we all can agree that e-mail has improved our respective ability to communicate with one another, it does have its downsides. And now, text messaging is becoming an important communication tool; just consider what you say before sending that message.

You cannot help seeing the headlines about the many major company and public officials, sports and entertainment figures that have been brought down by their e-mails and/or text messages (and even tweets). Many company executives that are currently or recently being prosecuted for bringing down their companies and/or defrauding shareholders have to defend their e-mails. In many cases it is the e-mails themselves that got these people into trouble.
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Recent reports indicate that about 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings. Many experts are forecasting another wave of foreclosures. Follow these links for some interesting stories from the following sources: L.A. Times, Foreclosure Pulse, and MSN Money Central
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Going legally broke has made a big comeback, especially in California, despite major revisions to the US bankruptcy code intended to curb filings. The number of Californians seeking bankruptcy protection is booming. The amount of personal bankruptcy filings rose 75% in 2009 (from the 2008 filings). With many Californians continuing to lose jobs or those unemployed failing to find jobs, we can only assume that bankruptcy filings will continue to increase through 2010.

The attorneys at SwedelsonGottlieb have prepared two articles regarding bankruptcy, one on the bankruptcy process and what you need to know, and another on bankruptcy stays – what they are and how they impact the assessment collection process. They are available for download here and here.

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Sandra Gottlieb, partner of SwedelsonGottlieb, and President of Association Lien Services, was also nominated by the Channel Islands Chapter for its Speaker of the Year for her program on boards of directors’ fiduciary duties and responsibilities. Sandra is a new member of the Channel Islands Chapter’s Board, was elected President Elect for the 2010 year and will be President of the Channel Islands Chapter for 2011.

ALS and SwedelsonGottlieb are committed to CAI and the Channel Island’s chapter, and are proud of Sandra’s nominations.

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On February 24th (this Wednesday), David Swedelson, along with Tim Cline of the Timothy Cline Insurance Agency will be presenting a program on how technology can help you, as a board member, manager or community association vendor, to be more productive by taking advantage of new computer technology. They will be talking about Outlook and similar programs, scanning options for an almost paperless office, dictation and transcription programs, programs to help you stay organized, recording devices, video cameras, PDAs and more. Who knew that David and Tim were computer and technology geeks?!

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Despite the wind, rain and cold weather that followed us from Southern California, SwedelsonGottlieb attorneys David Swedelson, Stephanie Rohde and Alyssa Klausner recently attended the 31st Annual CAI National Law Seminar in Tucson, Arizona. We have written an article about what we learned from this excellent seminar; follow this link for a copy of the article.

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David Swedelson and Sandra Gottlieb were recently nominated for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of CAI’s Excellence in Education Award. Sandra was nominated, along with Karen Kokowicz, Manager of Westview Towers HOA (our client), for their program entitled How to Say No and Keep Your Job. David was nominated, along with Candace Gottlieb-Clark (of Mediating Solutions), Michael Huffman (Management Professionals, Inc.) and Dick Preuss for their program, Building Community
Through Reasonable Rules.
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David Swedelson was a speaker on a panel with this title at CAI’s recent 31st Annual CAI National Law Seminar in Tucson, Arizona. In preparation for that program, David Swedelson and firm Associate Stephanie Rohde authored an article entitled Collecting Delinquent Assessments in a Troubled Economy. Click here to download a PDF copy of that article which addresses assessment collection issues throughout the United States.

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A Building Component Does Not Become Common Area Just Because It Was Placed or Built On The Common Area; Homeowner Cannot Escape Maintenance Responsibility Based Upon Developer’s Mistake. Chen v. Fairmont Terrace Homeowners Association (2001) 2001 WL 1191483 (Cal.App.4 Dist.) Not Officially Published
This is a case that was handled through appeal by SwedelsonGottlieb Partner David Swedelson.

Owners will often insist that their association is responsible for maintaining or repairing a building improvement or component that would normally be their responsibility merely because of where it is located. Nathan Chen found out the hard way that where the component is located is not the criteria.
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We have all heard stories about accidental e-mails. How about accidental voice mails? I guess it can happen. The Los Angeles Daily Journal reported that a lawsuit is moving forward based on a voicemail that was accidentally left on an attorney’s system. The article states: “The three men thought they had hung up after leaving a message for one of Jasmine’s in-house lawyers, but the voicemail continued to record as they openly discussed the theft of trade secrets on speakerphone. Marvell fought all the way to the California Supreme Court to get the voicemail erased based on attorney-client privilege, but the court punted the case back to the 6th District, allowing to stand its ruling that the lawyers waived the privilege by discussing possible fraud.”

If you are discussing confidential matters, it is best to make sure that you keep it confidential. Be careful out there.
Click here to read the article

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