HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - February 5, 2010
Published: Fri, 02/05/10
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Mandatory Club Memberships May Land Your HOA in Court
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This week's tip is a cautionary tale for homeowners associations
considering making club memberships mandatory in an effort to
generate additional funding.
Cash-strapped HOAs in Florida, Oregon, and Washington have
been testing a new plan to generate income for their
communities--making membership in association clubs mandatory
for all homeowners. Angry homeowners have been fighting back by
challenging those efforts in court, and they're starting to
have some success. A growing number of Florida courts have held
such amendments invalid because they substantially change the
scheme of the community from homeowners' expectations when they
moved in.
After losing in the lower courts, a few associations have
settled with the homeowners who sued. "With all the cases I'm
aware of," explains Lisa A. Magill, a shareholder and
association attorney at Becker & Poliakoff PA in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., "they settled because the association couldn't
take the risk that the amendment requiring the masses to
participate in the expenses would be in jeopardy [if a decision
by an appellate court upheld the trial court's invalidation of
the amendment]."
Still pending is the appellate court's decision in a case
against The Aberdeen Golf & Country Club near Boynton
Beach, Fla. "Aberdeen amended its documents to say all new
buyers have to become members of the club and are responsible
for club-related expenses, including purchases at the restaurant
and the annual fee," says Magill. "Everyone's waiting with bated
breath for the decision in that case. That's really going to
change what has transpired with respect to a number of country
club associations that have done this over the last several
years."
But those are just the first steps in the battle over mandatory
memberships. If the challenges to the rules are upheld in
appellate courts, what about homeowners who were forced to join
because of the new rules? To learn more, see our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/389.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Can Your HOA Make Club Membership Mandatory?
Cash-strapped homeowner associations in Florida, Oregon, and
Washington have been testing a new plan to generate income for
their communities--making membership in association clubs
mandatory for all homeowners. If you've been considering
generating revenue by amending your governing documents to make
membership in your HOA's golf or other club mandatory, read on
before you take any action.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/389.cfm >
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HOA Finances: Think Twice Before Throwing a Party with Unused
Budget Funds
This week's tip deals with condo and homeowners associations that
take leftover money in a miscellaneous or contingency budget
account and fritter them away with things like parties. Be
careful before taking that step.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/387.cfm >
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HOA Governance: Challenges Remain When Working with Lenders on
Delinquencies
Too many homeowners associations are struggling to deal with
absentee owners who've taken the "jingle mail" route--they've
walked away from the home they now owe too much money on, and
they've mailed the keys to the bank--before lenders have
foreclosed. Even when banks have completed foreclosure and own
association units, HOAs still have trouble collecting ongoing
fees.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/385.cfm >
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Mechanic's Liens: What You Must Know, and How to Avoid Them
our project to add parking to your homeowners association has
been fraught with problems from day one. You've argued with the
contractor over all the additional charges that seem to
materialize out of thin air. Your board is sick and tired of
dealing with the constant frustrations and decides it will simply
nod and smile to the contractor until the project's done. Then
it'll simply refuse to pay all the additional charges the
contractor is trying to impose. This week's tip explains why that'
s like sending an engraved
invitation to a contractor to file a mechanic's lien against
your HOA, which is a very bad idea.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/386.cfm >
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HOA Communications: Getting a Bead on Your Owners' Concerns
One way to understand your owners' concerns is through a survey.
But what should you ask? And if you survey your members, will you
generate ill will if you simply ignore their comments? Here, we
provide answers.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/383.cfm >
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