HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - November 27, 2020
Published: Fri, 11/27/20
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Condo Battles Over BLM Letters Owner Calls Art: Worth the Fight?
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In this week's tip, we discuss the issue of how far you can and should go to regulate what homeowners hang in their home that's visible from the outside.
The issue is trending because of the rise of Black Lives Matters and other movement signs not tied to any political candidate or election. Even now that the election is over, you might still face sign challenges. That's why a new twist in Florida is worth discussing.
A condo owner reportedly hung the letters BLM from the ceiling in his condo—thereby not technically placing a sign in his window, but creating "art" in his home visible to the street. Would condos and HOAs be able to force this removal under typical sign rules?
Even though this art or political statement—whatever it is—is visible from the outside, a community association in California would need to stand down.
"Under California law, community associations have no right to go after the homeowners whatsoever," according to Susan Hawks McClintic, co-managing shareholder and the chair of the community association transactional practice group at the law firm of Epsten APC in San Diego. "You can put political signs in your windows, whether it's art or a sign, or in your own common interest and have it there for a long time.
"Years ago, we even had a resident in a high-rise downtown place a sign that said the condo board sucked, which didn't go over well with the board," she recalls. "But residents have the right to put that up. Here in California, nonpolitical and political signs all are very highly regulated. In general, people have a right to have them, but communities can put certain size limitations on them.
"One of the things we're getting into now is whether there's a difference between an election sign and another sign and how long that can be out," says McClintic. "The big debate is what's an election sign? What if you have a Trump flag you fly all year? Is that an election sign? Not necessarily. That's where you get into that gray area.
"Also, boards need to tread carefully on signs for another reason," she notes. "A couple of associations recently got into trouble over signs people put in the common area. Generally, boards don't have to allow that. But people were doing a lot of the birthday and graduation signs, and then there were some political signs. So boards in California need to be really careful to treat all signs the same. If you're going to allow birthday and graduation signs in a common area, you probably also need to allow other kinds of signs as well so you're not distinguishing between the content."
If you're outside of California and can regulate political signs, is this art or political statement worth fighting over?
Find out why our experts are split, and read a provocative question one of our experts poses, in our new article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4230.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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The 9 Most Pressing Issues for Condo/HOA Boards In the New Year
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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When Doing Good Can Go Bad: HOA Gives Back to the Community
A Hawaii HOA board reportedly distributed 750 boxes with fresh produce from a local farm to members of the community. Nice! Now, let's ask two hypothetical questions: If an HOA paid for boxes of produce to give to residents and nonresidents of the HOA, would that be a valid HOA expense? If an HOA received boxes donated by a farm and distributed them to residents and nonresidents of the community, is there any reason that shouldn't happen?
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/When-Doing-Good-Can-Go-Bad-HOA-Gives-Back-Community.cfm
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Drones As Inspectors: Should Condos and HOAs Worry?
New York City is reportedly investigating the use of drones to do property inspections. Does this mean drones will have access to areas condos or HOAs don't typically allow inspectors to see? And how enforceable would a violation identified by drone be?
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Drones-As-Inspectors-Should-Condos-HOAs-Worry.cfm
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Don't Get Burned Trying to Embarrass Condo/HOA Board Candidates
In this week's tip, we offer guidance on smart ways to ask board candidates questions that will be helpful to homeowners and not gotcha questions for candidates. It starts with an HOAleader.com reader question, "Our current board created a new board candidate form that asks about prior service and reason for leaving if you've served before. Is that legal/ethical? I've never seen such questions in my five years in HOA community nor can I find any examples that include such questions doing online search."
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/CondoHOA-Elections-Good-Bad-Questions-for-Potential-Candidates.cfm
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HOA Owners Want to Decline Developer Turnover Due to Breach
An HOAleader.com reader asks, In Texas. Our developer lost half the original development to the bank. We've been eight years waiting for an 'amenity center with a pool.' These are $400,000-500,000 homes, very upscale, and for eight years, homeowners were promised an 'upscale' like the 'other amenity centers and pools.'
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/HOA-Owners-Want-Decline-Developer-Turnover-Due-Breach.cfm
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Enforcement of Your HOA's Rules During a Pandemic
Watch this information-filled webinar and you'll gain practical, valuable tools you can use right away to make your rules more enforceable and your violation process more fair, even during extraordinary times.
Click here for the webinar:
https://www.hoaleader.com/products/hoa-rules-enforcement-during-pandemic-b.cfm
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