HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - September 19, 2008
Published: Fri, 09/19/08
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HOA Board E-mail: Know Your Legal Risks and Obligations
E-mail retention policies made the news this week, as Sarah Palin
and her gubanatorial staff came under fire for allegedly using
personal e-mail accounts for official state business.
This week's tip is to make sure your entire HOA board understands
how to handle e-mails that relate to homeowner association
business.
For example, which e-mails to or from your fellow board members
must you preserve?
Answer: all of them. Or at least, all e-mails where you are
communicating in your capacity as board members. If you're
talking about getting together to watch football on Sunday,
you're probably safe deleting the e-mail, just like you delete
those bad chain-email jokes from your cousin.
But if you mention any kind of board business, your e-mails are
official association communications and must be preserved. Not
only that, but those e-mails are discoverable in court, should
a lawsuit come up.
The legal issues pertaining to board e-mail don't end there, of
course. For example, when does an e-mail conversation among
board members become an official homeowners association board
meeting? Under what circumstances might you be operating under a
false sense of security, thinking that attorney-client privelege
makes your e-mail confidential when really it doesn't?
We covered all of these legal compliance issues, plus some best
practices in a recently posted article. You can read the article
here: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/164.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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HOA News Around the Nation
Nevada legislators ask local governments to push banks and other
owners of foreclosed properties to tend to their investments . . .
Dire straits for residents of a financially strapped condo
complex in Miami . . . HOA Residents sue developer to block new
multi-family homes . . . Planter built in owner's front yard
sparks HOA face-off
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/165.cfm >
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HOA Governance: When Does E-mail Chatter Become a Board Meeting?
Your property management company sends you an e-mail attaching
three bids for the garage work you're planning. You forward it
onto the rest of your board members for review, and next thing
you know, you're all discussing the pros and cons of the bids.
Are you conducting a board meeting? Do you need to preserve those
e-mails as official association business? We answer these
questions and provide tips on smart use of e-mail for HOA board
business.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/164.cfm >
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HOA Rule Violations: What To Do When Everything Isn't "Fine"
To get tips on best practices for setting HOA fines, we recently
spoke with Justin D. Park an attorney at Romero Park & Wiggins
in Bellevue, Wash., who advises homeowners associations. Justin
told us the story of an HOA who wanted to assess a fee of $500
for walking a pet without a leash.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/163.cfm >
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HOA Fines: Are Your Homeowner Association's Rule Violation
Policies "Fine"?
Is your association constantly assessing fines against members
for rules violations? Are you considering implementing even more
fines because the rules keep getting broken? Are you even able to
collect fines you're already assessing? If you answered yes to
any of those questions, ask yourself the following questions to
determine whether your fines are valid and doing what you intend
for them to do.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/161.cfm >
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What's Your Personal Mission as an HOA Leader?
Last week's Tip of the Week built off of some comments by Sen.
Obama. To prove my political balance, this week, I'm taking
inspiration from Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin. In their speeches at
the Republican National Convention, both spoke of the theme of
service. This week's tip is to remember
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/162.cfm >
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