HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - July 1, 2011
Published: Wed, 06/29/11
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Prepare Now for Aging HOA Owners
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In this week's tip, we discuss your homeowner association's
responsibility to respond to the needs of aging owners.
First, do you have an obligation to aid aging owners?
"Absolutely," says Elizabeth White, a shareholder and
head of the community associations practice at the
law firm of LeClairRyan in Williamsburg, Va., who recently
spoke at an industry event on the issue. "We're starting to
experience the issues related to an aging population.
Baby boomers are turning 65 at enormous rate--as of
Jan. 1, 2011, 10,000 people in this country are turning
65 every day.
"Most people want to age in place now," adds White. "If you asked
people, 98 percent of those surveyed will say they want to age in
their own home. Knowing that creates a whole new reality. In the
not-too-distant past, you had continuing-care retirement
communities and over-55 communities. But statistics show interest
in those communities is waning partly because of the expense and
the desire to age in place."
How will owners' aging affect HOAs? First, legal challenges will
increase. "Some issues might relate to needing more
accommodations," explains Kristen L. Rosenbeck, a partner at the
Mulcahy Law Firm PC in Phoenix, which represents associations.
"Owners may have disabilities arise as they age, so they may need
more handicapped accommodations. Those would fall under the
Americans with Disabilities Act and whether the HOA's responses
constitute reasonable accommodations. [HOA] boards will need to
review requests and take concerns very seriously. Violations
could create stiff penalties and very nasty litigation."
In addition to legal issues, HOAs will face practical issues.
"We'll have issues of board governance with aging board members
dealing with early-stage dementia or Alzheimer's," says White.
"They're also stressing existing HOAs, which are being faced with
complaints like, 'There's a terrible smell of urine coming out of
so-and-so's condo unit and nobody's seen her in several weeks.
What do we do?'"
That question triggers privacy issues that HOAs will also
increasingly face. To learn about those issues--and hear of a
real-life example of an HOA aging challenge--see our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/593.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Letters to the HOA: Should You Show Owners All?
A growing number of boards are attaching copies of all the
letters board members receive to the HOA's minutes that are
distributed. Their reasoning is that the letters inform members
of issues in the association and show them the grief--and expense-
-that some unreasonable owners cause board members and HOAs. In
this week's tip, we discuss the pros and cons.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/592.cfm >
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What If Your HOA Can't Pass Necessary Amendments?
What happens if you really, truly, positively need to amend your
HOA governing documents, but your owners are so apathetic you can'
t get the supermajority your governing documents require? Can you
go to court to get a judge to amend your governing documents?
Here, we explain whether that's possible and, if not, what you
can do if you're stuck in amendment limbo.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/590.cfm >
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HOA Insurance Coverage: What's the Right Amount? Discussion Forum
Follow-Up
A reader asks, "Our HOA has 22 units with no swimming pool,
tennis courts, playground, club house, etc. We now have $1
million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate on our general
liability insurance policy and a $5 million umbrella policy. What
do most HOAs our size and situation carry on general liability
and umbrella? We're discussing the possibility of increasing the
general liability to $4 million/$2 million and dropping the
umbrella or keeping the general liability of $2 million/$1
million and reducing the umbrella."
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/589.cfm >
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Need to Cut Costs? Start with 10 Landscaping Tips
In this week's tip, we provide three tips to help you reduce your
landscaping costs.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/591.cfm >
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Letters to the HOA Board of Directors: Can--and Should--You
Publish Them?
A growing number of homeowners association boards are attaching
copies of all the letters board members receive to the HOA's minutes that
are distributed. Their reasoning is that the letters inform
members of issues in the association and show them the grief--and
expense--that some unreasonable owners cause board members and
HOAs. Good or bad idea? Our experts weigh in.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/588.cfm >
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