HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - November 17, 2012
Published: Sat, 11/17/12
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True or False: Having an HOA Website Is Fraught with Peril
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In this week's tip, we answer a Texas reader's question about
whether his HOA's attorney is right: websites are just too
dangerous for HOAs to have. Our experts respectfully disagree
with that Texas lawyer.
Association websites are growing, and that's because they do what
our reader suggests: They help associations communicate with
members.
"One thing we do for our clients is put on seminars," says
David W. Kaman, a Columbus-based partner at Kaman & Cusimano LLC,
which represents associations throughout Ohio. "We had more than
1,000 board members attend our seminar--one of our best
attended--on electronic communication and websites. When you
have a website, you're informing residents."
Websites are also growing in our reader's home state of Texas.
"More and more of our clients are getting websites because of
new legislation that requires associations to have open
meetings," explains Jenny Key, the Austin, Texas-based vice
president of RealManage, a San Rafael, Calif., association
management firm that oversees properties in Arizona, California,
Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Texas.
"If you don't have a website, to provide notice of a meeting,
you have to mail notice and the agenda to owners at least 10
days in advance. That can be very expensive depending on how
big your association is and how frequent the meetings. Or you
can email notice to owners and post it in a conspicuous place
in the community like a clubhouse, a message board, or a
website. You have to do both--email and post it in a conspicuous
place. It's almost instantaneous to post the information online.
That helps since you have to provide email/posted notice of
meetings at least 72 hours in advance. In addition, sometimes
associations don't like signs in their community."
That new Texas legislation specifically addresses website issues.
"What's really surprising about that lawyer's guidance is that
under the new legislation, if an HOA has a website that's not
password-protected, it's now required to post its governing
documents and things like pool rules and collection policies on
that website," says Key. "The only way around that requirement
is to not have a website or to not have any pages open to the
public. All that information has to be recorded in the county,
which means they're public records. So I don't understand how
that would increase an HOA's liability."
That said, there are risks of having an HOA website. Learn more
about those risks and how to mitigate them in our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/782.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Is An HOA Website Too Risky?
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "I feel that a website is key for our Texas
community. We have approximately 200 residents. When I suggested a
website, I was told that the attorney for our association has said
absolutely not, that it opens us to lawsuits. Is that true, and if so, could it
be username/password protected to eliminate any problems? Our community
is very fragmented and lacks community spirit because the communication to
the members isn't adequate." Here, our experts discuss the legal risks of
having a website and whether password protections are sufficient to
eliminate risks.
Click here to read full article:
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When Owners Won't Pay Fines: Nailing Down Costs, and Litigation
Alternatives
As we mentioned last week, on September 21, 2012, home owners in a Florida HOA
were awarded $85,000 in damages in a lawsuit they brought against their HOA,
according to the Tampa Bay Times. The fight was over a $2,212 bill for sod
installed by the HOA that the owners disputed. The judge found that the
Pebble Creek Homeowners Association failed to comply with its governing
documents in imposing the charge. The owners spent more than $222,000 to get
to this point--and the association probably spent nearly as much--and the
next step is for the judge to determine whether to force the association to
reimburse the owners for their attorneys' fees.
Click here to read full article:
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Pursuing Fines, Part II: Could This Board Have Won Without Litigation?
This is the second in a two-part series on how far to pursue violations and
fines against home owners. In this article, we discuss how to work with your
lawyer to evaluate the risks of litigation against owners and alternatives
to consider.
Click here to read full article:
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Pursuing Fines, Part I: Did This Board Breach Its Fiduciary Duty?
This is the first in a two-part series on how far to pursue violations and
fines against home owners. In this article, we discuss board duties when it
comes to pursuing fines and how to decide whether to sue home owners.
Click here to read full article:
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