HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - September 19, 2014
Published: Fri, 09/19/14
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HOA Holiday Decorations: The Limits to Your Ability to Regulate
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Here's a challenge: Who decides what's tasteful and what's tacky when it
comes to holiday decorations? After an HOAleader.com reader asked how to
ban "gaudy, distasteful Christmas decorations" that are an "eyesore," we
begin unpacking that very question in this week's tip.
The first question is whether our reader's HOA board has the authority to
pass any rules. "It depends on how much authority the association has over
aesthetics," says Janet Bozeman, a shareholder at Hyatt & Stubblefield, an
Atlanta law firm that's represented hundreds of associations. "That's
going to be based on their governing documents. Some associations have
architectural control, and some don't.
"But even for those that do, sometimes architectural control isn't written
in a manner to cover all aesthetics over everything," adds Bozeman.
"Sometimes they are, and they'll talk about things like if an owner places a
flower pot outside, it's subject to the HOA's aesthetic guidelines. Other
times, it covers things we'd typically think of as architectural changes,
but not flower pots and not Santa Clauses. You have to start there with what
authority you have. Then if the HOA has the authority to cover these types of
aesthetics, it's the same as any other aesthetic issue. You need to adopt a
protocol that's got to apply to a whole community."
Many of the issues our reader writes about can be regulated. "The idea that
holiday decorations can be erected no sooner than the first Saturday after
Thanksgiving and must be taken down by the first Sunday of February?" says
David Firmin, a partner at Hindman Sanchez, a law firm in Arvada, Colo., with
about 1,600 association clients. "Absolutely, you can do that. Can you
adopt a policy saying no three-dimensional displays or sculptures if the
documents provide that architectural approval is required? Maybe. But can
the board regulate taste? That's a little bit harder. You could base rules on
the monetary value of displays, saying something like, 'You must pay at
least $20 for any snowman sculpture.' But that's not basing rules so much on
taste as value, and then residents are totally celebrating the holidays on
that reader's terms."
But every one of our experts got worried by some parts of the reader's
question. Hear their concerns in our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1067.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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HOA Elections: A Step-by-Step Guide to Plan, Properly Notice, and Execute
Successful Elections at Your Homeowner Association
Stop us if you've heard this one before: You announce an HOA election
providing proper notice, yet only a handful of owners show up to vote. You end
up short of your quorum requirements, and you have to start all over again
with your fingers crossed that next time, your luck will be better, and your
election will be successful. Or instead, you hold your election, get
definitive results--you think--but then the election gets challenged.
We can help you do better! Join us for an in-depth webinar on October 9 led by
two community association lawyers who've devoted their extensive--and
impressive--careers to solving the challenges HOAs face every day. You'll
log out of the webinar with valuable, workable tactics you can implement
immediately to make your election process smoother, more successful, and
less contentious.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/173.htm
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Lighten Up? Installing Solar Panels in Your HOA's Common Areas
In this week's tip, we discuss a reader question we've been asked more than
once: Should we put fallow common area space to use by installing solar
panels?
We can't find an HOA that's gone ahead and acted on the idea. "I had a client
developer talk about doing it but never did it," says Janet Bozeman, a
shareholder at Hyatt & Stubblefield, an Atlanta law firm that's
represented hundreds of associations. "Because of the economy, the
project didn't get built. And I don't know of any clients who are doing this
now."
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Lighten-Up-Installing-Solar-Panels-in-Your-HOAs-Common-Areas.cfm
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Solar Panels for HOA Common Areas: A Bright Idea?
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "Our common property contains an area that
seems most suitable for placing [solar] panels and useless for most
anything else. Have you any wisdom, knowledge, and experience from other
HOAs on this subject? Tax incentives and electric company buybacks seem
irresistible." Here we uncover some insights.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Solar-Panels-for-HOA-Common-Areas-Bright-Idea.cfm
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Recording Public and Confidential HOA Meetings: Pros and Cons
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "It has been a board practice to record the
public and legal meetings and transfer the recordings to discs.
Unfortunately both public and legal minutes are on one disc. Since the
minutes are written and approved by the board and are consider the legal
document, is it wise for us to be transferring this information to discs?"
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Recording-Public-Confidential-HOA-Meetings-Pros-Cons.cfm
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Bidding Out Your Management Contract? Read These Seven Tips and Sample RFPs First
Need a leg up on hiring the right management company? We've got you covered. Here are seven tips from industry insiders and five sample RFPs you can use to sift through the volume of information you'll need to collect on the bidders.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Bidding-Out-Your-Management-Contract-Read-These-Seven-Tips-Sample-RFPs-First.cfm
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