HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - April 10, 2015
Published: Fri, 04/10/15
=================================================================
To Reimburse or Not: Should the HOA Cough Up?
=================================================================
In this week’s tip, we respond to a reader who wants reimbursement for legal
fees personally expended to get an HOA board back on track. He’s president of
his HOA, and last year he hired a lawyer to rein in rogue board members. The
pressure the lawyer put on them prompted them to resign. Can the reader be
reimbursed?
Let’s start by noting that our experts don’t have all the information needed
to offer precise advice. “The reader says, ‘I’m the president of an HOA, and
last year I had to hire a lawyer…,’” explains Christopher J. Shields, a
partner at Pavese Law Firm in Ft. Myers, Fla., who's represented
associations for decades. “The reader doesn’t say he was on the board the
previous year or that he was president.”
That makes a big difference in our experts’ answers. “Even if the reader
said, ‘I was the president and I hired the lawyer at the time,’ the question
is: Who has the authority to hire the lawyer?” contends Shields. “Most
governing documents say that must be a decision made by a majority of the
board or that the president has the apparent authority to make those types of
decisions.
“You could also assume the president was on the board at the time, but the
majority wasn’t willing to get legal advice,” adds Shields. “Do the bylaws
say he had authority to hire the lawyer himself? Also, when the lawyer this
reader hired contacted the board members who later resigned, whom did the
lawyer say she was representing? Who hired that lawyer? Unless the board
hired the lawyer, if the person who’s now president was just a unit owner,
that’s a personal expense.”
Beth Mulcahy also leans toward this being a personal expense. “The reader
says, ‘Last year, I had to hire a lawyer,’” notes the founder of and senior
partner at the Mulcahy Law Firm PC in Phoenix, who has represented more than
1,000 associations in Arizona. Mulcahy is also licensed to practice law in
California, where her firm has also opened an office, and in Wisconsin. “He
made the decision to hire the lawyer himself. If he wasn’t on the board,
clearly he doesn’t get reimbursed.
But wait! Our reader may not be completely out of luck. Find out why in our new
article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1161.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
=================================================================
Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
=================================================================
How to Protect Yourself and Your HOA from the Neighborhood Sociopath
Run into any owners or residents who show contempt for and consistently
disregard your HOA's rules? One in 25 people is a sociopath, or a person who
regularly exhibits asocial or antisocial behavior. Sociopaths look like
your everyday neighbors, but they can be scary and intimidating--and they
can turn your HOA into a battleground. Learn how to wisely and safely handle
the most difficult owners and residents you'll ever face, led by two
community association experts with decades of hands-on experience in
advising associations. (Recorded April 9, 2015.)
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/191.htm
=================================================================
Is There Any Doubt These Legal Fees Are a Common HOA Expense? Yes.
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "I'm the president of an HOA. Last year, I had
to hire a lawyer to rein in my rogue board members. They were constantly
holding illegal meetings without my knowledge amongst a slew of other
things. My question is how can I, if possible, recoup those fees? Due to the
pressure my lawyer put on them, they have all since resigned, and I finally
have a wonderful board."
Here are the arguments for and against this being an association expense.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/There-Any-Doubt-These-Legal-Fees-Are-Common-HOA-Expense-Yes.cfm
=================================================================
7 Types of Stale, Out-of-Date HOA Rules You Should Freshen Up Now
In this week's tip, we give you a jump start on improving your rules. It's a
good idea to freshen them up every once in a while, and our experts say there
are seven types you should review and consider overhauling today. Here are
the first two:
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/7-Types-Stale-OutofDate-HOA-Rules-You-Should-Freshen-Up-Now.cfm
=================================================================
Is It Time to Rethink These 7 Types of HOA Rules?
Fighting too much with owners over your HOA's rules? Maybe the rules are out
of date and or just don't fit with emerging trends and owners' wishes because
your community has changed.
Here our experts offer their wisest counsel on seven types of rules they
suggest you review and consider overhauling.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/It-Time-Rethink-These-7-Types-HOA-Rules.cfm
=================================================================
What to Do When Your HOA's Owners or Employees are at Risk from Within
In this week's tip, we discuss the murky and scary topic of your duty when you
suspect someone within your HOA is a danger to others.
It's rare, but violence happens at HOAs. The latest? On Oct. 3, 2014, Jeremy
Holland, the property manager of The President of Palm Beach condominium
association, was shot in the head allegedly by a former doorman who'd been
fired the month before, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. Thankfully,
Holland is recovering.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/What-Do-When-Your-HOAs-Owners-or-Employees-are-at-Risk-from-Within.cfm
=================================================================
Get your own copy!
Subscribe to the HOAleader.com Tip of the Week at:
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/department49.cfm
=================================================================
Please feel free to forward the *entire text* of this email to
others.
Copyright 2015, Plain-English Media, LLC
(866) 641-4548
http://www.hoaleader.com