HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - June 3, 2016
Published: Fri, 06/03/16
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HOAs and Zika: How to Stay in Your Lane
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In this week’s tip, we take issue with articles we’ve seen posted on certain websites advocating that HOAs take an active role in the prevention of the Zika virus, which has found to cause birth defects in newborns.
If you’ve been busy and haven’t paid attention, the Zika virus is dangerous and appears to be spreading.
It has caused outbreaks on most continents, according to a World Health Organization fact sheet, and it’s transmitted primarily by a certain type of mosquitoes, the Aedes. Symptoms of the virus include mild fever, a skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache, which can last for up to a week. There’s no treatment or vaccine; the best form of prevention is avoiding mosquito bites.
The scariest aspect of the spread of Zika is that health authorities in Brazil have tentatively tied it to an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can be life threatening, in addition to an increase in babies born with microcephaly, a syndrome in which a child’s brain doesn’t develop normally.
Specifically, we’ve recently seen an article posted online suggesting HOAs can take two “easy to implement actions,” starting with educating residents about the virus.
The second suggestion is to control spread of the virus by removing standing water and considering improving drainage areas with standing water. In addition, HOAs might consider controlling mosquito populations by stocking ponds with minnows that eat mosquito larvae and replacing plants that are less attractive to mosquitoes and more appealing to their predators.
These suggestions didn’t go down well with our experts. “I laughed out loud that someone thought the association should be doing this,” states David C. Swedelson, the principal at Swedelson & Gottlieb, a law firm that represents associations in the Los Angeles area. “Why don’t we just cure cancer and AIDS and the flu?”
On a more serious note, Swedelson does add that under California case law, the idea of educating owners on Zika isn’t utterly outrageous. “We had a case in California that stretched the bounds of what associations should do,” he explains. “Courts have noted that in some CC&Rs, there’s language that says the association can deal with things that relate to the health and happiness of homeowners. In that case, we had a dispute over the conversion of an air force base into a private commercial airport.
“A big HOA contributed to a lot of money to the fund to fight this airport,” notes Swedelson. “Some homeowners sued the HOA saying, ‘You can’t use our money to fight this.’ The court said the HOA could do that because the role of the association included dealing with the health and safety of the homeowners, and that could involve not having planes fly overhead. I can see that argument, but Zika is so far off, where do you stop HOAs’ involvement?”
Find out in our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1380.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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What You Need to Know to Effectively Regulate Parking in Your HOA
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One owner runs a small roofing business and parks her oversized commercial truck--complete with the company's name and phone number stenciled on the doors and ladders attached to the sides--in her driveway. Another owner has a beautiful 26-foot boat parked in front of his house. Then there's the owner who has so many guests that others complain there's never anywhere for their guests to park. What a pain parking issues can be!
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Should HOAs Try to Combat Zika?
We have recently seen an article posted online advocating that HOAs take an active role in the prevention of the spread of the Zika virus now linked to birth defects in newborns.
We had a feeling our experts would disagree with the idea of HOAs sticking their nose in public health issues. Turns out, we know how our experts think. Here's their take on how involved you should be in combating Zika.
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Join us for a June 30 webinar on steps you can implement to ensure you're running your HOA smartly, professionally, and successfully. You'll hear two community association experts with decades of hands-on experience in advising associations share their best advice.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/products/run-your-hoa-like-business-a.cfm
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Owner Disputes HOA's 15-Year-Old Debt. Does He Have a Point?
We're helping out a reader in this week's tip. Paraphrased, our reader's beef goes like this: "Hey, my board just passed a special assessment for a 15-year-old loan I never knew about. I call baloney!"
Our experts offer a range of opinions on this issue, from never having seen it to saying it happens all too frequently.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Owner-Disputes-HOAs-15-Year-Old-Debt-Does-He-Have-Point.cfm
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Is This HOA's Special Assessment Necessary? Or Wise?
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "Just moved into small (40-member) condo association in [New York state]. Just received notice of a special assessment to pay off an outstanding loan of 15 years ago. [I] had no idea [the] loan existed. [Am I] required to pay off something that happened 15 years ago?"
Here our experts explain if an HOA could really be required to pay a 15-year-old debt and if a special assessment is the right way to proceed.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/This-HOAs-Special-Assessment-Necessary-Or-Wise.cfm
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