HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - August 12, 2016
Published: Fri, 08/12/16
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Tragic Murders Trigger Lawsuit Against Florida HOA
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In this week’s tip, we weigh whether a Florida HOA is liable for a handyman’s murders in one of the HOA’s vacant mansions.
On Nov. 9, 2014, Gloria Bono, 72, and her son, Michael Bono, 45, were found murdered in a vacant home in the Yacht and Country Club of Stuart, according to TCPalm.com. The police later found Robert Gulick in a local hotel, the victim of an apparent suicide. Law enforcement authorities concluded that Gulick, who was given access to the vacant home to work as a handyman by the home’s owner, lured the Bonos there to rob them but ended up killing them.
The Bonos’ family has now sued the Yacht and Country Club of Stuart, a gated community, and the homeowner. The family alleges in part that the defendants could have prevented the murders if they had warned others of Gulick’s extensive criminal background and that he had access to a weapon.
Whether the HOA will be held liable for the wrongful deaths of the Bonos comes down to whether it could have foreseen their murders.
“I’ve heard all kinds of arguments in cases like these, but the issue is foreseeability,” asserts Matt D. Ober, senior partner at Richardson Harman Ober, a Pasadena, Calif., law firm with a significant community association practice. “What’s the association’s responsibility? It’s to address and disclose known conditions that may impact the property or the owners. If you don’t foresee a resident with a criminal past causing a danger to the community, you don’t have a disclosure obligation.”
There’s a line of California cases on this issue that’s instructive. “Usually it came up when somebody was raped or attacked in a parking lot, and there was often a rash of prior incidents,” explains Ober. “So the association had reason to know there was an issue and maybe they should notify their residents or improve lighting. But associations are generally not responsible for intentional criminal acts they’re not aware of. There’s no greater burden on the association to know or investigate whether someone has a criminal past. That’s not the association’s responsibility unless there are facts that give rise to a duty.”
Read more about whether HOAs are responsible for criminal acts on their grounds in our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1416.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Does an HOA Have a Duty to Give Notice of a Resident's Criminal Record?
Surviving family members are suing a Florida HOA and a homeowner for allowing a handyman with a criminal record to have access to the homeowner's vacant mansion where two people were found murdered. Here we discuss the allegations and ask our experts if an HOA has any duty to prevent criminals from entering the community.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Does-HOA-Have-Duty-Give-Notice-Residents-Criminal-Record.cfm
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What You Need to Know to Deal Effectively with a Corporate HOA Owner
Many of the biggest investors after the housing crunch have been corporations, and that's affecting neighborhoods, according to a Florida newspaper. There are more renters in HOAs than in the past, and boards say it's harder to find contact information for owners.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/What-You-Need-Know-Deal-Effectively-with-Corporate-HOA-Owner.cfm
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How to Save Money on Every Contract Your HOA Signs
Join us for a must-attend webinar on August 25 on how to develop an effective and easy-to-follow contracting process at your HOA. You'll hear two community association experts with decades of hands-on experience in advising associations.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/products/saving-money-on-hoa-contracts-a.cfm
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Credit Bureau's Action May Jack Up Your HOA's Liability
In this week's tip, we report on a change that may dramatically increase your HOA's liability. Under a recent partnership between credit reporting agency Equifax and Sperlonga, a data aggregation business, community association assessment payments should begin appearing on consumers' credit reports. That's raising some concerns among HOA experts.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Credit-Bureaus-Action-May-Jack-Up-Your-HOAs-Liability.cfm
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HOA Owners May Soon See Assessments on Their Credit Reports: Good News or Bad?
Under a recent partnership between credit reporting agency Equifax and Sperlonga, a data aggregation business, community association assessment payments should begin appearing on consumers' credit reports. That's raising some concerns among HOA experts.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/HOA-Owners-May-Soon-See-Assessments-on-Their-Credit-Reports-Good-News-or-Bad.cfm
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