HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - January 24, 2020
Published: Fri, 01/24/20
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Is It a Problem If Visually Impaired People Can't Use Your Condo/HOA Website? Maybe.
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In this week's tip, we report on a Florida trend that's likely to spread — unless laws are clarified to curb the litigation that's unfolding.
Florida community association lawyers say condo and HOA boards are being threatened with lawsuits alleging that their website isn't compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because visually impaired people can't access it. Is this a valid claim, and should you be doing anything?
This has become pretty common in Florida, and it's migrating to the community association world. "Yes, I've seen this," reports Brad van Rooyen, founder and senior member of Tampa, Fla.-based HomeRiver Group and its national specialist for community association management and the president of Home Encounter. He's also an elected community development district supervisor.
"Let me put on the hat of a community development district supervisor," he explains. "We started getting this about a year and a half, maybe two years ago. There are these boutique law firms that have found a way to basically extort money from CDDs.
"It's gotten so bad that the insurance companies that insure CDD boards have started making boards like ours provide minutes of a meeting at which we've voted to engage a firm to bring our website up to ADA standards," he explains. "Otherwise, they said they wouldn't be able to provide coverage if there's a claim.
"Now they're coming toward community association management websites," laments van Rooyen. "With most of these websites, there's only a homeowner portal, so someone needs to be a member to have access to the information on the website. Other communities have an open, free website that has basic information about their association and maybe a set of their governing documents."
It's that second group of websites that might post the most risk.
To offer advice, we first have to back up and discuss when the ADA applies to condos and HOAs. The answer is seldom, but it can apply.
We gave a basic overview here (https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Are-HOAs-Private-Clubs-under-ADA.cfm), and the general outlines in that article still hold true. Typically, unless you open your community up to the public by renting out your clubhouse or something along those lines, you're exempt from the ADA's requirements.
"When I read this, I thought, 'Wait, what?'" reports James R. McCormick Jr., CCAL, a partner at Delphi Law Group in Carlsbad, Calif., who represents associations, regarding his interpretation of his obligations.
Find out why McCormick is doing a double take, and get information on how you might protect your association, in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4048.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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What To Do If You're Threatened with a Lawsuit Over Your Condo/HOA Website
Florida community association lawyers are reporting a new trend: Condo and HOA boards are being threatened with lawsuits alleging that their website isn't compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act because visually impaired people can't access it. Is this a valid claim, and should you be doing anything?
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/What-Do-Youre-Threatened-with-Lawsuit-Over-Your-CondoHOA-Website.cfm
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Is HUD Quietly Giving You Authority to Be Tougher on Emotional Support Animal Requests?
If you blink, you may miss what we think is probably a shift in federal policy on emotional support animals. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. We've heard from many of you, in addition to many of our experts, that emotional support animals are appearing more and more, with more and more dubious claims of the need for them. In fact, it's become such a challenge for condo and HOA boards that we hosted a well-attended webinar with two leading experts to offer advice on how to approach the issue when you're faced with it.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/HUD-Quietly-Giving-You-Authority-Be-Tougher-on-Emotional-Support-Animal-Requests.cfm
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Cleaning and Digitizing Old, Messy Copies of Condo/HOA Documents: Must Owners Vote?
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "In my HOA, the bylaws were set in 1999. There were faxed to the county, and the only records we have are copies of copies. Our amendments are a bit of a mess and poorly organized..."
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Cleaning-Digitizing-Old-Messy-Copies-CondoHOA-Documents-Must-Owners-Vote.cfm
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So This Person Needs to be Removed as Condo President, Right?
An HOAleader.com reader asks, "Our condo association passed a motion unanimously at the board meeting. Now the president won't carry out the motion passed by the board. Can the president override a unanimous vote by the board?" Here, we answer that question, plus find out the best recourse for this board.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/So-This-Person-Needs-be-Removed-as-Condo-President-Right.cfm
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Do Condo/HOA Managers or Lawyers Have to Report a Board Acting Improperly?
A topic has been suggested to us, and we think it's worth discussing. Can your condo or HOA manager or lawyer report you to some authority if they believe you're acting inappropriately? Essentially, the question asks if there's something like a "mandatory reporter" situation, as there is with teachers and heath care workers when abuse is suspected, under which community association advisors can or must report board activity to an authority.
Click here to read full article:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Do-CondoHOA-Managers-or-Lawyers-Have-Report-Board-Acting-Improperly.cfm
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