Piggy Banks

An association in southeast Wisconsin consists of plots of land upon which the various unit owners can park a mobile home or trailer. Under the association documents, unit owners cannot be in the trailer more than 60 days between October and April or a $10,000 monthly fine will be assessed.  A unit owner owed more than $13,000 in fines in addition to unpaid monthly assessments.  When the unit owner continued to refuse to pay, the association started foreclosure on its lien.  Continue Reading Collecting Large Fines

Dog by Pool

A unit owner claimed that she needed an emotional support animal because of a disability, and provided a doctor’s note to the condominium association supporting this need. The unit owner selected a dog as the emotional support animal, and as a reasonable accommodation the association agreed to allow the dog into a no-pet building.  The unit owner demanded the right to take the dog everywhere, including into the swimming pool, making various arguments and attaching various Fair Housing Act articles relating to the need to allow people with disabilities equal access to the property of an association.  Continue Reading Emotional Support Animal – Even the FHA Has Limits

Ceiling Leak

Water leaked through a bedroom ceiling in a downstairs condominium unit causing a small amount of damage and a significant amount of inconvenience for the owner. Approximately one year earlier, a similar event took place as a result of a frozen condensate line in the upstairs unit owner’s air conditioner, which caused water to back up and drip down through the floor into a common area between the floors and then through the ceiling of the lower unit, causing some of the ceiling drywall to fall. When part of the ceiling fell a second time, the association installed a drip pan that would automatically shut off the air conditioner if the pan filled. The total cost was less than $300. When the association sought to recover the $300 from the upstairs unit owner, he denied liability and claimed that the problem did not arise from his air conditioner, but from the duct work that ran between the floor of the upper unit and the ceiling of the lower unit, and that responsibility for the problem fell on the association. Continue Reading Association Successfully Recovers From Unit Owner Who Refused to Fix Leaking Air Conditioner

Child Jumping

Noise coming from adjacent units is a common problem. It can be caused by many things, including music, instruments, appliances, running, jumping, or a myriad of other causes.  Our advice has almost always been that if you have a rule, you need to enforce it uniformly against all.  However, with noise, it is often difficult to determine what is too loud and what is simply an over-sensitive neighbor.  To combat some of the noise issues, many associations require second floor and above units to have carpeted floors.  For those who want hardwood or tile, it is sometimes permitted provided the plans are pre-approved by the board.  These plans then often require soundproofing to be placed between the two floors. Continue Reading Is Your Upstairs Neighbor Noisy? – Floor Covering Restrictions

Sold Sign

A condominium association in Milwaukee has historically faced heavy delinquency issues. Through The Husch Blackwell Condominium & HOA Law Team’s assertive collection methods, the firm collected more than $290,000 in assessments, interest and legal fees for the association since 2013. A substantial portion of the $290,000 resulted from the sale and/or rental of 10 units that became owned by the association. Continue Reading When an Association Owns a Unit – Recouping Delinquent Assessments Through Unit Rental/Sales

Issues on Newspaper

Under the law in most states, and certainly in Wisconsin, the Board of your condominium association controls any changes to the exterior appearance.  This is generally based on a statute that can’t be changed even by the governing documents.  However, things are changing.  Across the country many laws are being passed that require the Board of Directors of various condominium associations to approve certain changes to the exterior.  This can range from artificial turf to solar panels.  In addition, the world is changing relative to emotional support animals, sexual harassment and security.  Continue Reading 2018 Condo & HOA Issues

House Trap!

There are some new HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Rules that went into effect October 2016 which may have a significant impact on Condominium and Homeowners Associations, and although we very much dislike these new Rules for the reasons set forth below, it is important for Associations to be aware of these new liability traps.

The new HUD Rules state that there are two types of harassment (Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Environment) that are now recognized and identified by the FHA (Fair Housing Act). Continue Reading You Can’t Simply Look the Other Way—New HUD/FHA Rules that Affect Your Associations

Flood

Husch Blackwell’s Condominium & HOA Law and Construction & Design teams defended a condominium association in a mold and water intrusion jury trial in Milwaukee County.  The plaintiffs consisted of a family of four who alleged that they had to move out of their condominium unit because of significant health injuries caused by the water and mold to the father and one of the children.  The plaintiffs’ complaint asserted claims of negligence and breach of contract.   Continue Reading HB Aids Association in Successful Defense of Mold & Water Intrusion Suit

Past due

At the start of 2012, a condominium association in Waukesha, Wisconsin faced serious collection issues as a result of mismanaged files and accounts by its former property manager and attorney. More than 35 individual unit owners (40% of the owners) were delinquent and the association was owed more than $50,000 in delinquent assessments. Continue Reading Aggressive Collections – A Method that Works

Room For Rent

Those of us involved in condominium management, whether as board members, officers, property managers or attorneys, know that VRBO and AirBnB have changed the way units are rented. Short term rentals are viewed by many associations as a problem that should be solved.  Specifically, these associations and managers would prefer that short rentals (most often defined as less than six months or one year, but I have seen it defined as less than 30 days) be prohibited.  The problem is getting enough people to agree on the various issues: Continue Reading Can I Use the Prohibition on “Commercial Activity” to Preclude Short Term Rentals?