This is Too Much
Summary

When faced with the question of how much is too much for a “reasonable fee” the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit held that it could not answer the question because the right parties were not before the court.

The Facts

Keith Horist owned a condominium in downtown Chicago building’s condominium association. Joshua and Lori Eyman also owned a condominium in Chicago, but at a difference association. Both associations hired Sudler Property Management to manage their day-to-day operations.

In 2017 Horist and the Eymans put their units up for sale and found buyers. Continue Reading How Much Can an Association Charge for Providing Disclosure Documents as Part of a Sale?

Teamwork

Developers of condominium communities and HOAs often reserve access easement rights within the Declaration/Deed Restrictions for the subdivision, especially when the Developer owns yet-undeveloped neighboring property. But what happens if the Developer forgets to reserve such easement rights specifically within the Declaration or Deed Restrictions? A recent case explores this dilemma, and at least in this case, the HOA owners come out on top.

Facts

In a 2019 case, some lot owners within a subdivision, which had been advertised as a private, gated community, sued the Developer for trying to enforce an access easement he had for the main road within their subdivision. The Developer claimed he needed access to that main road in order to develop the neighboring lots behind the gated community.  The Developer also believed he could grant access to the owners of the neighboring lots through the gated community.  Continue Reading HOAs Unite! Developer’s Easement Rights are Not Never-Ending

Pointing Fingers
Summary

In Florida, mere ownership of a condominium makes you liable for all assessments which come due while you are an owner AND all assessments of previous owners.

The Facts

Defendant, Fla Trust Services, bought the condominium in question on July 26, 2016 by quit claim deed. The seller was Homes HQ, LLC who had bought it on June 13, 2016 at a judicial sale held as a result of a final judgment of foreclosure obtained by JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA. After Defendant took ownership, the plaintiff association filed suit based on a lien foreclosure and for damages. The parties agreed that the sole issue was whether the was Defendant liable for unpaid assessments back to June 13, 2016 or back to 2007, when the purchasers bought the condominium. Continue Reading Owner Liable for Prior Owners Assessments – Who Knew?

Removed
Summary

A 79-unit condominium association held a meeting to remove the directors from office and elect new ones. The president objected to the meeting, the procedure and the notice, but since the association followed the documents and had more than half of the unit owners vote for the removal, the directors were removed. Continue Reading Directors Removed from Office – Just Follow the Documents

Do we really have to tell all of these people who never come to any homeowner meetings that we are having elections?  YES. You need to keep them fair if you want them to be valid.  In less than a minute you can know all you need to know in this Vlog.

Want to learn more about Wisconsin condominium and HOA law from experienced condo and HOA attorneys? Read all about condo and HOA law at Association Alert and click here to learn more about lawyer Daniel J. Miske.

Ballot Box

As Condominium and HOA attorneys, we often receive questions from our clients dealing with all the issues that can get in the way of conducting a successful annual meeting. Most often, it is the issue of not being able to achieve a quorum of owners in attendance—which stymies the Association’s ability to hold Board member elections, approve the budget, and take other important actions to further the HOA’s business for the coming year.  So what happens if an Association’s Bylaws calls for annual board elections, but the Association does not hold elections for a number of years?  Is there a Board? Does the Board have any authority? A recent case addressed these issues, and the court’s findings might surprise you. Continue Reading If Your Association Fails to Hold Board Elections at an Annual Meeting, Do You Still Have a Board? The Answer May Surprise You…

As Is

An AS IS exculpatory clause in a contract does not automatically relieve a party of any liability, especially where that party committed fraud to obtain the exculpatory clause.

The Facts

In both of the cases referenced below, the defendant included an as-is clause in a real estate contract. In Frianco the bank defendant (after discovering that the property that it had foreclosed on had significant water damage, and after paying to have those damages repaired) advised the purchaser of property in the offer contract that “it had little or no direct knowledge as to the condition of the property.” Similarly in Herhold, the defendant first represented to the buyers that they would be able to build a home on property they were selling, despite knowing of significant issues that would make that difficult or impossible. The defendant then included an “AS IS” clause in the real estate purchase agreement that also stated that “neither Seller, Broker nor Agent have made any representation or warranties…” Continue Reading AS-IS Clause Does Not Foreclose a Fraud Claim

What types of committees does your HOA or condo association need? How should you go about establishing committees?  Listen to this Vlog and in less than a minute you will have the answer.

Want to learn more about Wisconsin condominium and HOA law from experienced condo and HOA attorneys? Read all about condo and HOA law at Association Alert and click here to learn more about lawyer Daniel J. Miske.

Long List

Disgruntled unit owners love to review their association documents and then demand every document that they think they might be entitled to.  In this case, the court made clear that reasonableness and discretion will play some part in what must be provided.

The Facts

In December of 2014 the Plaintiff sought to inspect the Associations records, including the:

  1. December 2012 and 2013-2014 bank statements;
  2. General ledger from 2013-2014;
  3. Specific 2013 and 2014 invoices;
  4. Official communications between the Association board members and the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE);
  5. 2012 and 2014 end of fiscal year and year-end balance sheets;
  6. 2012 and 2014 profit and loss reports;
  7. December 2014 accounts receivable aging report; and
  8. December 2014 open invoices report.

The Association was incorporated in 1973 in New Mexico. Plaintiff wanted to inspect the records because she was concerned over the increase in unpaid dues owed the Association and the Board’s financial reporting.

The Board produced most of the records, but “did not produce for inspection the bank statements, the general ledger, invoices, the accounts receivable aging reports, an open invoice report, and communications between board members and the OSE.” Continue Reading Inspection Rights of Unit Owners are NOT Endless