About Me — Brian P. McLean
I’m president and owner of Agynbyte LLC (www.agynbyte.com), a management company for homeowner and owner associations.
I am also an attorney in the Seattle, Washington area, formerly with the law firm of Leahy McLean Fjelstad (www.leahyps.com). My clients have been primarily homeowner and condominium associations. I am not currently representing any owner associations, as that would conflict with my role as president and owner of a management company.
This blog is devoted to community association or “common interest” law and common sense. Together we can help owners maintain, preserve, and enhance the value of their communities.
Regards,
Brian P. McLean
I live in a large HOA here in WA state. Is it illegal in the state of WA to tape an open meeting. Do monthly BOD meetings fall under the public open meeting laws of the state? Is it necessary to get the permission of all people attending the meeting in order to tape it? We are incorporated under RCW 24.03.
are you familiar with a homeowners association in the Edmonds area in a neighborhood originally called the Double Dd Ranch? or similar? I am looking to see if a particular address is covered by an association.
Thanks in advance.
Bruce Roberts
broberts@dol.wa.gov
I own property on one of the Islands in Mason County. When I purchased my property I got the standard CCR’s naming a specific HOA with a size limited to 30 properties. The president of the HOA and his cousin decided to add 100’s of lots to the HOA so he could sell his property with water access. When we all went to court they announced the original HOA was disolved (the one listed in my CCR’s) many years before my purchase and they had just used the same name to start a voluntary community club not an HOA (Homeowner Association is in the name of the corporation) Therefore they were not subject to HOA laws.
They are now in the process of adding the ByLaws of this organization to everyones deed and asking the title companies to collect assessments on the sale of properties.
They do not file a tax return and still announce meetings as the 36th homeowners association meeting (the original date of the original real HOA).
They have only had one title company comply (the clerk at that title company actually wrote these bylaws) The new corporation has no other documents other that these bylaws which they use to identify membership.
How can you tell if a HOA is a real HOA?
Oh…the judge stated this was such a mess it would have to be handled in another court…she did not say what court
Can a management company who is handeling the the HOA publish the names of homeowners and how much they pay in dues and how much is past due?
Thank you
I belong to a small (48 units) condominium complex in the South Sound. We have had an on-site manager who is also an owner of 3 units (lives in one and rents out the other 2). She is also the Board President and as such has done the budget which includes her salary. She recently did $5,000 worth of remodeling to the club house without association approval and regularly writes checks up to $30,000 for major repairs (new roofs) without a co-signer. The board is down to 2 others and herself. I and several others want to have more of a working board with much more accountability. We need to take ownership that we have allowed this to happen. My initial question to any and all – is it a conflict of interest (or maybe just bad judgment) to be both the on-site manager and the board president. There is nothing in our By-laws that says anything either way. Many thanks for any guidance, comments etc.
This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but is there a need you might address for training of home owner association board members? I have in mind someone providing the legal and procedural knowledge required for at least minimum competence. I have no personal interest, but it occurs to me that even junior staff might provide better training than most association board members appear to have. If a private venture is not attractive, perhaps a local community college would collaborate to provide the facilities and support.
My HOA recently received a notice that a member is in Chapter 7, basically claiming the debt dismissed under that process.
Our covenants clearly state that the dues constitute a lien against the property. Im this case the extra step of filing lien papers was not taken due to the expense compared to the amount of the debt.
I was thinking that the options for an HOA if a member is in bankruptcy might be a good topic for this forum.
For four years, I have been living an apartment building in the Broadview neighborhood in north seattle that is suffering from an internal mold problem. The building manager’s only solution is to have maintenance bleach and paint over the mold. I want to break my lease because of this unhealthy living condition. Would I be able to break my lease without any negative repercussions on my rental history? Would it be worth it to fight for my security deposit back?