I am often asked whether the operation of a daycare in an HOA breaches a restrictive covenant that forbids the operation of a business in a residential home. The answer is, it depends.
Quote of the Day: “Operate more like a business and less like a daycare.”
Now what?
A number of users have subscribed to this blog, and I appreciate the support and comments. Because of an increasing number of spambot registrations, I’ve increased security on the registration page and deleted dozens of what appear to be spam subscribers. This appears to be a better solution than forbidding registrations altogether.
If I’ve accidently deleted your subscription, I apologize. You can still access this blog without a subscription, but cannot comment without one. If you want to re-register, please do so.
Thank you.
Hot Roofs, Cool Roofs, and a New Moon
By Brian P. McLean, Leahy McLean Fjelstad
People’s tastes and technologies change. Restrictive covenants don’t, at least not without the consent of a significant number of affected owners in the hamlets we call neighborhoods and community associations. Sometimes the consent of 100% of affected owners is required before the covenants change, no matter how much they heat the tar and ruffle the feathers of a mob.
In Washington State, the battle between cedar shingles, because the covenants require them, and composite shingles, because they may offer better value, functionality, and looks, is one example of the type of high-level “meta” disputes that fuel community dysfunction. That dysfunction waxes and wanes along with the different phases of the moon, until a full moon draws out the lawyers. And once in a blue moon the lawmakers may set public policy that changes everything again.
In Maryland, there’s a battle raging between cool roofs and hot roofs. Dark (hot) roofs retain heat. White (cool) roofs reflect heat. In the summer, the cool class rules. In winter, the dark class rules. An epic insoluble feud like that between the houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Buried beneath the ruins is the long-standing assumption drafted into many governing documents that uniformity satisfies the primal urge of suburban dwellers. But we know there’s no way you can make everyone happy. It’s much easier to make everyone equally unhappy.
Which leaves us with several questions. Shingle roofs or composite roofs? Cool roofs or hot roofs? Gryffindor or Slytherin? To be or not to be?
No wonder Hamlet was named after a small town.
For an interesting article in Gazette.net on cool roofs by Danielle E. Gaines, click here.
By Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps
I respect Jim Talaga of Association Reserves in Washington State, and have had the pleasure of meeting the founder of Association Reserves, Robert Nordlund, and watching both of them testify at a legislative hearing in Olympia, Washington. Jim and Robert are articulate proponents of long-term financial planning.
For a succinct and easily understood primer on reserve studies, check out Robert’s recent article entitled Reserve Study Results – What to Expect. Robert articulates what you should expect from a reserve study. Although setting aside money for long-term goals remains anathematic to many Americans, we are discovering, particularly in twenty year-old or older commonly owned properties, that sound long-term financial planning can make the difference between thriving or becoming a neighborhood paperweight.
Let’s be careful out there.
Greedy HOAs Foreclose for Profit? Come On
By Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps
For a superficial and one-sided take on homeowner associations, check out the following article at:
and the link to NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128078864&ft=1&f=1001
The major theme of both is simple: homeowner associations are abusing their right to force the sale of homes for nonpayment of association assessments. The emphasis could easily have been turned around: owners not paying their assessments are causing associations to take drastic and desperate measures to pay their bills, harming the owners who remain, and leading to the destruction of entire neighborhoods. Continue reading
Videorecording Meetings, by Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps
In Washington State, owner associations are still private organizations. As such, they are not subject to public open meeting laws of the State.
There are two kinds of association meetings, board meetings, and owner meetings over which the board presides. Obviously owner meetings are open to the owners. Board meetings for non-condo associations are generally required to be open to the owners (there are some exceptions).
Washington State makes it a crime to record a private conversation without the consent of all participants (with some exceptions not relevant here). Consent can be obtained through notification and the absence of protest.
Owners and associations, acting in an abundance of caution, would probably rightfully prohibit the recording of a meeting without the consent of all those attending.
CA Law Day A Smashing Success! By Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps
About 250 of us enjoyed our day together on Saturday discussing the current legal trends and issues facing homeowners and their associations. Topics ranged from contracts to foreclosures. The highlight of the day for me was listening to one owner describe in simple terms why associations should fund their reserves (rather than wait to impose a lump special assessment at some future date). “People should pay to use common assets as they’re using them up.”
I think it’s important that Associations maintain current reserves studies to know and understand the true costs of ownership.
It has, however, been less important to me that the law require associations to adequately fund reserves, although I frequently recommend to my associations that they collect money on a regular basis to fund future large, long-term capital maintenance, repair, and replacement expenses.
I suppose this is a difficult legislative climate in which to convince lawmakers to require owners to fund adequate reserves. Even our own Legislature failed to plan for a future downturn and, again, is turning to tax increases to fund critical essential state services such as underwater basket weaving.
O well.
Zen and the Art of Condominium: the Time for Termination
In this sometimes funny, sometimes tragic presentation, attorney Brian P. McLean of Leahy McLean Fjelstad will discuss in a workshop setting how community association managers can increase their value to associations during each stage of a property’s lifecycle: development, to a community teeming with children and/or 55+, to termination, to reincarnation. Brian’s ability to confuse the basic precepts of Oriental philosophy, European reasoning, and Greek metaphysics, coupled with his profound belief that building siding and ductwork are living things, will both delight and frighten you. If there is enough time, he will focus on the mechanics of and the individual bases for terminating a condominium, including casualty (such as fire), condemnation by a government authority, and the voluntary and deliberate decision to terminate.
CEO Luncheon – Tuesday, April 6, 2010
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
The Bellevue Club
11200 Southeast Sixth Street
Bellevue, 98004
Click here for directions.
Bert Caldwell of the The Spokeman-Review (Spokane) recently interviewed me as spokesperson for the Washington Chapter of the Community Associations Institute regarding the current real estate financial crisis and how it is affecting condominium associations and ownership. His article was published December 27, 2009. He did a great job of putting a human face on a very real and very human crisis while looking at the legal problems surrounding it. See the article here.
The Seattle Times picked up the article on January 9, 2010: Condo Conundrum has Many Owners Weeping.
Brian McLean
By Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps
According to Aubrey Cohen of the Seattle P.I. and her source, First American Core Logic (http://blog.seattlepi.com/realestatenews/archives/175092):
In June [2009], 3.9 percent of Seattle-area mortgages were at least 90 days delinquent and 1.2 percent were in the process of foreclosure — a big jump from the rates of 1.4 percent delinquent and 0.5 percent in foreclosure a year earlier, according to a new report.
What does this mean for condominium and homeowner associations in Washington? Continue reading
WA State Owner Associations