Washington State Homeowner and Condominium Associations

Water One Casualty of High Foreclosure Rates

by Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps

Imagine you live in a condominium, you pay your assessments like clockwork, and you arrive home to find your water turned off because of non-payment. That’s what happened to one Florida Condominium:

“The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department turned the water off Wednesday after the condo association failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in previous water bills.” © MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. (http://cbs4.com/local/Mirassou.Condominiums.miami.2.986212.html)

We read a lot in the paper about high rates of unemployment and decreasing property prices. What we don’t read about is how nonpayment of dues by some are affecting people who have worked carefully to save money, live within their means, and don’t take unreasonable financial risks. At many properties they’re paying a higher price because of the misfortune of others. There’s plenty of fault to go around, and it will take months if not years to sort this out.

What Makes Homeowner Association Meetings Work

By Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps

Making association meetings work requires strict obedience to two shining principles:

1.    Get along with your neighbors.
2.    Run meetings efficiently.

Getting along with your neighbors is a self-explanatory precept to those who understand one should pick one’s battles carefully. It doesn’t mean anything to the rest of us. It is the foundation of successful community living. In fact, it describes successful community living. If a homeowner doesn’t understand, doesn’t care, or disagrees with the first principle, then rural Yellow Knife in the Northwest Territories has some lovely view properties this time of year. Continue reading →

Renting in Non-Condo Homeowner Associations

By Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps

In Washington State, there is no blanket restriction in RCW 64.38 (HOA Act) on either the rental of single-family homes or the authority of the homeowner association to restrict rentals. The obvert authority to enforce such restraints would arise in the association’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (the “contract” between the owners regarding governance, enforcement, and behavior). Continue reading →

Yurt Association Law: Developer v. Association Attorneys

Brian P. McLean, Leahy.ps

In Washington State, there’s a palpable and sometimes hostile split between attorneys who represent developers and attorneys who represent owner associations (particular construction defect attorneys). (As for attorneys who represent owner associations in construction defect claims only, their interests are singular in nature.) The purported polarization between developer attorneys and association attorneys is an old debate dressed and propped up in a new fact pattern. Continue reading →