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A Bit of a Mess Part III of III “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. - Grouch Marx Last column, I noted how the new Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) legislation may well lead to a lot of problems in condomi...

A Bit of a Mess Part II of III Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests. \- Andrew Johnson Last column I summarized the new ADU legislation and noted ADUs are allowed in each condo associat...

The Corporate Colossus1 “There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi One downside of the trend in the past several years that has seen the price of condominiums skyrocket is that many people can no longer afford the down payment to purchase one. ...

A Bit of a Mess Part I of III “You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, put in the light of wrongs it would and and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.” - Lyndon B. Johnson This one's a problem. And it's gonna take thre...

Legislative Changes - 2024 - Part II “Has anyone ever said, ‘I wish I could go to more meetings today?'” - Matt Mullenweg In addition to the changes to the law on proxies for association meetings noted in the last column, the Legislature this past year also addressed what boards of directors can...

Legislative Changes - 2024 - Part I “A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.'” - Barack Obama It's been awhile since I wrote a column, as it has taken some time to fin...

The Misplaced Transparency “Corruption is paid by the poor.” - Pope Francis So, this could be a problem. In 2021 the federal government amended the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2020 by adding to it the Corporate Transparency Act, also known as the CTA. The intent was and is to stop money laundering. B...

Legislative Changes - 2024 Sorry for the gap in between columns, for anyone who reads them, and the very rare person who looks forward to them, it's been a busy stretch. After all of the fuss and hullabaloo with the many pieces of legislation introduced this past year regarding condominiums, onl...

The Bully ‘Round the Corner “Can't we all just get along?” - Rodney King Bullying is not just in playgrounds anymore. News journalists and condominium columnists report on it more and more often and condominium attorneys see it more and more often and condominium owners certainly are subject to...

Something to Think About “Education is not something you can finish.” - Isaac Asimov While many owners have large condominium units, say something around or above 1,000 square feet, many owners have much smaller ones, as little as 200-400 square feet. In such places, space is at a premium, and t...

The Monkey Lost “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. All too often attorneys only tell others about the cases they win. This column is about one I recently lost. Years ago, when I was a prosecutor, I tried a case with horrible facts. A...

The Sociopath Next Door1 “Hello Clarice.” - Hannibal Lecter There are more sociopaths surrounding us than we want to believe, including in your condominium association. The most commonly cited statistic is that one percent of the United States population is comprised of sociopaths. But about a do...

Legislative Update - Part III “Trying to run Congress without human relationships is like trying to run a car without motor oil. Should we be surprised when the thing freezes up?” - Jonathan Haidt Finally, as I noted two columns ago, pending once again in the Legislature is the yearly attempt to...

Condo Law Legislative Update - 2024 - Part II “You can lead man to Congress, but you can't make him think.” - Milton Berle Settle in and read on for thoughts on a couple of additional condominium bills making their way through the Legislature this season. House Bill 1357 seeks to require more...

Condo Law Legislative Update - 2024 - Part I Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” - Plato This year's slate of pending legislation includes an old, worn out retread, and some new ones. None have as yet passed and are in v...

The Package Problem “Time is money in the shipping business.” - Ander Crenshaw Something seemingly simple has become a problem. Package delivery. Since the pandemic hit, and Amazon took over the world, package delivery has become a booming business leading to some problems at condominium associa...

Forced Savings - For a Good Reason “The road to success is always under construction.” - Arnold Palmer It's budget season. That means you have to start worrying about next year. But one thing that should worry you, and which is directly related to your association's budget, is the fact that Fann...

An Appreciation “‘Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” - Alice Walker This is my 200th condominium law column. (Who knew there was so much to write about?!) As such, I write to thank a number o...

A Hidden Danger “Insurance - an ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table.” - Ambrose Bierce I can't believe I haven't written about this until now. I spend a lot of time reading condomini...

Insurance Tips - Part II “Everyone lives by selling something.” - Robert Louis Stevenson Following up on the last column, there is the matter of your condominium association's insurance deductible. To be clear, you will never get from your insurance company all of the money needed to make the re...

A Charged Situation “Electric cars are the future.” - Albert II, Prince of Monaco One of the increasingly common conversations taking place at condominium associations is what to do about the increase in electric vehicles. Or, more accurately, what should a board of directors do about the reques...

Insurance Tips “Insurance - an ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable condition that he is beating the man who keeps the table.” - Ambrose Bierce Some may think the topic of insurance is dull, and perhaps to some it is, but it's also extremely i...

Alternative Short-Term Uses “Worst month of the Year: February. February has only 28 days in it, which means that if you rent an apartment, you are paying for three full days you don't get. Try to avoid Februarys whenever possible.” - Steven Rubenstein As I have discussed in the past, the New H...

Special Meetings “Meetings should have as few people as possible, but all the right people.” - Charles W. Scharf Let's say you disagree with a board's decision. It could be something as small as a $50.00 fine or something bigger such as not allowing a third car for your now driving child or perh...

Up In A Puff Of Smoke “When I retire I'm going to spend my evenings by the fireplace going through these boxes. There are things in there that ought to be burned.” - Richard M. Nixon Thanks very much to a reader (that's at least one) for reaching out about this issue. Likely the most overlooked ...