utahcondolawblog

The Poll below was prompted by the disclosure that a Florida association/developer donated $250,000 to a SuperPAC.

What Is Your Favorite Color?

I was a bit taken aback this morning while reviewing the SuperPAC donation information in the New York Times, to see that a Florida HOA, The Villages of Lake Sumter, Inc., had donated $250,000 to support a pro-Romney SuperPAC.  That struck me as a bit of a conflict, and probably a breach of the Association’s fiduciary duties.

Further research, however, indicates that membership in and payment of homeowner dues in the associations created in the Villages are optional, at least according to this article in Wikipedia.  (If it’s in Wikipedia, it has to be true, right?.  Just like if a candidate says it during a debate?)

I suppose that means that I’ll need to create an exception to my standard line that one of the three requirements of a community association is mandatory membership and mandatory assessments; there’s at least one exception in Florida.  I presume that the $250,00 thus came from the developer’s profits, and not from owners’ dues.

Even if it’s the developer’s money, do you think community associations should support political candidates?

I’m in sunny Palm Springs, at the College of Community Lawyers Annual Law Conference, having spent the last two days gaining knowledge on recent developments in community association law. There’ s been lots to share, but not enough time to share it. I’ll try, over the next few weeks, to post some of the highlights. Look for some case law updates, Fair Housing developments and a possible future solution to the comfort animal conundrum.

As many associations are in the process of planning for and having their annual meetings, it’s a good time for a reminder that a new Utah law requires that community associations provide an opportunity at the annual meeting for owners to “discuss reserves and vote on whether to fund a reserve fund…”

As I’ve stated before, every association with common elements should have a report and needs to be setting aside reserves. And this is a decision which should be made by the board, and not the owners.

But, the Utah legislature seems to think the owners should decide, or at least have a say in the matter. The new statute on condominium reserves, Utah Code Ann. 57-8-7.5, requires that:

(6) An association of unit owners shall:

(a) annually, at the annual meeting of unit owners or at a special meeting of unit owners:

(i) present the reserve study; and

(ii) provide an opportunity for unit owners to discuss reserves and to vote on whether to fund a reserve fund and, if so, how to fund it and in what amount;

(b) prepare and keep minutes of each meeting held under Subsection (6)(a) and indicate in the minutes any decision relating to funding a reserve fund.

While the statute isn’t exactly clear, I think you would be in compliance if you have a copy (or maybe a couple of copies) available for review, summarize its recommendations, present the board’s opinion as to funding and intentions, and then ask if there are any questions or motions respecting the study or the board’s recommendation. I think the response will likely be silence. Assuming there is silence, I think the minutes can and should reflect the board’s recommendation, the opportunity for a discussion and vote, and that no motions were made.

Assuming there’s discussion, someone should be prepared to defend the board’s decision, to encourage a vote to approve a motion, to be made on behalf of the board, to ratify the funding as recommended by the board.

National Public Radio ran a story today about the reality of modern-day Wall Street. According to their story, many of the old financial buildings have been converted to condominiums. So, the 1% can move onto Wall Street and occupy it long term.

Here’s an example of what’s out there, and there’s some tax abatement, as well. I suppose if you can afford the condo, you worry a lot about your taxes.
Studio condominiums start at an affordable $700,000.

A lawyer friend from Colorado recently inquired as to how I use my iPad in my law practice. Since I’ve been asked the question before, and since many of my professional uses will apply to many professions, I thought I should share my response. Here it is:

Practice? What Practice?

Actually, about 75% of my iPad usage is personal; for reading news and mags. I don’t have Angry Birds yet, but I borrow my wife’s iPad for that.

Recently, however, I have been using it more in my practice, in several ways. First, we acquired a cabin, and we’re trying to keep that as a “limited technology zone.” I do use it there to receive and send emails when I’m away on the weekend. It’s less obtrusive than the laptop, easier to cart up and back, has wireless (non-wifi) access, and it doesn’t feel as much like work to reply to an email on it.

If you use Daylite (which I heartily recommend), the Daylite Touch App is an amazing way to keep your calendar updated. Daylite Touch also works on my iPhone; it automatically syncs with my office calendar, whenever it’s accessed, provided that I have either phone service or wifi. And, you can access all of the calendars in your database, if you have Daylite installed on your network. I mainly use Daylite Touch on my phone, although it’s better and more accessible on the larger iPad format.

Gotomypc has a good iPad App that allows you to remotely access Windows and Mac computers. We still have TimeMatters as our billing system (unfortunately), so I can access and record time, remotely, through that. If you use Gotomypc, you’ll find that it is much easier to use on the iPad app than it is through a browser. (I’m still looking for a good mac-based billing system, so that I can defenestrate our office server.)

I also recently bought Omnifocus for the iPad. Still playing with it, but it looks like a great organizational program.

Dropbox allows you to sync files between your mobile devices and other computers. I don’t us it a lot, but others do. Crashplan, which is our office remote backup for the office Macs, just released an iPad and iPhone App which appears to do the same thing. That may be preferable, since all of our office files are continuously backed up.

Penultimate is a good program for taking notes in meetings. Papyrus appears to be almost as good (perhaps better), and it’s free. I just acquired a Jot stylus, which has a finer point than most of them, and promises “no more fingerpainting…” (All of the other iPad styli that I have used have a tip about the size of a pencil eraser. The Jot is more like a ball point pen, but protects the surface with a little plastic disc.

There are several good travel apps; FlightAware gives real time status on flights; all of the big travel sites have apps.

Although I joke about my limited use of the iPad for work, I do use it with increasing frequency. I’m teaching in Southern California early next month, and am trying to get up the nerve to leave the laptop behind. I’m quite confident that I could pull it off.

In connection with your shift from the Dark Side, I recommend you check out and subscribe to the MILO (Macs in Law Offices) group on Google. (milogroup@googlegroups.com)

Good Luck!

I’m at the October meeting of the Utah Chapter of the Community Associations Institute; John Richards of Richards Kimble and Winn is the speaker; he’s speaking on suggestions to run effective HOA meetings. His suggestions:

1. Identify all issues to be addressed (and prepare to deal with them);
2. Determine the time and place;
3. What notice is to be given?;
4. What should be contained in the notice?;
5. Once notice is out, what next? (John suggests trying to resolve anticipated issues or concerns before the meeting);
6. Consider mail-in ballots (when allowed by governing documents);
7. Can powers of attorney be used?;
8. Specific tips on conduct:
- have rules of order
- have the board sitting up front;
- assign roles for topics;
- welcome everyone and start on time
- at annual meetings, provide financial information and invite them to review other financial information;
- at annual meetings, present the positive;
- keep on time;
- don’t have prayers
9. Members in good standing?
10. Ballots received after the deadline?

Spent a beautiful Autumn day at the South Mountain Golf Course yesterday, with supporters and friends of the Utah Chapter of the Community Associations Institute. In keeping with tradition, I took photos of most of the players, a couple of the better shots are posted here:

UCCAI Golf 2011