If your homeowners association has not yet adopted an owner complaint policy, it should move quickly. Recently, Virginia’s Common Interest Community Board promulgated regulations to implement a recent law (Virginia Code Section 55-530(E)) requiring all homeowners associations in Virginia to adopt a policy for receiving and reviewing owner complaints.

Under the regulations, all homeowners associations must adopt a policy by the end of this September. Associations will be required to certify, in their annual report to the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, that a policy has been adopted and is in effect. Moreover, associations are required to include the complaint policy in their disclosure packets. As the regulations contain some fairly detailed requirements as to what terms and conditions must be included in the policy, associations should ask their legal counsel for assistance in drafting a policy.