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Association (both property owners’ association and condominium association) meetings are typically held at the community clubhouse or other local building.  However, with the increasing availability and utility of technology, virtual meetings are becoming more commonplace.

Virginia’s General Assembly (Virginia’s state legislature) recently passed legislation, House Bill 1205 (the “Amendment”), amending the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act, that may increase the use of virtual meetings for property owners’ associations in the Commonwealth.  Note: property owners’ associations are typically non-stock corporations, subjecting them to the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act. …
Continue Reading Virtual HOA Meetings?: Virginia’s General Assembly Makes It Easier For Property Owners’ Associations To Hold Entirely Electronic Meetings

In a previous post, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of a memorandum of lien foreclosure.

In this post, we will focus on the process of enforcing an Association’s judgment lien.

When an Association sues a delinquent owner, the Association seeks a monetary damages award (plus attorney’s fees and costs usually) from a court.  If the Association wins, the court awards the Association a monetary judgment.

What’s a Judgment? 

A judgment is merely a piece of paper that states that the delinquent owner owes the Association the delinquent amounts.  A judgment is not a court order to pay.  With the exception of child support or tax debts, delinquent debtors are generally not court-ordered to pay debts.…
Continue Reading Stepping Up The Pressure: Using a Judgment Creditor’s Suit to Enforce an Association’s Lien

In our previous post, we considered one method a Community Association may use to preserve and collect its lien for unpaid assessments: the memorandum of lien.

In this post, we will focus on the process of foreclosing on a Community Association’s memorandum of lien.  As we discussed last time, once the memorandum of lien is recorded, it acts as an encumbrance on the property’s title.  Once recorded, the memorandum of lien will be valid for a period of 36 months.

So what may a Community Association do with a memorandum of lien to collect delinquent assessments?  As we discussed in the previous post, simply recording the memorandum of lien does not necessarily mean that the Community Association will be paid.  However, the General Assembly has provided the Community Association with a powerful statutory tool to enforce its memorandum of lien: the nonjudicial foreclosure.

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Continue Reading Persistence Can Lead to Dollars Part II: Foreclosing on a Memorandum of Lien

  Amazon.com’s recent announcement – that in the future it may utilize unmanned drones to deliver packages to individual residences – has created a host of novel legal issues that all homeowners associations should consider and plan for. Although commentators believe that the commercial use of delivery drones may be a few years off, associations should begin planning now for whether they should regulate the use of drones within the association; how they should regulate the use of drones; and how they can minimize potential liability arising from the use of drones.

While the public has so far only been provided with bits and pieces of information about the make-up and capabilities of unmanned delivery drones, some general information is available: a drone will carry a package and will fly from a warehouse to an owner’s house, with the goal of attempting to deliver the package in a very short amount of time right after it has been ordered. The drone is designed to land, helicopter style, on an owner’s lawn and drop off the package. The drone will then use its helicopter-style propellers to vertically ascend from the owner’s lawn and return to the warehouse.

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Continue Reading Drones and HOAs: How Homeowners Associations and Condominium Associations Can Be Prepared to Deal with the New Technology

Bills recently passed in the Virginia General Assembly extend the list of items for inclusion in property owners’ association disclosure packets and condominium association resale certificates, and also broaden non-association disclosure requirements.　 Effective July 1, 2013, disclosure packets may or must (depending on the item) include the following new items:

 Restrictions on Solar Panels (HB 2305): Disclosure statements for lots within property owners’ associations and resale certificates for condominiums must include a statement setting forth any restriction, limitation, or prohibition on the right of a unit owner or lot owner to install or use solar energy collection devices on the owner’s property or unit. Va. Code §§ 55-79.97(C)(17), 55-509.5(A)(12).

Further, Va. Code　 § 55-519(B)(9) provides that the disclosure form required under the Virginia Residential Property Disclosure Act (a Virginia law that spells out, among other things, certain disclosures that most sellers of property must provide, regardless of whether the property is within a community association) must include language to notify purchasers that by delivering the residential property disclosure statement, the owner makes no representations with respect to any right to install or use solar energy collection devices on the property.

Of course, it is always incumbent on the purchaser to read the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations for a community association to determine whether the association has established any restrictions concerning the size, place, and manner of placement of solar energy collection devices; or, for an association with a restrictive covenant adopted prior to July 1, 2008, any restriction or prohibition on the installation or use of a solar collection device.　

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Continue Reading Disclosure Packets and Resale Certificates Revisited: Recent Statutory Amendments

LeClairRyan Community Association Team member Brian Muse recently blogged about the time extension under the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) for compliance with pool lift requirements, something that every HOA with a pool should be aware of. Check out Brian’s post over at his new blog ADA Musings. While you’re there, you’ll find that his blog…

The annual Virginia Leadership Retreat will take place this year from July 27 – July 29, 2012 at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia. This annual event has become the premier state-wide gathering for the community association industry in Virginia. Once again, LeClairRyan’s community association team will be well represented there. Like most years…

On Thursday, February 16, 2012, LeClairRyan employment law attorney and Community Association Team member Brian Muse will present a one-hour webinar on the Fair Credit Report Act.

This webinar will provide practical advice to employers on what they need to know to conduct background checks and employee investigations without running afoul of the FCRA. It…

Members of LeClairRyan’s Community Association Industry Team will be blogging live from the Homestead this weekend, at the annual Virginia Leadership Retreat. The conference will run from July 29 -31, and will feature an array of networking events and presentations by some of the leaders of the community association industry in Virginia. LeClairRyan will be making…

 A reader recently asked us to comment on members’ rights to inspect their property owners’ association’s books and records, such as financial information and meeting minutes, pursuant to the Property Owners’ Association Act.

A member’s right to inspect records is not only governed by the provisions of the Property Owners’ Association Act, but also by the provisions contained within the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act. The provisions of the two acts must be read in conjunction with each other, and therefore the interested member should review not only § 55-510 of the Property Owners’ Association Act in order to understand his rights, but also §§ 13.1-932 – 934 of the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act as well.

This blog post is limited to a discussion of the provisions contained within the Property Owners’ Association Act, and at some future time we will likely make a post regarding the inspection provisions contained in the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act.

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Continue Reading Records Inspection Requests by Members: An Overview