Since our last postings on the subject of disclosure packets, the General Assembly has adopted several minor Code changes to clarify existing provisions:

Delivery by Overnight Carrier 
The Code section providing for cancellation of the purchase agreement within a certain time period after receipt of the resale certificate / disclosure packet previously failed to mention when the purchaser could cancel if the resale certificate / disclosure packet were delivered by overnight delivery service. For both property owners’ associations (“POAs”) and condominium associations, whether self-managed or professionally managed, if the resale certificate / disclosure packet is delivered by commercial overnight delivery service, the purchaser may cancel the contract within three days after receiving it.

The seller or the seller’s authorized agent may choose whether a resale certificate / disclosure packet will be delivered in hard copy or electronically. Such request and instructions must be stated in writing.

Continue Reading Disclosure Packets and Resale Certificates: Statutory Updates

Will SleethJoin me, Thursday, Jan. 22 (11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET), for this practical collections guide reviewing key issues and processes involved in pursuing outstanding debts in common interest communities. The real estate market troubles have left many condominium and HOAs in turmoil. With fewer members to carry the financial load, every penny counts.  Explore the debtor protections that exist in specific situations, and make certain the collection efforts are lawful and effective.

Topics include: A walk-through of the essential steps of collection procedures; Making certain governing documents support the claim; Finding new ways of legally pursuing the debt owed to the community; and practical tips for staying in compliance with FDCPA.

Who Should Attend: Attorneys, Common-interest community presidents and vice-presidents, Accountants, and Real estate professionals.

Registration fee: $199. CLE credit available. 
Additional details and registration can be found at: www.nbi-sems.com

This weekend, four members of LeClairRyan’s Community Association Industry Team are attending the Virginia Leadership Retreat (VLR) at the Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. The team has attended the annual conference each year since its inception six years ago, often having one or more of its attorneys speaking at the event. Pictured below at the Homestead (from left to right) are Brian Muse, Liz White, Will Sleeth, and Lori Schweller.

LeClairRyan attorneys Lori Schweller and Will Sleeth will be speaking once again at this year’s Community Association Day trade event sponsored by the Central Virginia Chapter of CAI, which will take place this Tuesday the 18th. The two will be giving a presentation titled "Common Area, Common Problems — Parking, Drinking, and Other Liability Issues".

For more information about this year’s CA Day, including information about how to register, please click here.

 

  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.

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

Editor’s Note: LeClairRyan’s Community Association Team handles sophisticated legal matters for a wide array of large-scale master-planned communities throughout Virginia and the nation. The following press release highlights the Team’s recent work in assisting a large master-planned homeowner’s association in Newport News and York County, Virginia purchase the golf course and country club that is located within the community.

KILN CREEK HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION TO PURCHASE GOLF COURSE, COUNTRY CLUB & 290 ACRES OF PROTECTED GREEN SPACE

 

Newport News, Virginia—December 23, 2013

The Villages of Kiln Creek Owners Association (KCOA) board of directors today completed its purchase of the Kiln Creek Golf Course & Resort from Dick Ashe. The $3.5 million purchase price includes 290 acres of protected green space with an 18-hole golf course, a former nine-hole golf course, a clubhouse, a 15-room hotel, two restaurants, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a fitness center and office space.

 

Continue Reading LeClairRyan’s Community Association Team Handles Acquisition of Golf Course for Large-Scale HOA

You serve on your condominium or property owners’ association’s board of directors and have been receiving complaints about unauthorized cars and space shortages in the community’s parking lot. The Board would like to designate specific parking spaces for use by designated units so that each unit has a certain number of parking spaces available to it at all times. May it do so? The answer depends on (a) how parking spaces are classified in your declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and (b) the association’s authority to control common area / common element pursuant to the Virginia Condominium Act or Property Owners’ Association Act and the specific terms of the association’s governing documents.

Continue Reading Parking Rights and Common Area / Common Element: Can the Association (or Declarant) Do That?!

LeClairRyan attorney Will Sleeth recently spoke at the James City County Neighborhood Leaders Forum on community association law issues. Will was invited to speak on a panel, along with several other attorneys (including the Virginia Common Interest Community Ombudsman, Heather Gillespie, and Deputy James City County Attorney Adam Kinsman), to discuss an array of recent developments in community association law.

The James City County Neighborhood Leaders Forum meetings take place every few months, and consist of various educational presentations and dialogue sessions hosted by the County Administrator, geared towards members and directors of homeowners associations in James City County. For more information on the James City County Neighborhood Leaders Forum, please click here.

 

How should a homeowners association or a condominium association deal with an owner who fails to pay his dues or assessments? There are three main remedies that associations have under Virginia law: (1) file a lawsuit against the owner, (2) file a memorandum of lien against the owner’s lot or unit, and (3) suspend an owner’s privilege to use certain portions of the common area or common element (we’ll address this third remedy in a future post).

Filing a Lawsuit

Associations have a right to file a lawsuit against delinquent owners, seeking a judgment for the delinquent amount. Many associations’ governing documents will also provide that the association is entitled to recover its court costs and attorneys’ fees too. In practice, some courts are occasionally reluctant to award associations the full amount of attorneys’ fees incurred in attempting to collect delinquent assessments, so the association may only be able to recover a certain dollar figure, or a certain percentage of the delinquent amount. While each court (and judge within that court) is different, it’s been our experience that in most situations, associations are usually able to recover most of the attorneys fees incurred in attempting to collect delinquent assessments.

Continue Reading Collections Options Regarding Owners Who Fail To Pay Their Assessments

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.　

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