Communication Issues

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Many people are generally familiar with the concept that housing providers, real estate agents, and property management companies are subject to state and federal fair housing laws. However, it is important to know that community associations are also subject to those laws. State fair housing laws vary from state to state. These laws typically set forth a statutory procedure for the resolution of complaints of violations of those laws.

This post will focus mainly on the Virginia Fair Housing Law (“VFHL”) (Virginia Code Section 36-96.1, et seq.) and the Virginia process for complaint resolution.

What VFHL Covers

Virginia has a stated policy to provide fair housing throughout the Commonwealth. Va. Code § 36-96.1. The VFHL prohibits covered persons or entities from engaging in unlawful discriminatory housing practices. Va. Code § 36-96.3.
Continue Reading Virginia Fair Housing Law and Community Associations: Procedural Background and Best Practices in Handling Complaints

By recent decision, the Virginia Supreme Court weighed in on an insurance subrogation dispute arising out of a fire at a Virginia condominium. The case is illustrative as to situations that sometimes face community associations when there are casualty losses.

Subrogation: A Basic Explanation

Subrogation is a legal doctrine where a party who pays a loss on another’s behalf is permitted to “step into the shoes” of the payee (person receiving the funds) and enforce their rights as to a legal claim. An elementary principle of subrogation is that an insurer may not subrogate against its own insured. In other words, an insurer cannot sue its own insured for negligence under a subrogation theory. This is intuitive because if an insurer could sue an insured to recover such losses then there would not be much of a concept of insurance coverage (as any time the insurer paid a loss to an insured, there would be a strong incentive for the insurer to sue its own insured to recover the loss). Subrogation may be waived by contract.
Continue Reading Subrogation: Stepping into the Shoes of Another to Enforce Claims: the Virginia Supreme Court Hands Down an Opinion on Subrogation in the Context of a Condominium Fire

Given the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, many states have issued stay-at-home orders, and taken action to limit public gatherings. Given this sudden and extraordinary legal change, many community associations are facing difficulty in scheduling their meetings (annual and special meetings of members). Specifically, many community associations are facing the logistical challenge of conducting these meetings, via remote or electronic means, to accomplish community association business, minimize legal and health risks, and comply with the various stay-at-home orders.

2018 Legislative Changes to Remote Meeting Requirements

Before transitioning all meetings to remote or electronic means, community associations need to be careful and discuss the issue with their counsel to develop a workable plan. Back in 2018, we previously posted about a recent legislative amendment enacted by Virginia’s General Assembly permitting remote meetings under certain circumstances. The law has been codified as Virginia Code Section 13.1-844.2.

Under that statute law, nonstock corporations (which many community associations are) may conduct annual and special meetings of members via electronic means, provided that the governing documents (articles of incorporation and bylaws) do not require the meetings to take place at a particular location.
Continue Reading COVID-19 and Remote Community Association Meetings: A Closer Look at the Legal Requirements, and an Update on Virginia General Assembly’s Emergency Action

Most people are generally familiar with the concept that hotels, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). However, as we have mentioned before on this blog, community associations can fall under the scope of the ADA as well.

The ADA is a sweeping set of federal statutes that applies to places of public accommodation, amongst other entities. The ADA framework seeks to prohibit discrimination against disabled persons. As a general matter, a community association may be a place of public accommodation for purposes of the ADA if it is open to the general public, if its common areas are available for rent by members of the public, or if there are portions of the common area open to the public, such as restaurants or a golf course. The legal inquiry as to whether an association is a “covered entity” is rather fact intensive. Ultimately, the analysis turns on how open the Association is to members of the general public, not just its own owners. The more a community association is open to the public, the higher the chance that the community association will fall under the scope of the ADA.
Continue Reading ADA and Community Associations: Best Practices in Handling Requests

Many may recall the recent story about the airline traveler seeking to bring an emotional support peacock (Dexter) on board an airplane.  While the story received much national publicity, the reality appears to be that assistance animals and emotional support animals are becoming more commonplace in everyday life.  Stories such as Dexter’s present some interesting legal questions for non-profits, governments, and businesses alike.

Assistance animals and emotional support animals are sometimes (incorrectly) used interchangeably.  They involve different sources of law and require different analyses.  This next series of posts will seek to provide some clarity on the legal issues relating to both categories.  In part one of this series, we will focus on the legal issues surrounding the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and assistance animals for purposes of community associations.  Our next post will address emotional support animals and the federal and state fair housing acts.
Continue Reading Assistance Animals and the ADA: What Community Associations Ought to Know

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

Recently, we had a reader ask whether a member of a homeowners association is legally permitted to review and inspect voting records relating to elections for the board of directors of the member’s HOA.

The short answer is that it depends on the nature of the records requested as well as other factors. Virginia Code…

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…

LeClairRyan attorneys Lori Schweller and Tara Boyd are assisting Habitat for Humanity with the legal work related to Habitat’s Sunrise Park development in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Specifically, Schweller and Boyd are drafting the documents for the master property owners’ association for the whole community as well as the condominium documents for the 4-story condominium building and …

Today marked the first day of presentations at the Virginia Leadership Retreat, located at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia. LeClairRyan’s Megan Scanlon delivered a presentation called "Aging-in-Place — The Boomer Community", which described some of the challenges community associations will face as their populations age.

Participants listened to a wide-variety of presentations and heard…