I along with Mary Barrett have just finished conducting a series of educational seminars for South Jersey Chapter of New Jersey CAI, and another for property managers from a large nationally known property management company. When we met with the South Jersey CAI, we discussed the topic of “transition” and what its meaning is for members of a Board. The discussion ranged from the control to the homeowners of an Association, to negotiations with the Developer over construction deficiencies found during the investigative phase of the transition with the Developer. Transition in a community association happens in two ways. First, when the homeowners take control from the Developer and this control is “transitioned” from Developer. The second transition occurs when the Board negotiates with the Developer over defects in the site found by the Association’s engineer. The second property managers seminar included a discussion about the impact of the Fair Housing Act on community associations, as well as tort immunity. Fair Housing Act issues deal with various individuals typically living in an Association who need a “reasonable accommodation” in order to maintaining a reasonable lifestyle within the community. Examples range from the person who needs a designated handicap parking space due to a specific handicap, to the individual who needs to have a ramp built to their particular home to accommodate a wheel chair. Tort immunity is a New Jersey statute that enables a community association to insulate itself from certain bodily injuries(typically those considered caused by “simple negligence”) if they go through a certain procedure top have their membership adopt an amendment to their by-laws. Here is a link to the agenda for our presentation on transition. If your board or management company would like to discuss transition issues, tort immunity, Fair Housing Act requirements or other matters which impact associations, please feel free to contact me to discuss scheduling an educational seminar.
