Articles

Reader Questions – Tenants With Criminal Backgrounds, and Are Drying Racks OK? Oct 05, 2020

Dear Kelly,

Apparently my HOA made a change in the CC&Rs. The HOA requires that any prospective tenants must be approved by the board, and that no applicant who has a...

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Reader Questions – Fair Housing Violations? Restrictions on Hard Floors and Outside Play Sep 27, 2020

Mr. Richardson:

I enjoy reading your column.

I recently bought a condo and was in the process of replacing the carpet with laminate flooring because of allergies. The HOA...

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Discontinue The Troubling and Unnecessary Proxy Sep 20, 2020

Proxies are still used in most HOAs and continue to contribute to confusion and controversy during HOA elections.

A proxy is a document by which one association member...

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Reader Questions - The Reserve Fund – How Much Is Too Much? Sep 13, 2020

Mr. Richardson: Something has been bothering me for a while regarding the reserve funding level that is appropriate for a given association. Many associations strive (and...

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Reader Questions - Can Non-Residents Run? Why Can’t Spouses of Directors? Sep 06, 2020

Mr. Richardson:

Can a non-resident owner be on the board? A board member moved but still stayed on the board while he rented his unit. Several homeowners opposed, but the...

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Reader Questions - Our HOA Stopped Meeting - Is That OK? Aug 31, 2020

Dear Mr. Richardson:

Our board says that due to the pandemic they are suspending board meetings "until further notice." Our bylaws state board meetings must be held at...

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Embracing Virtual Meeting Function – Now and Later Aug 23, 2020

Many months now into the pandemic, some associations have stopped conducting board meetings. That is a mistake on many levels, but also completely unnecessary. Boards do...

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Reader Questions – Can HOAs Ban Political, Patriotic or Religious Displays? Aug 16, 2020

Hi Kelly,

We (along with our neighbors) put out candidate and ballot measure signs prior to our elections. We looked into this several years ago and it appears that...

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Proposed Law Would Override HOA Self-Determination Aug 09, 2020

Assembly Member Ting from San Francisco has authored Assembly Bill 3182. In its original form it was a horrible bill but later amendments improved it from horrible to just...

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Reader Questions – Short Term Rentals Aug 02, 2020

Dear Kelly:

Our CC&Rs state that a rental must be at least 30 days.  We have recently found several (web-based short-term) rentals in our complex that are just...

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Reader Questions - Board Meetings Jul 27, 2020
Our HOA board has consistently said that they are having meetings to do emergency actions. I know that they talk on the telephone, decide what to say and never send out...
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But I Disagree Jul 20, 2020

In our culture, disagreement is mishandled more than ever before. However, disagreement is to be expected between directors of common interest developments (aka...

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