Governing Documents Tag

By: Scott Welker In American law, there is a long, quiet history of the ill suing the people who made them ill. Dating at least back to the 1800s, defendants have been held liable in court for negligently spreading infectious diseases. These cases have run the gambit, including lawsuits for the spread of tuberculosis (1953), smallpox (1910), typhoid fever (1896), and whooping cough (1884),...

A common question of HOA directors and managers is “How often should the Association be amending its governing documents?” A common answer provided by HOA lawyers is “It depends.” This brief article outlines a few important considerations in deciding whether it is time to amend. Overview of Governing Documents HOA’s are governed by the following documents: (a) the Plat, (b) the Articles of...

HOAs and community managers receive requests for records and information almost daily.  In this day where an HOA’s management team has limited resources, especially time, records and information requests need to be treated appropriately and efficiently. What is an Arizona HOA’s responsibility to respond to requests for records and information from its homeowners? HOA document requests are...

It is always interesting to me to see how many members of homeowner association boards of directors have not read or regularly reviewed their association’s CC&Rs and other governing documents. I think that most would agree that every board member should be familiar with the governing documents of their association. As a member of the board, it is also essential that a periodic review of...

There are many topics to consider when discussing community association governing documents. This includes the differences between the Declaration (CC&Rs), the Bylaws, the Plat, the Articles of Incorporation, and association rules, regulations, and resolutions; how the Oregon Condominium Act, Oregon Planned Community Act and Nonprofit Corporations Act are used as “gap-fillers”, in most...

Many owners believe that as members of a community association, they are entitled to inspect association records at will and at any time. An owner’s request to see the association records may happen for any number of reasons, such as when an owner feels that assessments are too high and sets out on a quest to rid the budget of all the “useless” expenditures. Of course, association boards...

Association records, especially for older associations, may become voluminous over time.  While there is no clear definition of what constitutes an “association record,” generally, any document that involves association business is considered a “record.”  And yes, that probably means email communications between board members. Records are important for obvious reasons.  They may show how or...

Most homeowners associations are governed by a declaration of restrictive covenants (also known as CC&Rs) and bylaws. Both of those documents typically require a vote of the membership in order to amend. Recently, many homeowners associations are contemplating amending their governing documents because the documents are outdated, they don’t address issues particular to the association, or...

Homeowners association and condominium owner association boards are frequently confronted with the question: what should the board do when a homeowner requests sensitive association documents? Frequently the homeowner seeking the documents is angry with the Board and is threatening to sue the Association. While Boards would usually prefer to refuse these requests, Oregon law generally gives...

Build HOA Rules, HOA Bylaws, HOA Covenants That Will Stand the Test of Time Most homeowner associations are governed by a declaration of restrictive covenants (also known as CC&Rs) and bylaws. Both of those documents typically require a vote of the membership in order to amend. Recently, many homeowner associations are contemplating amending their governing documents, due to the fact that...