It is well known that Association Board members (directors) have fiduciary duties to their unit owners and associations. It is almost as commonly known that the officers have the same fiduciary duties. Yet associations, directors and officers are often sued for failing to meet their duties. Unfortunately, directors and officers often contribute to their risk […]
12 Things My Board and I Do When We Want to Be Sued Read More »
Facts Plaintiff, Coley, owns a home in an HOA, the Eskaton Village (“Association”). Two other Eskaton named entities (“Eskaton”) develop and support HOAs. A five-member board runs the Association, subject to the Declaration. Eskaton has always controlled three of the five directors on the Association Board because it owns 137 of the 267 units. The
Self-Dealing by Director is a Breach of Fiduciary Duty (Case 1) Read More »
Truck Insurance Exchange v. Ullman, –N.E.3d – (2023), 2023 IL APP (1st) 220804 What you need to know:
The Risk of Being Under Insured Read More »
Summary Declarant owned nine of 10 units, controlled the board and association, failed to have an association bank account, intermingled the assessments that were paid into his business account, never held elections or annual meetings and kept no separate corporate records. Yet, the Court held that these failures could not be used as an excuse
Summary When faced with the question of how much is too much for a “reasonable fee” the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit held that it could not answer the question because the right parties were not before the court. The Facts Keith Horist owned a condominium in downtown Chicago building’s condominium association.
How Much Can an Association Charge for Providing Disclosure Documents as Part of a Sale? Read More »
A unit owner, who is also an attorney, was renting his unit to his mother and believed that the condominium association board, the association, the property manager and the association’s attorney didn’t like him because of his Russian nationality. His mother, who allegedly had asthma and could not tolerate smoking, was upset because her Armenian
Smoking and the Unreasonable Unit Owner Attorney Read More »
Facts David Bagwell was the developer of three homeowners’ associations (HOAs). David and his wife Susan (the Bagwells), acted as directors of each of the HOAs. Sister Initiative, LLC (the LLC) loaned money to the HOAs and was owned by Bagwells’ daughters. Susan Bagwell was the manager of the LLC. The Bagwells also owned several
Association NOT Liable for Loans Made By Developer Related Entity Read More »
Eith v. Ketelhut, — Cal.Reptr.3d — (2018) The Facts Homeowner bought home in 2003. In 2005 they planted a vineyard consisting of 600 plants on around .4 acres after obtaining approval of the Board’s Architectural Committee to their landscape plan that included the grape vines. The CC&R’s (Covenants Conditions and Restrictions) specifically prohibited that “No
When is a Business NOT a Business? Read More »
Facts Plaintiffs were two owners (Maples and Brown) at Compass Harbor Village Condominium Association in Maine (the “Association”) who had purchased their respective units sometime in 2007. The Declarant was an LLC that held more than 50% of the votes (15 of the 24 units) and therefore controlled the board. For many years the Association
Failing to Maintain and Properly Collect Assessments is a Breach of Fiduciary Duties Read More »
Facts Defendant, Castletown Corner Owner’s Association, Inc. (“Association”), had a duty to maintain a lift station. Specifically, the declaration imposed an obligation on the Association to pay “all Maintenance Costs in connection with” improvements constructed at the Association. Maintenance costs are then defined as “all of the costs necessary to maintain the … sewers, utility
Language in Declaration Makes Association Strictly Liable Read More »
