Condo Media - April 2017 - 24

A Little Goes a Long Way
While it would be impossible to
recap the entire seminar, we will highlight some issues likely to impact New
England communities:
SOCIAL MEDIA IN COMMUNITIES
Anyone who knows Ellen has probably
heard her say, "This is America. Anyone
can sue anyone." She now has to change
that line to "This is America. Anyone
can tweet anyone." The session "Don't
Tweet Me That Way" provided valuable
insight into contemporary methods for
association leaders to try to utilize for
communicating with members.
Social media is no longer devoted to
millennials. It has become a creative
way to get messages and information
out quickly and effectively, particularly
when used properly. However, just as
social media can be used to distribute
information that unit owners want to
receive, it is also necessary to pay attention to the dangers social media can
present. Protective measures should
be taken for use of the association's
social media. Suggestions included
establishing codes of conduct for the
board, management, staff, and indeed
the entire community relative to the
use of the association's social media,
which may protect the association
social media platforms from owner
and potential liability that could inure
to the board, particularly as laws are
evolving in this area.
An example of one such law is
Children's Online Privacy Act (COPA).
Even the benign sharing of pictures of
children swimming in the association's
pool may (and we emphasize the use
of the word may) expose a board to
potential liability for violating COPA.
While the First Amendment protects
the individual's right to express opinions, to criticize and comment on matters of public interest, cyber bullying
and threats by users of the association
social media are real possibilities for
abuse. These are issues that boards
need to consider when utilizing social
media to present the community in the
most positive light to current owners
and potentially future owners.

24

CONDOMEDIA

In short, it is extremely important
for boards to balance the free-speech
rights of the owners as social media
participants with the potential impact
on the association if platforms are
not effectively managed through the
established codes of conduct. Additionally, policies should be established
concerning the interactive processes,
i.e. if a member posts a communication to management, there should be a
policy set forth on the platform being
used defining the timeframe within
which a response can be expected. This
is merely one of the policy suggestions
for boards to consider implementing when utilizing a website either
established by the board itself or by its
management company.
SHORT-TERM RENTALS
"Wrestling with Short-Term Rentals" presented national information
developed about the problem of sharing one's home. As if violating laws
concerning use of music, social media
platforms, and marijuana isn't enough
for boards to worry about, they must
also consider the short-term rental
(STR) phenomenon.
While it was not news that properly
written rental prohibitions in governing documents are enforceable, it was
surprising to learn that a majority of
states do not prohibit STRs. Like condominiums, rental restrictions come
in all sizes. They may have limitations
expressed on the numbers of rentals
permissible, the percentage of units
permitted to be rented, the occupancy
of the units, etc. However, unless a
community is a mixed-use or commercial condominium, the restrictions
almost always say that the units are to
be used for "residential purposes only."
Currently, the majority of state
courts that have considered the
problem of STRs in residential condominiums (none in New England
to date) have held that the use of the
word "residential" does not prohibit an
owner from participating in programs
such as Airbnb. Those courts have held
that the word "residential" can mean

Community associations
would be well advised to
revisit their documents
to determine what, if any,
changes may be appropriate to limit or control
marijuana use at their
properties.
sleeping or watching TV, as all are "residential uses." As the Virginia Court in
Scott v. Walker found, if a restriction
were meant to prevent short-term
rentals, "it would have been easy to say
so, and it would not likely have been
left to the uncertainty of inference."
Therefore, an association that relies
solely on language that limits use of
units to "residential" use would be wise
to amend its documents to expressly
prohibit "rentals, including STRs."
Given the concerns that tenants do
not care about the property the way
owner occupants do, the problems presented by the "tenants" of STRs magnifies those concerns. These "tenants"
are completely transient and do not
care about rules. As if violations don't
cause enough headaches for boards
and management, this use of units as
STRs could increase the association's
exposure under the Fair Housing Act.
The continued use of units as STRs
might bring private communities under the requirements of the Americans
With Disabilities Act, which applies to
places of public accommodations and
not private condominium communities. Has the board, by permitting these
usages or by failing to take action to
prohibit them, inadvertently presented
the community as a place of public accommodation?
Suggested regulations for STRs in
community associations include establishing a fixed number of units that can
be used for STRs, setting up waitlists if
all units permitted are being used, and
establishing a permissible minimum
rental period.



Condo Media - April 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - April 2017

Table of Contents
Condo Media - April 2017 - Intro
Condo Media - April 2017 - BB1
Condo Media - April 2017 - BB2
Condo Media - April 2017 - Cover1
Condo Media - April 2017 - Cover2
Condo Media - April 2017 - Table of Contents
Condo Media - April 2017 - 2
Condo Media - April 2017 - 3
Condo Media - April 2017 - 4
Condo Media - April 2017 - 5
Condo Media - April 2017 - 6
Condo Media - April 2017 - 7
Condo Media - April 2017 - 8
Condo Media - April 2017 - 9
Condo Media - April 2017 - 10
Condo Media - April 2017 - 11
Condo Media - April 2017 - 12
Condo Media - April 2017 - 13
Condo Media - April 2017 - 14
Condo Media - April 2017 - 15
Condo Media - April 2017 - 16
Condo Media - April 2017 - 17
Condo Media - April 2017 - 18
Condo Media - April 2017 - 19
Condo Media - April 2017 - 20
Condo Media - April 2017 - 21
Condo Media - April 2017 - 22
Condo Media - April 2017 - 23
Condo Media - April 2017 - 24
Condo Media - April 2017 - 25
Condo Media - April 2017 - 26
Condo Media - April 2017 - 27
Condo Media - April 2017 - 28
Condo Media - April 2017 - 29
Condo Media - April 2017 - 30
Condo Media - April 2017 - 31
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Condo Media - April 2017 - 33
Condo Media - April 2017 - 34
Condo Media - April 2017 - 35
Condo Media - April 2017 - 36
Condo Media - April 2017 - 37
Condo Media - April 2017 - 38
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Condo Media - April 2017 - 40
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Condo Media - April 2017 - 42
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Condo Media - April 2017 - 50
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Condo Media - April 2017 - 62
Condo Media - April 2017 - 63
Condo Media - April 2017 - 64
Condo Media - April 2017 - Cover3
Condo Media - April 2017 - Cover4
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