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drawn from recent revisions in the model Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act), would: • Make it easier for associations to borrow money by eliminating a current requirement that two-thirds of owners amend the governing documents if they don’t contain language establishing borrowing authority. The proposed change would require only a majority of unit owners to authorize the board to pledge association assets as collateral for a loan. • Allow community associations to limit or suspend the common area privileges of owners who fail to pay their assessments. “This would give associations a little more leverage” to motivate delinquent owners to pay what they owe, McGlauflin says. Boards could bar owners from using community amenities, such as recreation facilities, but the language specifies that they could not withhold services — water and heat, for example — that would threaten health or safety. • Clarify the record-keeping obligations of community associations, detailing which records must be preserved, and establishing the right of owners to have access to association records, with limited exceptions to comply with privacy and confidentiality requirements. • Establish an open meeting requirement for associations, clarifying the right of owners to attend and receive advance notice of meetings, while also specifying the right of boards to establish procedures governing their meetings and to hold executive sessions for specified limited purposes.

state legislature adopted last year. While most of the changes improve association governance, as intended, David Boston, CMCA, AMS, with TPW Management and chair of the Vermont LAC, agrees some are simply untenable for the second-home communities that represent the majority of condominium developments in the state. Of particular concern, Boston says, are the open meeting provisions requiring that board meetings be held onsite — a challenge, to say the least, for communities in which owners reside elsewhere and are rarely onsite at the same time. The LAC hasn’t yet decided on the specific changes the LAC will request, but one possible approach, Boston says, would be to add language allowing associations to craft their own meeting requirements by amending their governing documents. Also on the committee’s agenda this year is continued discussion of a licensing requirement for association managers. The idea has surfaced before, Boston notes, and “we don’t know if it will gain traction this year.” But the committee’s general feeling is that it is better for the industry to propose its own licensing standards proactively, rather than react to less desirable requirements the legislature might move to impose.

Rhode Island
The LAC hadn’t finalized its agenda before the January deadline for this article, but one legislative priority the committee had identified this year is legislation that would ease the requirements for modifying common areas or limited common areas. Currently, an owner seeking to screen a porch or extend a deck into common area space would need the approval of 100 percent of the community’s owners, explains Frank Lombardi, a partner in Goodman, Shapiro & Lombardi and co-chair of the LAC. The revision the LAC is supporting, modeled on a Massachusetts statute, would allow an association board to

Vermont
While the Maine LAC is working to add some of the recent amendments to the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA), the Vermont LAC is hoping to roll back some of the UCIOA provisions the

approve common area modifications on its own authority, as long as abutters don’t object. The LAC proposed this measure last year, but it died, along with many others, because of an unrelated dispute between the House and Senate leadership. “We’re hoping the legislative climate will be a bit better this year,” Lombardi says. The committee also may support a measure simplifying the requirements for publishing foreclosure notices. Currently, notices must appear in the Providence Journal, the state’s largest daily newspaper. The proposed change would specify that publication in smaller daily papers serving the community in which the foreclosure is occurring would satisfy the notice requirement, providing a less expensive advertising alternative for community associations and lenders. The committee will “definitely” oppose another measure that may be introduced, giving condominium owners the same post-foreclosure right of redemption that applies to banks — that is, owners would have seven days after the foreclosure sale to notify boards that they intend to redeem, and then 30 days from the receipt of that letter to repay their debt and reclaim ownership of their unit. Supporters say the protection for owners is necessary and outweighs any harm to associations, but the LAC disagrees. “As a practical matter,” Lombardi noted, “by the time the association forecloses, the owner has already received multiple notices and has had four or maybe five chances to pay the amount due.” Owners able to cure their delinquency would already have done so, Lombardi said. Adding a right of redemption after foreclosure simply delays the process, adds another layer of uncertainty, and compounds the financial harm to communities. Community associations that foreclose will almost always agree to delay the transfer of a deed to give the owner and buyer a chance to work out a short sale, Lombardi added. “We do what we can to help delinquent owners now. But if

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Condo Media - March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - March 2011
