Condo Media - December 2013 - 41

incentive for foreclosing entities to move
forward," while strengthening protections
for community associations.
David Ramsey, a shareholder in the
law firm Becker-Poliakoff and a pastpresident of CAI, who served on the
CAI task force, emphasizes the need
for a balanced approach to the priority
lien. While CAI is concerned primarily
about ensuring the financial viability
of community associations, "we also
understand the lenders' argument"
- that an unlimited priority would
increase their risks and discourage them
from making condominium loans,
Ramsey says.
But Ramsey also points out that
the JEB includes representatives of
"all the interests" - lenders and real
estate agents as well as community
associations. The report recommending changes in the priority lien "wasn't
written by a CAI attorney," he notes,
and its conclusions were accepted
unanimously by the board.

A Range of Options

Stephen Marcus, a partner in the
Massachusetts law firm Marcus Errico, Emmer, & Brooks, also served on
the CAI task force, as did Matthew
Gaines, an associate in the firm and
chair of CAI's Massachusetts Legal
Action Committee. In an interview
before the task force had submitted
its recommendations, Marcus says the
options ranged from making the sixmonth priority open-ended - equivalent to the absolute priority given to
municipal taxes - to simply increasing the priority period beyond six
months, a far more modest change.
The "middle-range" solution, Marcus says, would be to set six months
of fees plus related attorney fees and
costs as the baseline for the lien. If
the delinquent fees haven't been repaid at that point, lenders could agree
to pay all assessments going forward,
eliminating court costs and legal fees
as a result; or the association would

have the right to file successive actions for an additional six-month
period, including in the lien the legal
fees and costs related to the collection effort.
Community association interests
in New England have been wrestling
with the issues the ULC will be addressing, specifically questions about
the scope of the priority lien.
The Massachusetts LAC has proposed legislation clarifying that the
six-month lien in the Massachusetts
statute is a "rolling lien," not limited
to once per default, as lenders in the
state have argued.
Although Massachusetts has not adopted the uniform condominium act,
lawmakers here and in other states often use it as a model. So changes the
UCL approves for the lien provision
in the uniform act could influence
legislators considering changes in the
Massachusetts lien, industry executives note. CM

CAI'S College of CommunIty ASSoCIAtIon lAwyerS preSentS

35th annual

Law
Seminar
CoMMunity assoCiation

Jan. 22-25, 2014
Mandalay Bay
Resort Casino
Las Vegas
For information and registration, visit
www.caionline.org/events/lawsem

A one-of-a-kind event exploring trends and practices
in association law for attorneys, management
professionals and other industry leaders.

Condo Media * December 2013

http://www.caionline.org/events/lawsem http://www.caionline.org/events/lawsem

Condo Media - December 2013

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