Condo Media - March 2020 - 55

TIME FOR AMENDMENTS
It is true that at the urging of your CAI
New Hampshire Legislative Action
Committee (NHLAC), the legislature
eliminated time deadlines for the
passage of necessary amendments to
association documents. The intent here,
however, was to afford associations the
time necessary to achieve amendments
and not necessarily to simply avoid
amendments altogether. Some of the
changes have now been in effect for
several years. For associations whose
boards have seen turnover or who perform self-management, the passage of
time and turnover of board members is
resulting in the unknowing and unintentional commission of errors by persons
unaware of the fact that the association's
governing documents no longer reflect
the accurate legal descriptions and
requirements associated with many topics. As time goes on, and the statutory
changes get older and the turnover of
personnel is multiplied, the problems,
errors and potential misunderstandings
are only likely to worsen. Thus, if you
are a New Hampshire association that
hasn't yet amended your documents for
statutory compliance, it is recommended that you contact your association's
legal counsel to discuss the same.
CAI LAW SEMINAR
Turning to another "face" of "maintenance," and turnabout being fair play,
association attorneys are not free of
our own "maintenance" obligations.
CAI hosts an Annual Law Seminar
primarily for the continuing education
of those attorneys focusing their practice in this field. As I write this article,
I just returned from the 2020 Law
Conference. Attendees are exposed
to three days of seminars prepared
by national leaders in our field. By
learning about how other areas of the
country handle certain legal issues,
attorneys can better prepare to handle
such matters in their own "backyards."
The conference also allows association
law practitioners the opportunity to
share those pieces of knowledge and
experience that are common to us all.

I always find the conference to be a
rewarding experience.
Coincidentally, among the seminars
I attended this year was a seminar
focused on the amendment of the governing documents of associations. Also
noteworthy (as many clients face this
issue in increasing numbers given the
increasing use of social media),
I attended a seminar about defamation
lawsuits. This seminar explored the legal requirements necessary for a board
to achieve success in bringing such
a claim against unit owners or other
parties who incorrectly disparage the

board. Through CAI's Annual Law
Seminar, attorneys can perform some
"maintenance" on their knowledge
base and level of expertise.
Here's hoping that we may all successfully pin down both traditional and
non-traditional maintenance projects
in 2020!
■ GARY M. DADDARIO, ESQ., CCAL,
IS A PARTNER WITH THE LAW FIRM
OF MARCUS, ERRICO, EMMER &
BROOKS, P.C. AND CHAIR OF THE
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATIVE
ACTION COMMITTEE.

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March 2020 CONDOMEDIA

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