Condo Media - March 2021 - 27

MASSACHUSETTS
(MALAC)
By Matthew
Gaines, Esq.

MALAC CO-CHAIR

With legislators preoccupied with
COVID-19 and focused on major policy
issues pertaining to the environment,
economic development, and criminal
justice reform, very few other matters
generated much attention and traction
in the final months of the 2019/2020
Massachusetts legislative session.
This included, unfortunately, one of
the MALAC's priorities - a bill related to
the statute of limitations and repose for
construction defects. While the MALAC
was successful in getting the bill passed
in the House, the bill did not pass the
Senate before the end of the session.
Other measures the MALAC were
closely following - including legislation
pertaining to a " right to dry " and a bill
prohibiting the misrepresentation of service animals - faced a similar fate, failing
to pass both the House and Senate
before the end of the legislative session.
NEW SESSION PRIORITIES
With the new 2021/2022 legislative session starting on January 6, 2021, at the
time of drafting this update, the MALAC
is actively discussing the initiatives
and priorities for this new session. It is
expected the MALAC will refile the bill
pertaining to the statute of limitations
and repose for construction defects,
as well as the bill pertaining to certain
" poison pill " provisions developers often
insert into condominium documents.
In addition, committee members
have expressed support for two new
initiatives. One proposal pertains to
the imposition of sales tax on utilities
in condominiums. Many condominium
associations are charged sales tax, but
arguably, they should not incur such a
charge since the condominium meets
the exclusion for residential usage.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts does not
have a system in place for condominiums
to claim the exclusion. The MALAC is
hoping the legislature will resolve this
issue by amending the statute to permit
condominiums to claim the exclusion or
otherwise be exempt from the sales tax.

The idea for the second proposal
the committee is considering for the
2021/2022 legislative session came from
the struggles many condominiums faced
during the past several months with
respect to holding unit owner meetings
and elections. Many condominium documents specify that unit owner meetings
and voting must be in person at a meeting.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions on
gatherings this left many associations
with few options for holding annual
owner meetings and elections. The ability
to amend the condominium documents
to permit virtual meetings and electronic
voting was equally difficult. As a result,
the MALAC intends to propose legislation which will enable condominiums to
hold unit owner meetings via remote electronic means, as well as to permit owners
to vote remotely and electronically. So
many tasks in our everyday lives are done
using technology that it seems appropriate for condominiums to advance to
this point as well. And perhaps by using
technology for meetings and voting, it will
enable more unit owners to participate in
the governance of condominiums.
As usual, the MALAC expects that
many of the bills filed in past sessions
which would negatively impact condominiums will be refiled in the 2021/2022
session. As the MALAC continues to
advocate for and against legislation
impacting condominium associations, we
are hopeful that the legislative leaders will
continue to heed our concerns when provided and seek our counsel when needed.

MAINE (MELAC)
By Charlie KatzLeavy, Esq.
MELAC CHAIR

The Maine Legislative Action Committee (MELAC) was less active in Augusta
in 2020 and more active in providing
direct support to community association members. Like everyone else, we
were trying to understand the impact
and implications of the COVID-19
global pandemic.
The MELAC did closely monitor and
consider various pieces of legislation,

including but not limited to (i) liability
shields for community associations for
claims relating to COVID-19, (ii) express
authorization for community associations to meet remotely via Zoom, Go-ToMeeting, and the like, and (iii) proposals
in Washington, D.C., for moratoriums on
collections actions and foreclosures. The
MELAC also closely monitored local
issues such as executive orders on social
distancing and mandatory quarantines,
court closures, moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures, and other matters affecting community associations in
Maine. Members of the MELAC, including yours truly Charlie Katz-Leavy, Esq.,
and Bob Keegan, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
(Dirigo Management Company), also
participated on CAI New England Chapter webinars to assist Maine community
associations with navigating these new
and challenging times.
In 2021, the Maine LAC will follow
pending legislation (e.g., (i) LR 569 Sen.
Stewart Trey of Aroostook Title: An Act
To Allow Maine Nonprofit Corporations
To Hold Meetings Electronically and
(ii) LR 613 Rep. Dillingham Kathleen of
Oxford Title: An Act To Protect Maine
Businesses, Nonprofits, Educational
Institutions and Municipalities during
the COVID-19 Pandemic), and work collaboratively with state legislators to introduce new legislation to address issues for
Maine associations, such as (i) clarifying
the statute of limitations for Declarant's
warranties relating to the Common
Elements, and (ii) providing express
statutory authorization for community
associations to exercise remedies that
protect the financial wellbeing of associations, such as collecting rents directly
from tenants of delinquent owners.
In addition, the committee lost two
valued members as MELAC veterans Joe
Carleton and Bruce McGlauflin cycled
off the committee after many years of
service. The MELAC would like to thank
both Joe Carleton and Bruce McGlauflin
for their years of excellent service on
behalf of community associations. We are
looking for new members to join the
MELAC to help fill these big shoes. Please
contact Claudette Carini at ccarini@
caine.org or Charlie Katz-Leavy at
ckatzleavy@jbgh.com if you are interested in participating on the Maine LAC.
March 2021 CONDOMEDIA

Condo Media - March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - March 2021