Real Estate Law Articles

We recently ran across this great post from Allstate Blog about the pros and cons of homeowners associations and what you need to know about HOAs before you buy. Here are 3 Major Pros and Cons of Homeowners Associations: If you're shopping for a new house, you're likely to come across at least a ...

3 Tips for Successful Association Budgeting It's the end of the year and that means that you need to be thinking about preparing your budget for 2015. Budgeting can be tricky and it takes a lot of organization and time- but don't skimp on the time. Proper budgeting is key to success in community ...

The Importance of Security and Tips for Community Safety As a community association or property manager, you're responsible for meeting your bottom lines and running the association smoothly, but you're also responsible for community safety. Your residents are the livelihood of the community- and...

Transform Your Community Association Board Meetings with these Simple, Effective Tips When it comes to community association board meetings, you need to make sure you have a productive meeting with a group a people, and that's not always easy. Everyone has their own opinions, people want to be he...

Strategies for Working with Different Personalities When you're a part of a community association, it is inevitable that you will at some point or another be working with different personalities. You need to work with other board members, vendors, tenants and residents etc. The list goes on and o...

How to Build Relationships with Contractors So you need a contractor for your community, but where do you start. With so much information out there, it can be difficult to know who to choose and how to build a mutually beneficial relationship with them. If your clueless as to how to build relatio...

The Value of Good Community Association Landscaping Ever heard the phrase “first impressions are the most lasting?” We're betting you have, and were betting you've experienced the truth in it. As much as many don't want first impressions to be so important, the bottom line is that they are, and w...

Choosing the Right Board Member for Your Association Boards are an important part of any association, and choosing the right board members is essential to the success of a board. Some may think that choosing a board member is easy, and it can be, but you need to make sure you have the right pract...

Ease the Process of Collecting Association Dues Associations have financial responsibilities among others, and one of the main financial responsibilities they often encounter involves the collection of association dues. This process can often be grueling- but it doesn't always have to be. From th...

Building a Better Community in 4 Simple Steps Having a great community isn't just about meeting your bottom lines, it's also about ensuring that residents and employees are happy. Your community may be doing just fine, but we're betting it could be doing better by taking steps towards creating a ...

How to Turn Homeowners Into Neighbors When we think of a successful community we think of not only one that is one properly run and that meets its bottom lines, but also one that has taken steps to turn homeowners into neighbors. It's not just your specific home that's important, it's the overall...

Statistics detailing the perceived relationship between residents and community associations CAI recently released a report discussing findings from a national survey conducted in early 2014 by Public Opinion Strategies, and the findings reaffirm what we've learned from previous surveys in 2005, ...

5 Tips for Keeping Condo Residents Happy A condo association is a legal entity, so when it comes to dissolving it, it can be very difficult, but it is possible with good reason and the support of enough people. If a community decides they no longer want a condo association, they can “terminate” t...

3 Tips for Collaboration Between Property Managers and Boards When trying to build and maintain a successful community, it is important that property managers and boards to work together to reach their goals, but it's not always easy. It's sometimes hard to see things from someone else's point of...

Keep Residents Informed With A Community Association Monthly Newsletter As a community association, it is essential that you keep your residents informed of everything going on in the community from events to maintenance, and whether you just have a few tenants or you have hundreds, the most simp...

Why Grandfather Clauses Can be Useful in Community Associations Environments change as time goes on and rules and regulations must change with them as a result. While rule changes may be necessary, they aren't always easy to implement. Community associations and property managers must devise the ...

Get Your Newly Elected Board Member up to Speed As exciting as getting new board members is with all the opportunities it presents, it can be difficult to get them up to speed with everything that is happening. Just as with other jobs, you can't expect to put someone in a brand new position and f...

New Miami-Dade County Ordinances went into effect on July 1, 2014. Miami-Dade new ordinances have gone into effect and every community association should understand what this means for them. In the past, a community association had no obligation to tell a prospective purchaser or renter why an ...

Meeting Agenda Tips for Getting the Most out of Community Association Meetings Meetings don't always run smoothly, especially in community association meetings. People have different opinions, focus strays and many times you'll only realize you forgot to go over something important once the meeti...

The Florida Private Flood Insurance Market When you live in Florida, floods are a real concern. Anyone who has been through a hurricane has seen the major effects it can have, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill into law that would give Floridians more choices when it comes to flood ins...

New Condo and HOA Laws have been passed in the state of Florida The Florida legislature recently passed bills HB 807,HB 7037, and SB 440, that the governor has signed into law. These changes went into effect on July 1, 2014, so we wanted to provide you with a quick update on some of the changes...

Tips for Community Hurricane Season Preparation Hurricane season is upon us and as most Floridians know, hurricanes can cause a lot of damage. Even in low category hurricanes, trees fall over and roads get flooded. During high category hurricanes, the damage can be much more severe. Once you know...

Are Pigs a Pet or a Problem? Rules and regulations for community associations can be pretty extensive, and most people don't know everything about what they can and can't do. Last year, we wrote about pet restrictions in condo associations, but a recent news story led us to revisit the topic. A...

Common Fraud and Theft Activities in Community Associations. It seems like fraud and theft are becoming increasingly common these days, especially in community associations. As a community association leader, it's important that you understand the most popular fraudulent activities so that you ca...

3 Tips for Conflict Resolution The truth of the matter is that conflict is just a part of life. We've all been in situations where a conflict is caused due to a difference of goals or needs, and we've all seen what can happen when a conflict goes unresolved, and it usually isn't good. Conflicting...