One of the main reasons I love practicing common interest community law is its newness. Compare condominium law to, say, contract law, which can be linked thousands of years all the way back to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (est. 1792-95 BC). Or what about Normative or English Common Law, that also trace back centuries?

No, common interest community law has been evolving only over the past few decades, originating in the 60s and 70s—that is, the 19 -60s and 70s. We literally are creating law as we go.

Unlike several basic tenets of law, such as contracts, torts, criminal, etc., where courts have been analyzing and ruling for literally thousands of years, common interest community law is in its infancy. Consequently, there is a dearth of court decisions and legal authority to rely upon.

There are very few black and white aspects of a legal case or claim. The human aspect intervenes in a case to create ambiguity, subjectivity, emotion and opinion. If that premise applies to legal cases in general, it applies in spades to common interest community cases. I highlight this point to emphasize to managers, board members and homeowners of community associations to be cautious when formulating a legal opinion and driving a stake in the ground to defend it. After more than a dozen years handling common interest community cases, issues and disputes, I am happy to share with you the concept that “absolute” is not “common” in common interest community law.

I suggest that you be open and flexible when taking a position, and always be mindful of the cooperative path to resolution. Sure, there are some cases that are “black and white,” but there are many more that reflect the many shades of grey.