A recent newspaper article warned homeowners of an inspector who had been fined more than $80,000 by Oregon's Construction Contractors Board (or "CCB") for performing illegitimate inspections and using the license number of an inspector who had the same first and last name. It is a reminder that licensure comes with important consumer protections, including insurance and bond requirements and other reporting obligations intended to put owners on notice of a history of problems. read more

Congratulations! You threw your hat in the ring, ran a vigorous issues-based campaign promising to shake up the establishment, and ultimately won a seat on your association's board of directors. Once the champagne stops flowing, consider the following tips to get your term off to a productive start. read more

Are we dealing with part of a unit, the common elements or a limited common element? This is often the first question when analyzing maintenance, repair and replacement responsibilities in a condominium. That question also often relates to: Who pays? read more

I recently read an article stemming from NASA's discovery of seven exoplanets, three of which may support life. The article discussed an insurance company called Budget Insurance that is now issuing policies protecting policyholders against alien invasion. After doing some digging, I also discovered that another insurer is selling alien abduction insurance. The latter company has already sold more than 30,000 policies (I was unable to verify whether any of the policies have paid out). read more

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? read more