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

We have all seen onerous and unfair language in contracts, waivers, releases, invoices, disclaimers, disclosures, notices. Sometimes it is in the dreaded "fine print." Sometimes it is in large bolded, underlined print. When one party challenges such language, we often hear the response: This is "industry standard." read more

Recently, the Division 1 Court of Appeals of Washington issued its opinion in the case of Viewcrest Condominium Association v. Robertson, 2016 WL 7470025 (December 27, 2016). The decision by the Court in Viewcrest will need to be considered when evaluating collection of delinquent condominium assessments in Washington. read more

In part one of our three-part series on Tree Trouble, my colleague David Silver wrote about Timber Trespass. In this post, I'm going to discuss self-help. Self-help is the legal term that describes "taking the law into your own hands"—literally. In this context, it would include a property owner getting out their pruning shears or shovel and cutting or trimming parts of a neighbor's tree that infringe upon his or her property. You may be surprised to hear that in Washington, such conduct has been endorsed by the courts. read more

I don't know if you remember this, but there was an election recently that was rather volatile. Whether you are happy or unhappy with the outcome, the question on everyone's mind is: What happens next? How will our government change? How will we be governed? The final answer to those questions will not be known for some time, but what we do know is that whatever the intent, significant change in policy will be tempered and guided by our country's Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, laws and the multitude of checks and balances inherent in the structure of our democracy. Those fundamental concepts or "governing documents," to use a term of art, form the core of our democracy. They provide our country with stability and allow our country to transfer power relatively peacefully, no matter how contested the election. read more