A large part of my practice is assisting associations and property owners with first party insurance claims. For those I haven't had a chance to work with, a first party insurance claim is a claim against an association or owner's own property insurance policy. These claims often involve significant property damage to properties that are past the statute of limitations to pursue the developer or contractors that built or converted the project. Washington has been ahead of the curve with respect to recovery on first party claims. Oregon, for reasons too lengthy to discuss here, has generally been unfavorable to first party claimants. read more

Since our enforcement hearing presentation at WSCAI's Made for Managers Day a couple of weeks ago, we have been getting a lot of feedback on the variety of procedures employed for community association enforcement hearings, generally with the question "is it okay to do it this way?" First, a big thanks to all of you who attended our presentation (and MFMD 2017 in general)! Second, the primary takeaway from our presentation and, for those of you who did not attend, for enforcement hearings in general is twofold: 1) Follow your governing documents; and 2) be reasonable. read more

One of the primary objectives of a community association board of directors is to facilitate and encourage a sense of connection within their physical community. read more

The internet can be a wonderful resource but BEWARE: Not everything you read on the internet is true or accurate. It is also not a substitute for professional advice. read more

My colleagues and I have blogged about the importance of recognizing requests for reasonable accommodations/modifications, carefully and thoughtfully considering them, and properly responding in a timely manner. We like to think our posts on this topic have helped a few association boards make better decisions, but if the case discussed below is any indication, more information and discussion is needed. read more