Legal

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Dates, Times, Location, and Speaker Information Coming Soon!

Fee Now, Pay Later: Do Fines and Collection Services Actually Maintain Order and Financial Stability?

Historically, a small fee, a minor assessment, or even collections services have been ways to keep order and maintain financial stability in a community association. What happens when communities ignore bylaws, statutory requirements, local ordinances, or state and federal laws? Case law shows large liability in the forms of fines and settlements.

Smart Living: How to Live Cooperatively with Ring, Echo, Nest, and Other Smart Technology

Homeowners are using cameras and wireless mesh systems for community and household safety. Ring, Echo, Nest, and so-called “smart” devices are impacting safety, personal privacy, and community-wide crime. How can you live cooperatively in this new connected world?

Hot Topics and Trends in Community Association Law

Explore current legal trends facing community associations and what managers, board members, and attorneys need to know to help their community association clients navigate sensitive topics. Presented by the College of Community Association Lawyers.

Play, Post, and Publish: Why Your Community Should Pay Close Attention to Intellectual Property

An area of law that association legal counsel often ignores but poses tremendous liability for associations and developers is intellectual property. This session will look at various scenarios involving the intersection of intellectual property and community association law including, but not limited to, association websites, common area performances, newsletters, and the unauthorized use of the association's name.

All’s Fair in Housing? How to Address Emotional Support Animals, Assigned Parking, and More

Recent changes in federal law have provided new standards for community associations regarding emotional support animals, to neighbor-to-neighbor disputes, and assigned parking spaces. This program will cover the pitfalls and opportunities for associations in their journey through a fair housing claim.

Meeting Martial Arts: The Hard and Soft Approaches to Handling Difficult Meetings and Angry People

You can better handle difficult meetings and angry people by following the philosophy of martial arts. This program will cover how community association professionals and volunteer leaders can prepare themselves mentally and emotionally to handle a difficult and contentious meeting. Attendees will learn about two divergent communication styles of handling difficult situations—a “hard” style and a “soft” style. Prepare to discuss common and real-life scenarios that the presenters will use to demonstrate potential solutions.

Take This Board and Shove It! How to Handle En Masse Board Resignation

For myriad reasons, an entire board may decide to resign all at once. This seminar will discuss the issues brought on by an en masse resignation and the steps management and legal counsel may take in ensuring the viability of the association and replacement of the board.

To Sue or Not to Sue: Board Members as Limited Purpose Public Figures in Defamation Cases

In today’s social media, online, and litigious society, defamation is becoming increasingly more of an issue. In the community association context, what constitutes defamation? Can an owner sue a board member for defamation or vice versa? Where does the manager figure into it all? We’ll discuss this and related issues, such as defenses to defamation claims, application of the limited purpose public figure concept to board members, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (“SLAPP”) lawsuits, and more.

Ready for a Fight: What To Do With An Owner Who Lives to Sue

There’s always one owner who lives to fight, threatening and filing lawsuits against the association and board members on a regular basis. At what point does this owner become vexatious? And what, if anything, can an association do? This session will analyze the issue and share the success some associations have had in using state laws to push back against a vexatious litigant.

Worlds Colliding: Social Media and Fair Housing

Social media can be a convenient, modern way to increase communication in community associations. What happens when a hostile environment is created on social media? Do persons who are members of a protected class have a claim against the association? This session covers how an association’s board can spot hostile environments, what the law says about its duties, and what options are available for an association to effectively diffuse hostility and protect itself from liability.