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Feature Story
Board Member Voting: Is My Ballot Private?
Neighbors in a community may be friends, however, it’s possible someone may not think their friend would make a good board member. This puts them in a funny position when their friend asks them to sign a proxy for their community’s board election. Can owners in condominium and homeowner associations vote with the confidence that their vote will be confidential?
For some, one of the downsides of living in a condominium or homeowner association has always been close proximity to your neighbors. This can especially become a problem when your neighbors are loud and inconsiderate. But what if the rowdy family “next door” is a feral cat colony? What are your options when feline squatters settle in your community?
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Feature Story
Changes on the Way for FHA Condominium Certification Process ?
The Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (H.R. 3700) was signed into law on July 29, 2016 with the intention of reforming the Federal Housing Association (FHA) loan program for community associations. The FHA serves to insure mortgages and because of that, it has to be attentive to risk, said Philip Sutcliffe of Project Support Services in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, a company that assists condominium associations with FHA certifications and recertifications. He explained that the FHA’s policy is to insure loans in communities that offer a reasonable expectation that the loans are going to get paid on time.
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Sadly, homeowners associations are sometimes tasked with the responsibility of collecting dues in the aftermath of a unit owner’s death. When an owner dies, leaving his or her unit vacant until its fate is resolved through the legal process, a community’s board of directors faces the challenge of balancing empathy with accountability. But, what happens when a former owner’s successors fail to pay association dues?
Have you been wondering how having a golf course in your community affects your reserve study? Should you include it in your master study? Or should courses be treated as a separate entity? For this topic we reached out to Peter Miller, RS of Miller+Dodson Associates, Inc., a nationwide consulting firm based out of Annapolis, Maryland. Miller has been working with reserve studies since the 1980s.