The Community Association Practice Group represents owners' associations in condominium, townhome, and single-family communities as well as commercial/business communities such as retail shopping, parking lot, and boat slip condominiums. Our mission includes giving experienced counsel and clear advice to boards of directors for the proper governance of the planned community and administration of the community association, all of which have the goal of ensuring quality of life and owner benefits for the long term.
Attorneys in this group draft, review, and interpret association documents; draft amendments to association documents; prepare collection assessment policies and procedures; and provide assistance in the enforcement of covenants and restrictions. We regularly counsel boards of directors with regard to the performance of their obligations and duties created by association documents, applicable regulatory and statutory provisions, and on matters of administration and governance of the association and the community. Our services also include meeting with new boards and new directors to help them understand their legal responsibilities in the discharge of their duties, their potential liabilities, and their relationship to the members of the association.
Governing documents for planned communities are drafted at the direction of the developer and typically establish a period of developer control of the community and the association. Either by provisions of the governing documents or by the operation of law, control of the association will be transferred to the owners of the future. The attorneys in this group have considerable experience in structuring and implementing transition procedures which frequently involve lengthy negotiations with the developer over a variety of issues.
Cases we handle are diverse and include enforcing rules and regulations, resolving construction issues such as defects in construction and insurance claims, and reviewing contracts for community association management entities, vendors, and construction contractors. The group assists clients in complying with state and federal laws such as the North Carolina Condominium Act, the North Carolina Unit Ownership Act, the North Carolina Planned Community Act, the North Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
We often represent associations in resolving disputes with individual owners regarding the architectural requirements in the associations' governing documents. These disputes typically involve homeowners who violate the architectural requirements by failing to submit architectural drawings or plans for approval by the board of directors or the association's architectural committee or by failing to insure that their construction project or its final product complies with the architectural drawings or plans approved by the committee. We have negotiated on behalf of association clients with owners about architectural requirement violations and successfully resolved many disputes prior to the association having to take any adverse action against the homeowners. When a resolution cannot be reached by agreement, we also have represented associations in litigation to enforce the architectural requirements in the governing documents in which the associations seek to have the violations corrected by the homeowner or at the homeowner's expense.
Association members also can benefit from our services. Our experience enables us to develop perspectives from both sides of issues that may affect the association and the homeowner.
Beyond the daily work of assisting clients, our attorneys conduct educational seminars for our association clients and association managers and participate with the Community Association Institute to offer seminars on community association issues. We also send bulletins to clients on relevant issues or matters that require immediate attention or consideration.
