Community Association News

On January 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued guidance aimed to assist housing providers, including community associations, in evaluating a person’s request for an assistance animal in order to reasonably accommodate a physical or mental disability under the federal Fair Housing Act. 1 The Guidance accomplishes a number of objectives.

All three local jurisdictions, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (the “DMV”) have issued stay-at-home orders (“Orders”) effective March 30, 2020.  These Orders will remain in effect (unless extended), through April 24, 2020 in the District, June 10, 2020 in Virginia, and indefinitely in Maryland.  While all the Orders have substantial similarities, there are some notable differences.

On March 30, 2020, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia took further restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.  All three states issued “stay-at-home” orders that, to varying degrees, contain enforceable restrictions requiring residents to stay at home.

On March 24, 2020, the DC Government published Mayor Bowser’s Order 2020-53, which directs certain types of businesses to close and directs other types of businesses to telework except for certain essential functions, which must occur on site.  The Condominium and its staff are not included within the closure or telework order.  The Condominium is defined as an Essential Business under Section IV(k) of the Order since It falls within the definition of a “Housing and Living Provider”.  This permits the staff t

On March 23, 2020, Governor Northam issued Executive Order Fifty-Three (EO-53), effective at midnight March 24, 2020, in response to the developing COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 23, 2020, Governor Hogan issued Executive Order 20-03-23-01 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and there are several provisions of the Order that impact community associations. The purpose of the alert is to provide guidance to our Maryland community association clients regarding the impact of these provisions. Fortunately, we do not believe that the Order will substantially impede the ability of Maryland community associations to operate.

Moderator
Andrew S. Fortin, Esq. Senior Vice President of External Affairs, Associa

Panelists
Ursula Burgess, Shareholder, Rees Broome, Virginia, USA
Melissa Garcia, Shareholder, Altitude Law, Colorado, USA
Shawn Pulver, Partner, McDonald Sager Manis, Ontario, Canada

On March 16, 2020, Governor Hogan ordered the closure of all restaurants, bars, theatres and gyms, effective immediately.  He emphasized that such action was taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and to save lives.  Although the order from the governor did not specifically reference gyms within condominiums and homeowners associations, we are taking the position at Rees Broome that the order extends to all gyms, including gyms within community associations, as the goal of the order is to reduce transmission of the virus.  In addition, as President Trump recently advised against

We have prepared this notice to sensitize you to a recent decision by the Virginia Supreme Court that reduces the level of enforceability of certain provisions that are found in association design standards and rules and regulations adopted by Boards of Directors.  Specifically, in a case called Sainani v. Belmont Glen Homeowners Association, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled against an association that was attempting to enforce the association’s seasonal holiday decoration standards.