April 2021 Community Associations Newsletter – Collections During a Pandemic

March 31, 2021
Community associations are facing increased costs for complying with the cleaning and social distancing protocols required to reopen offices, common areas, and amenities. These increases get passed on to Owners who may also be facing reduced income. While assessments remain vital to associations, boards are faced with deciding how to best collect assessments during this unprecedented time.

POLICY ALERT – GENDER IDENTITY AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION

March 5, 2021
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) recently released a policy memorandum to implement a January 20, 2021 Executive Order regarding Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.  The Executive Order directs federal agencies that evaluate actions taken under federal statutes prohibiting sex discrimination to specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination as a form of sex discrimination.
Tags

Virginia Legislative Alert

February 26, 2021

Last week, the Virginia General Assembly passed a Bill that provides an association’s Board of Directors with extensive authority to prohibit smoking within condominiums and property owners’ associations.  A Board of Directors of a condominium association may, by a majority vote of the Board, prohibit smoking both in the common elements and in units, unless the recorded condominium instruments contain existing language that would prohibit the Board from doing so.  A Board of Directors for a property owners’ association may prohibit smoking in common areas by a

Tags

Prince George’s County Launches Free Training for Common Ownership Communities

January 25, 2021

The Prince George’s County Office of Community Relations has launched a new, voluntary training program for members of common ownership communities called the “EDvantage HOA Online Training Program.”  The training is designed to educate County residents about common ownership communities.  The training is free, can be completed at one’s own pace, and is available in both English and Spanish.

December 2020 Covid-19 Federal Relief Provisions

January 8, 2021
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Covid-19 relief package that Congress passed on December 21, 2020.  Although it appeared in the immediate aftermath of the bill becoming law that some of its provisions, namely those concerning economic stimulus payments, would be amended by subsequent legislation, it seems highly likely at this point that additional relief is unlikely until President-Elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, 2021.  The election of two Democratic Senators from Georgia, giving Democrats a de facto majority in the Senate, makes it more likely that additional relief packages may ultimately become law.
Tags