Resources

Special Update:

Bent, Broken, or Unbowed? Community Associations in 2010 and Beyond

 

[excerpt] ... Today's challenges and circumstances surpass the general level of operational acumen that was tailored and tested in a different, more positive era in which success, perhaps in some cases, came too easily.  Skills and wills were not honed for a more difficult time.  Today's challenges are unique to a different environment and are not met by commonly embraced practices and guidelines.  In other words, business as usual no longer will address the challenges faced in this industry ....

 

To read this article in its entirety, click here.

 

The Latest Updates on Our Blog:

FHFA Proposes Rule Targeting Private Transfer Fee Covenants

[excerpt] In August 2010, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it was considering issuing "guidance" that would restrict Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks from dealing in mortgages on properties encumbered by certain types of transfer fee covenants. Following a 60-day comment period during which comments were submitted by over 4,000 individuals and organizations, including the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and the American Land Title Association, the National Association of Realtors, and numerous community associations, FHFA announced on February 8, 2011 that it was moving beyond "guidance" to formal rulemaking, publishing a proposed rule to prohibit private transfer fee covenants, with an exception for certain transfer fees paid to homeowners associations, condominiums, cooperatives, and 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations ....

FHFA Proposes Action Targeting Private Transfer Fee Covenants

[excerpt] A recent proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) aimed at curtailing the use of private transfer fee covenants could have a devastating impact on any community that collects fees upon transfer of lots or homes in the community to fund beneficial programs and services for the community. If adopted in its present form (see http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/08/16/2010-20108/private-transfer-fee-covenants), the FHFA proposal would restrict Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and all federal home loan banks from purchasing mortgages on properties in communities with "private transfer fee covenants." ....

Developer (Mis)representations

[excerpt] One of the three primary areas of developer liability in community association development and operation is representation made about the nature of the project (the other two being construction defects and association operation). In simple terms, when someone reasonably relies upon what you say and takes - or refrains from taking - action based upon that reliance, you can be bound by what was said and the consequences of those actions....

Downloads:

Full Copies of Selected Past Newsletters:

December 2009 - includes articles on Annual Meeting Q&A and Developing Dynamic Communities with Transfer Fees

Fall 2009 - includes articles on the Importance of Holding Meetings, Taking Good Minutes at Meetings, and Mortgagee Standards

Winter 2009 - includes articles on Workouts, Interstate Land Sales in a Down Market, and Giving Up Assciation Control

Fall 2008 - includes articles on IRS Scrutiny of Tax-Exempt Organizations and Coping with Foreclosures

Spring 2008 - includes articles on the Secondary Mortgage Market, New FCC Rules, and Developer Rights

Winter 2007 - includes articles on Embracing Multicultural Communities and Training Boards of Directors

Spring 2007 - includes articles on Interstate Land Sales Compliance and Creating Community Space

Full Copies of Selected Articles:

• "Land, Covenants and Law: Integrating Local Government Regulation and Private Land Use Covenants," presented by Jo Anne Stubblefield at the American Planning Association's 2011 National Conference, Boston, Massachusetts
• "The Evolution of Community Governance: Adapting to New Challenges," presented by Jo Anne Stubblefield at the ULI Spring Council Forum, May 2011
• "Practical Issues in Planning for Age-Restricted Housing Under the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA)," Probate & Property, January/February 2009
• "A Lawyer's Lament: Law Schools and the Profession of Law," 60 Vanderbilt Law Review 386, 2007.
  
• "Common Interest Communities: Evolution and Reinvention," 31 The John Marshall Law Review 303, 1998.
  
• "Community Associations: How to Draft Documents that Work," Real Estate Law Journal, Summer, 1978.
  
• "Concepts of Liability in the Development and Administration of Condominiums and Home Owner Associations," Wake Forest Law Review, Fall, 1976.
  
• "Condominium and Home Owners Associations: Formation and Development," Emory Law Journal, Fall, 1975.
• "The Not So Simple Life: Interstate Land Sales Issues in Condominiums and Mixed Use Developments," The ACREL Papers, Spring 2004
  
• "Amenity Strategies for Planned Developments," State Bar of Texas, July 2004
  
• "New Urbanism: A New Way to Do Things the Old Fashioned Way," The ACREL Papers, Spring 2002
  
• "Governing Documents for Golf Course Communities," Land Development, Vol. 12, No.3, Winter 2000
  
• "Passing the Torch from the Developer to the Homeowners: The Transition of Association Control Without Litigation," Land Development, Vol. 11, No. 2, Fall 1998
  

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