2004 Aug
2004 Aug Vol. 24, No. 8
Focus on...Isurance
The Value of Directors and Officers Insurance
Imagine you sit on a board of directors that makes a mistake or error in judgment that results in a lawsuit. Imagine the case goes to trial, and the judge awards the plaintiff hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Now imagine that each member of that board of directors—including you—is held personally liable for their portion of those damages. Read More
General Contractors and Insurance
Imagine that your condominium association calls in a general contractor to do some renovation work on one of the buildings in your development. Or one of the unit owners calls in a contractor of his own to do some work on his kitchen or bathroom. More than nine times out of 10, there won't be any problems. But what happens if something should happen, and one of the contractor's employees trips, falls and injures himself? Or if one of those employees has some sort of accident—and instead of suing the contractor, sues the condo/co-op board or homeowner's association? Read More
The Ins and Outs of HOA Policies
Unless you are in the business, understanding insurance can seem complicated—but for association boards, management companies, shareholders, and unit owners, it's important that everyone is aware of the insurance that is needed and provided on their properties. Read More
Understanding Risk Purchasing Groups
In today's uncertain world, insurance costs can pose a hefty burden for homeowner's associations and co-op and condo boards trying to keep budgets balanced and costs lows. One potential solution to that burden may be a risk purchasing group—or RPG—which can make insurance easier to afford while offering even more coverage than some homeowner's associations might have thought they could afford. Read More
Architecture and Design Committees
Part and parcel of living in a managed community or homeowners association is abiding by certain guidelines regulating what one can or cannot do to the exterior of their property. Nearly all HOAs have rules and regulations regarding neighborhood aesthetics; some more stringent than others. These rules lay out what types of landscaping elements association members can put around their homes. Association boards can prohibit members from erecting flagpoles or installing signs and fences, or from placing ornamental decorations like lawn jockeys or plastic flamingoes in their front yards. In some communities, folks can't paint their townhouse chartreuse or magenta—much as they may love the color—because that would violate the aesthetics of the community in which they live. Read More
The Value of Loss Assessment Coverage
I just attended my monthly association meeting where our board advised our members that our homeowners association had just been hit with a $1,500,000 judgment resulting from a skateboarding accident in our association-owned parking lot. That news was tragic enough, but unfortunately, the really bad information was to follow. Read More
A Look Inside Your Air Conditioning System
Summer's here, and most of us couldn't get along without air conditioning, especially when the temperatures reach into the steamy 80s and 90s. Many people know the minimum about their air conditioning systems—if anything goes wrong, they call their air conditioning repair person. Read More
NHWA and Construction Defects Litigation
Few things are as frustrating and irksome as paying a contractor to execute a project in either a private home or a condo association's common areas and finding out after the dust has settled that the work you paid for is substandard or outright defective. Condominium boards and homeowner associations have the right to sue a developer for defective construction. But the situation is never as cut-and-dry as you might think; New Jersey has laws that can both help and hinder a condo owner whose building may have been victimized by negligent construction contractors. Read More
