Page 5 - New England Condominium November 2019
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NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM  NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM   -NOVEMBER 2019    5  QUESTIONS & ANSWERS  Legal  Q  A& Preserving Privacy  Q  I would like to know if it is legal   for board members to share per-  sonal and fi nancial information   regarding our home in the community with   other residents who don’t serve on the board   — and some who don’t even own property   here, but live in the community as renters.   We feel that what goes on in executive ses-  sions should remain in those sessions, and   not be shared as a topic of casual conversa-  tion, gossip or threatening with other mem-  bers of our community. Am I correct in be-  lieving board members should keep owner   information private?                                            —Wondering  A  “Board members are elected   by unit owners to manage   and operate the condomin-  ium association, which election and du-  ties bring with them certain obligations to   maintain the privacy of their unit owners’   personal information,” says Frank Lombar-  di, Partner in Goodman, Shapiro & Lom-  bardi, LLC, with offi  ces in Massachusetts  there was a case in Florida a decade or so  than a plan, and funds keep getting shift ed   and Rhode Island. “In Rhode Island, and  ago, where the board published a list of re-  I’d imagine in most states, board members  calcitrant unit owners in the common area  during board discussions when the budget   who are elected by unit owners are required   elevator. Not surprisingly, the association’s  was being presented.  to exercise a duty of ordinary and reason-  able care. If the board members are elected  there is no need to name a unit owner who   or appointed by the Declarant, then the  is in arrears.   standard is even stricter, that of a fi duciary.     “Moreover, again,  in  Rhode  Island,  raised by the unit owner in question him-  board members are under an obligation of  self or herself, ie., association-wide email   good faith in the performance of their du-  ties as such. Under both standards, careless,  board needs to defend itself, the better  Partner at Marcus, Errico, Emmer &   callous or just plain mean gossiping about  course would be to refrain from sharing any  Brooks, PC, with offi  ces in Braintree, Mas-  a person’s personal or fi nancial information  information about him or her outside the  sachusetts and Merrimack, New Hamp-  which is not technically “Association Busi-  ness” could mean a breach thereof, expos-  ing the board and association to lawsuits by   the off ended unit owner.    “Unless the personal or fi nancial details   are the center of a lawsuit, and even then,   the less said the better, I would avoid dis-  cussing or divulging any unit owner infor-  mation outside of the boardroom.   “I cringe when I hear that board mem-  bers are sharing or publishing information  repair account,” if needed? It seems that our   relative to assessment arrearage — in fact,  association budget is more of a “suggestion”   board was sued and lost big. In most cases,    “Again, unless the topic discussed was   campaign  disparaging  the  board,  and  the  of an operation,” says Gary M. Daddario,   boardroom. Loose lips sink ships, for sure,  shire. “Of course, life goes smoother when   but they also cause lawsuits.”   Shuffl ing Budgets  Q  Once a budget is passed, can  shift s some money from one line item to   monies be taken from one ac-  count and used for something  get on the whole, I do not see a problem.  In   else? Example, if there is money in a “pav-  ing account” can it be transferred to a “pool  not be maintained in general, most boards   around to do things that were never covered                                    — Budget Watcher  A  “Generally, budgets are just   a predictive tool used to help   to try to control the fi nances   the budget  is as accurate as possible, but   100% accuracy is not likely absent someone   having the proverbial ‘crystal ball.’    “Th  at said, if a condominium board   another but retains the integrity of the bud-  fact, even if the integrity of the budget could   continued on page 21 


































































































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