New England Condominium April 2020

Urgent HOA Business vs. Social Distancing Two Legal Tools to Help Your Board Cope BY JENNIFER L. BARNETT AND GARY M. DADDARIO April 2020 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM hardship, a full and complete transcript, recording, or other comprehensive record of the proceedings should be posted to the municipal website soon after said meeting ends. Further, municipal board members, applicants, participants, and members of the public may now participate in municipal board meetings via remote or virtual means, and municipal boards are expected to provide for an alternative means of ac- 205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED continued on page 8 THE CONDO, HOA & CO-OP RESOURCE CONDOMINIUM NEW ENGLAND continued on page 8 As COVID-19 continues to spread and we make lifestyle adjustments in response, the challenge is to maintain your mental and physical health in light of mounting stress. As social distancing becomes our new “norm” over at least the next several weeks, the pressures may be overwhelming. There are challenges finding childcare and keeping necessities stocked — never mind keeping yourself safe at work and out in the world. And how much disinfectant is enough, any- way? We all need to think about practical coping strategies while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are five to employ today: Use facts and precautions to manage your fear. The unknown can be scary and can overwhelm us. Fear can inflate negative thoughts, which leads to unhealthy stress. Ongoing stress releases hormones that get us ready for emergencies, but also severely depress our immune systems. Combat this fear by acting on facts, not on misinformation. Look at the statistics and the real numbers of infections being reported by the Centers for Disease Con- trol (CDC) and local/national officials. You can tackle fear by facing it head-on with facts and smart precautions like hand washing, disinfecting surfaces, and social distancing. Be smart about social and TV time. Social media platforms can cause in- credible anxiety as rumors and misinfor- mation spread on them. Limit time on social media, and don’t instigate hysteria by reposting unvetted information. Limit your children’s exposure to television news. Their perspective is different than adults’, and they will have difficulty pro- Some associations may have an urgent need to conduct particular business dur- ing the COVID-19 outbreak, perhaps even in response to the crisis. Unfortunately, in the upcoming days and weeks, the governing boards of community associations will likely find it to be more and more difficult to meet in person to conduct associa- tion business. The governing boards of many community associations—in particular those without provisions in their governing documents authorizing board members to participate in meetings remotely, and allowing for electronic signatures — may be at a complete loss as to how to proceed during these uncertain times. The goal may then become to accomplish necessary business without violating orders or posing an undue risk to the community. Fortunately, there may be some specific guidance for both Massachusetts and New Hampshire associations. In Massachusetts, guidance may be gleaned from the Ex- ecutive Order signed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker on March 12, 2020 (hereafter referred to as the March Executive Order). Pursuant to the order, Gover- nor Baker temporarily suspended certain requirements of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 at public meetings, and to provide public bodies with an outline for conducting meetings remotely. The March Executive Order now suspends the requirement that municipal board meetings take place in public places that are open and physically accessible to the public — provided that the public still has access to the municipal board’s deliberations at no charge, through adequate alternative means; e.g., via telephone, internet, or satellite-enabled audio or video conferencing, or any other technology that enables the public to follow the meeting in real time. If such alternative means are not available due to economic The central governing documents in condo ownership outline your control over your unit. They dictate the terms of your occupancy and your ownership rights, including who can live there, what activities may take place in the unit, whether the unit can be leased, and any restrictions thereon. Governing documents are also unique in that they define the details of certain aspects of the relationship between the unit owner and the association as repre- sented by the board of directors. Like all legal documents, governing documents have to be living, breathing, and evolv- ing, adapting over time to reflect changes in the laws and legislation that relate to them, as well as the larger cultural and market climate. When, and Why? “You don’t want to fix something that doesn’t need fixing,” says Margery Wein- stein, an attorney with Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer, a law firm located in New York City. “But when the governing documents are not working, for whatever reason, it’s time to examine them.” According to Ellen Shapiro, a partner with Goodman, Shapiro and Lombardi, a law firm based in Dedham, Massachu- setts, “There’s really no hard and fast rule as to when governing documents should be updated, but \[one should\] look at them every 10 years or so, because issues relating to documents change. The law changes, and that’s why documents need to be amended.” Jeff Reich, a partner with New York City-based law firm Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg & Atlas, adds that “hu- man nature is such that documents usu- ally get reviewed when one of two things happens: either some problem arises that can’t be satisfactorily resolved with exist- ing provisions, or the board brings on a new attorney, and as part of the transi- tion they look at the existing documents and suggest an update. Of course, there’s Reduce Stress & Boost Your Immune System While Social Distancing Five Things You Can Do BY WENDY KING Updating Your Governing Documents Keeping Your HOA Current and Compliant BY A.J. SIDRANSKY continued on page 9