On March 18, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a significant update to their project standards and property insurance requirements. These changes reflect the realities of today’s housing market and focus on the long-term financial sustainab…
New England may not produce as many headline-grabbing HOA lawsuits as say, Florida or California, but when disputes in its condo communities reach the courts, they tend to be very specific. From battles over free speech to the “right to dry…
Most U.S. municipalities have local laws on their books governing how exterior building façades must be inspected, maintained and repaired. While such legislation is occasionally enacted at the state level, generally these laws are a local …
Self-managed communities large and small can save a considerable amount of money by eschewing third-party management and handling their day-to-day business in-house. This means the board must assume the tasks and responsibilities that commu…
Within any community, there will be disagreements. In shared interest communities, unfortunately those disagreements can sometimes lead to litigation. That litigation can take many forms: shareholder or owner vs. co-op or condominium, or v…
What’s a board to do when a shareholder or unit owner consistently fails to hold up their end of the agreements—both spoken and unspoken—that underpin successful multifamily living, either through nonpayment of fees, or objectionable behavi…
In a recent essay published in the National Housing Conference (NHC)’s newsletter, NHC President and CEO David M. Dworkin breaks down ‘What we know about Fannie and Freddie as we begin the 10th week of revolutionary change’ for readers. …
On March 2, the US Treasury Department announced via press release that not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing Corporate Transparency Act (C…
On December 23rd, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision staying the nationwide injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas earlier this month. This court order reinstates the deadline for f…
There’s an old joke about business partners on the outs. The punchline is something like, “my lawyer is bigger than your lawyer!” Punchlines aside, though, who can you sue, when, and for what? In our litigious society, the short answer is n…