As MEEB has reported previously, many of our clients and colleagues have been debating whether the Corporate Transparency Act’s newly enacted reporting requirements apply to unincorporated associations in Massachusetts, like trusts, which are the most common form of association in Massachusetts.

SERVING BEYOND TERM?

Some members of the board continue to serve after their terms have expired, because no one wants to take their place.

When we’ve discussed drones in the past, we have focused mainly on how condominium associations can (and should) regulate their use to mitigate the safety and liability risks these small, unmanned aerial vehicles may create. But risks aren’t the whole story. Drone technology also has many potential benefits that community associations are beginning to recognize.

IS THERE RECOVERY AFTER BANKRUPTCY?

A resident of our community, who owes several thousand dollars in unpaid common area dues, just declared bankruptcy. What can we do?

Condominium associations have an obligation to maintain common areas. Are they also liable for damage to owners’ units if a common area component fails? While the typical answer is no because the Owner is responsible for the Unit by virtue of the condominium documents, a Massachusetts Superior Court addressed the question recently, and its answer has potentially disturbing implications for condominium associations.

Attorneys and foreclosure auction bidders are likely familiar with the so-called “Gavel Rule” pertaining to bankruptcy filings which occur shortly after a foreclosure sale auction has transpired.  The Gavel Rule provided that so long as the auction was concluded—by the fall of the proverbial gavel—before the owner filed for bankruptcy, the sale could not be undone by the bankruptcy filing.  In actuality, the owner’s equity of redemption was terminated at the signing of the memorandum of sale, an event that would follow directly after the conclusion of the auction, but nevertheless, the Gavel Rule name has stuck.  Due to a recent ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, however, the Gavel Rule is no longer the law in the Commonwealth.

One member of our seven-member board has resigned, leaving us with only six members. The association’s documents require a seven-member board, but the next election, at which a new board member might be elected, is several months away and there don’t appear to be any owners willing to fill the vacant position.

Condo association rules provide a behavioral road map for owners, explaining what they are allowed and not allowed to do.  But creating effective rules is only half the challenge for boards; enforcing the rules is the other arguably more challenging half of this equation. 

IT’S A PRIVILEGE!

SHORTER MORE PRODUCTIVE MEETINGS