Join Us at the 2012 New Jersey Cooperator’s Condo, HOA and Co-op Expo
May 7, 2012
Hill Wallack LLP’s Community Association Practice Group will be exhibiting at the 2012 New Jersey Cooperator’s Condo, HOA and Co-op Expo is on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Come visit us at Booth 612 and drop your business card for a chance to win a Nikon Coolpix Camera.
Join board members, property managers, building owners and real estate professionals and meet building service companies, attend educational seminars and get your questions answered by a member of our team.
Hill Wallack LLP Partner Michael S. Karpoff, Esq. will be speaking during a seminar titled “Roaches, Bedbugs & Mice—Oh My!” at 1:00pm – 2:00pm, in Seminar Room 2. This seminar will discuss the legal and financial responsibilities of building owners/landlords to provide a habitable, pest–free building and what options are available to help meet these obligations. Issues such as notification, working with housing and health authorities, and how to enlist residents’ help in keeping their building clean, healthy, and pest-free will also be addressed.
For more information or to register to attend, click here!
Karpoff to Speak at the 2012 New Jersey Cooperator’s Condo, HOA and Co-op Expo
May 1, 2012
Hill Wallack LLP Partner Michael S. Karpoff, Esq. will be speaking during a seminar titled “Roaches, Bedbugs & Mice—Oh My!” at the 2012 New Jersey Cooperator’s Condo, HOA and Co-op Expo, on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. This seminar, which will be held at 1:00pm – 2:00pm, in Seminar Room 2, will discuss the legal and financial responsibilities of building owners/landlords to provide a habitable, pest–free building and what options are available to help meet these obligations. Issues such as notification, working with housing and health authorities, and how to enlist residents’ help in keeping their building clean, healthy, and pest-free will also be addressed.
For more information or to register to attend, click here!
Determining “Reasonable” Attorneys’ Fees
April 26, 2012
Most governing documents allow for an association to recover “reasonable” attorneys’ fees when forced to take action to collect delinquent assessments due from unit owners. But who determines what is “reasonable” and what elements factor into this equation?
When it is necessary for an association to pursue a delinquent unit owner in court, normally the judge will make a determination as to the reasonableness of attorneys’ fees. As to what factors the judge must consider when determining reasonableness, a recent unpublished Appellate Division decision is instructive.
In Barry Associates, LLC v. 300 Allenhurst, LLC, the contract between Barry Associates, LLC (“Barry”), a commercial real estate broker, and 300 Allenhurst, LLC, a commercial property owner, provided that, should litigation be necessary to resolve any dispute, the successful party agreed to pay the losing party’s attorneys’ fees. After such a dispute arose, Barry was forced to sue to collect its commission. The judge awarded Barry the full commission, but limited its award of attorneys’ fees to 25% of the earned commission, even though the attorneys’ fees Barry was forced to expended in the case were substantially higher than the amount of the award. On appeal, the court reversed the reduced award and remanded the case back to the trial court judge to reconsider the award of attorneys’ fees based on something other than a random percentage that had no relationship to the work performed in order to obtain the judgment.
A similar scenario often occurs in condominium and HOA collection actions when an association is forced to bring an action to collect unpaid assessments; even though the governing documents provide that the association is entitled to “reasonable” attorneys’ fees and costs, a judge will often times only award a portion of the legal fees incurred despite the fact that, as in this case, the legal fees will exceed the balance due for the unpaid common assessments. This case is instructive in that it reiterates that the trial judge must consider more than just the amount of the debt or other amounts trying to be collected. The court must also consider whether the party’s efforts, and fees expended, were a necessary and important factor in obtaining the relief.
The Appellate Division’s decision in Barry Associates, LLC v. 300 Allenhurst, LLC, decided November 23, 2011, can be found here.
If you have a question about reasonable attorneys fees, collections or any other issue concerning your community association, please contact one of our Community Associations attorneys.
FHFA’s Final Rule on Private Transfer Fees Explaned
April 23, 2012
Over the past year, there has been discussion about a proposed federal rule which would have prohibited FNMA or Freddie Mac from purchasing mortgage loans for lots or units in community associations having a capital contribution/membership fee requirement. CAI’s Federal LAC was part of a coalition that opposed this rule against transfer fees in associations. Those efforts paid off as FHFA’s Final Rule, which was issued on March 15, 2012, to be effective on July 16, 2012 permits “a private transfer fee covenant that requires payment of a private transfer fee to a covered association and limits the use of such transfer fees exclusively to purposes which provide a direct benefit to the real property encumbered by the private transfer fee covenants.”
Significantly, all association transfer fees in place before February 8, 2011 (date of publication of the initial Notice of Rulemaking by FHFA) are exempted and all those created thereafter as permissible if they provide a “direct benefit” to the properties encumbered by the fee. The term “direct benefit” means “that the proceeds of a private transfer fee are used exclusively to support maintenance and improvements to encumbered properties, and acquisition, improvement, administration, and maintenance of property owned by the covered association of which the owners of the burdened property are members and used primarily for their benefit.” In simple terms, most association membership fees, capital contributions and other fees due upon the transfer of a unit or lot are acceptable if they are used to manage, maintain, protect or operate the facilities of the community. However, it is important to read the full rule, which can be found here.
Kessler to Speak at the Understanding Fair Housing Today Seminar
April 19, 2012
Hill Wallack LLP Partner Terry A. Kessler, Esq. will be one of several speakers participating in the “Understanding Fair Housing Today” seminar, presented by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (NJDCR) and Seton Hall University School of Law’s Center for Social Justice. This seminar, presented in recognition of Fair Housing Month, will take place on Monday, April 23, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark. There is no charge to attend this event, and up to 5.5 NJ & NY CLE credits will be available.
Ms. Kessler will speak on defending fair housing claims during a panel discussion titled “Understanding the Role of HUD and NJDCR in Handling Housing Discrimination,” which will take place at 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. The keynote speaker will be John Trasviña, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Other panel discussions will include emerging issues in Fair Housing Act litigation and the fair housing implications of the foreclosure crisis, and additional speakers will include Seton Hall Law Professor Rachel Godsil and Professors Linda Fisher and Kyle Rosenkrans of the Seton Hall Law Center for Social Justice; private practitioners; and representatives from regional HUD offices, the HUD Office of Fair Housing and Opportunity (FHEO), and the NJDCR.
To register, or for more information, please contact Daphney West, CSJ Program Coordinator, at daphney.west@shu.edu or call 973-642-8700.