Beware of municipalities that low-ball your community association’s annual reimbursement under the Municipal Services Act

July 11th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. Is your community association receiving the maximum annual reimbursement to which it may be entitled under the Municipal Services Act? Under the Act, a municipality is required to provide a qualified community association with either snow removal from roads, street lighting, and collection of leaves, …Continue Reading

NEW SUPERLIEN LAW HELPS CONDO ASSOCIATIONS AND HOAs

June 28th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

By Mary Wynn Seiter, Esq. Even condominium association boards that do everything right when it comes to pursuing unit owners for unpaid assessments can find themselves in a tough spot when a lender forecloses on a unit. Until recently, the best a condo association could do with regard to getting …Continue Reading

Important Alert: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Proposes New Regulations on Community Association Governance

June 15th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. On June 3, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (“DCA”) published proposed amendments to regulations under the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act. The regulations are intended to implement the 2017 “Radburn Amendments” and “to enhance resident voting participation rights” in community …Continue Reading

Donna R. Shahrabani speaks at legal seminar

June 14th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

Donna R. Shahrabani, a partner with BFC, spoke before a group of attorneys on June 3, 2019 at a continuing legal education seminar on “Fundamentals of Community Association Law” sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association. Donna’s topic was the “Top 20 Things Every Community Association Lawyer Should Know” …Continue Reading

Why is it Critically Important to Contact the NJ Department of Environmental Protection during Transition

May 29th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

May 29, 2019. By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. Many community associations in New Jersey have been constructed on sites containing materials that are hazardous to human health. In fact, at the end of 2018, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reported that there are 13,707 known contaminated sites in …Continue Reading

When Must a Condominium Association Warn Unit Owners of a Potential Danger Posed by a Component in Their Unit

April 11th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

April 11, 2019. By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. A New Jersey condominium owner’s unit flooded due to a broken dishwasher hose in another unit. The unit owner sued the association for damages due to the association’s failure to warn all owners of the danger, based on the fact that at …Continue Reading

Legal Concerns with Boards Imposing Fees on Unit Owners by Resolution

March 16th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

March 16, 2019 By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. Sometimes community association boards want to impose various kinds of fees on unit owners. However, under New Jersey law, a board cannot charge a late fee, fine, working capital contribution, membership fee, sublet privilege fee, or flip tax (in cooperatives) unless expressly …Continue Reading

November 2018 – NJ court holds that unit owner’s insurance company could not subrogate against condominium association where by-laws contained waiver of subrogation provision

March 9th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

March 16, 2019 By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. On November 5, 2018, a New Jersey court held that an insurance company that paid $222,173.84 to its insured, an individual condominium unit owner whose unit was damaged by a fire in a neighboring unit, could not pursue a subrogation claim against …Continue Reading

Free speech rights in community association elections – distributing campaign materials in your community

March 9th, 2019 | Community Association Law Blog

March 16, 2019 By Eric F. Frizzell, Esq. Annual elections in community associations can sometimes become quite heated. Disagreements may arise regarding the extent to which a Board can restrict candidates from campaigning in the community. In the case of Dublirer v. 2000 Linwood Avenue Owners, Inc., 220 N.J. 71 …Continue Reading