Congratulations to Hill Wallack LLP‘s Loren Lightman, Esq. and Jonathan H. Katz who will be CAI Chapter Board Presidents in 2021. Loren will guide Community Associations Institute-New Jersey Chapter, while Jon takes over Community Associations Institute • Pennsylvania & Delaware Valley Chapter. Looking forward to a great year!

Hill Wallack LLP partner Michael S. Karpoff, Esq. was honored recently by the Community Associations Institute’s College of Community Association Lawyers (“CCAL”) as co-author of the 2019 CAI Law Seminar Best Manuscript. Karpoff, a fellow of the CCAL, was joined by co-authors Kevin M. Hirzel, Esq., Edward Hoffman, Jr., Esq., and Todd A. Sinkins, Esq., in preparing and presenting a paper and program entitled Religion in Community Associations: Fair Housing or Free Speech? Thou Shalt Not Violate the Law.

The 40^th Annual Community Association Law Seminar was held in New Orleans January 23 through 26, 2019. The Law Seminar explored trends and practices in community association law for attorneys and other industry professionals. The Religion in Community Associations program presented legal requirements, obligations, options, and ideas for community associations concerning religious practices of residents, to help attorneys and other professionals advise and guide their clients appropriately. The paper was selected as the Best Manuscript by the Law Seminar Planning Committee and the CCAL Board of Governors.

To read the full manuscript, click here.

For more information on this or any other issue concerning your community association, please contact one of our Community Associations attorneys. For breaking news or updates on new blog posts, follow us on Twitter at: @njcondolaw, on Facebook at: njcondolaw, and on LinkedIn at: Hill Wallack Community Association Attorneys.

Ronald L. Perl, Esq., CCAL, partner-in-charge of Hill Wallack’s Community Associations Practice Group, will be speaking at this year’s CAI-Pennsylvania/Delaware Valley Conference & Expo on Thursday, May 9, 2019, at the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, PA.

Ron’s educational program, “Expanded Fair Housing Liability for Associations – Exposure for the Illegal Acts of Residents,” will take place from 9:45 A.M. to 10:45 A.M. The program description is as follows:

Most community association boards and managers know that the Federal Civil Rights Act prohibits housing discrimination and that the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 added handicap and familial status to the groups protected by the law. Less well-known is the fact that in 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enacted regulations which expanded the scope of community associations’ liability for housing discrimination. The regulations establish potential liability for associations based on the discriminatory actions of residents over whom the association has no direct control. This session will discuss these regulations and why associations now must be actively involved in addressing resident vs. resident discriminatory conduct.

Hill Wallack’s Community Associations Practice Group will also be exhibiting during the show, which runs from 10:45 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., so stop by to talk to our attorneys and drop your business card for a chance to win our giveaway.

For more information or to register to attend the Conference & Expo, click here.

Jonathan H. Katz, Esq., a partner in Hill Wallack’s Community Associations Practice Group, will be speaking at this year’s CAI-PA/Del Val – New Jersey Regional Council 2018 Legal & Legislative Update.

Join CAI as we review legislation and regulations that became law in the past year and will provide an update on legislation pending in the current legislative session in Trenton. We will also review relevant case law decided in the past year, including cases involving transition, dispute resolution, and collection issues. Then join us for a Happy Hour immediately following the program.

P.J. Whelihan’s Pub + Restaurant 
1854 Marlton Pike East
Cherry Hill, NJ  08034

This Course is approved by the Community Association Managers International Certification Board (CAMICB) to fulfill continuing education requirements for the CMCA® certification. This course will earn managers two (2) continuing education credits, which also help satisfy the requirements to apply for the PCAM designation.

Happy hour is included with your registration! Enjoy appetizers and drink tickets following the program.

For more information or to register, click here.

From the Foundation for Community Association Research (and our friend, Clifford J. Treese, CIRMS), the Community Association Fact Book was developed to support the Foundation’s mission of providing research-based information to all community association stakeholders – homeowners, board members, management professionals as well as attorneys, accountants, developers, mortgage lenders, federal agencies, public officials and others – all who work with the Foundation and the Community Associations Institute to build better communities.

Here are some of the statistical highlights:

• As of 2017, there were approximately 344,500 community associations in the United States, which means that approximately 22-24% of the U.S. population lives in an association.
• Of those 344,500 community associations, about 54-60% are homeowners associations, 38-42% are condominium associations, and 2-4% are cooperatives.
• Approximately 70 million people live in a community association in the United States.
• By comparison, in 1970, there were only 10,000 community associations (housing approximately 2.1 million residents).
• The states with the most community associations in 2017 were: (1) Florida (48,000 associations) and (2) California (45,900 associations). Texas remains a distant third (20,000 associations), followed by Illinois (18,650 associations), North Carolina (13,950 associations), and New York (13,850 associations).
• New Jersey is 17th with 6,850 associations and Pennsylvania is 18th with 6,800 associations.
• Seven (7) states still have fewer than 1,000 associations: Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.
• There were approximately 2,380,000 community association board and committee members in 2017, who collectively performed approximately 80,500,000 hours of service for their associations (the estimated value of that volunteer time totals $1.98 billion).
• There were approximately 50,000-55,000 community association managers and between 7,000-8,000 community association management companies in 2017.
• It is estimated that between 30-40% of all associations nationally are self-managed, meaning they do not employ a professional manager or management company for day-to-day services.
• Approximately $90 billion in assessments was collected from community association homeowners in 2017, and $25 billion was spent from accumulated reserve funds for the repair, replacement and enhancement of common property.

You can find the 2017 Community Association Fact Book (as well as the 2015 and 2016 versions) by clicking here.

To view the New Jersey State Summary, click here. For the Pennsylvania State Summary, click here.

Thanks again to Cliff Treese and the Foundation for their hard work on the Fact Book this and every year.

For more information on this or any other issue concerning your community association, please contact one of our Community Associations attorneys. For breaking news or updates on new blog posts, follow us on Twitter at: @njcondolaw.

By Jonathan H. Katz, Esq.

Community Association Managers International Certification Board (“CAMICB”) recently published a white paper detailing the Standards of Professional Conduct for Certified Managers of Community Associations (CMCAs®) and clarifying the procedures that allow complaints to be brought against CMCAs.

These Standards of Professional Conduct, which can be found at www.camicb.org/standards, include being knowledgeable about laws and regulations applicable to community associations and  management, complying with association governing documents, policies, and procedures, assisting boards in carrying out fiduciary responsibilities, and participating in continuing education. A violation of any of these Standards of Professional Conduct may be grounds for administrative action and possible revocation of the CMCA® certification by CAMICB.