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.

By Ronald L. Perl, Esq. CCAL

In a decision issued on April 22, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has determined that rules providing for sex-segregating swimming schedules (separate women-only and men-only times) violate the federal Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.

In 2016, the 55+ age-restricted community, A Country Place Condominium Association, in Lakewood, NJ, adopted rules for the use of its community pool, which designated certain hours when only members of a single sex were allowed to swim. This was done, according to the case, to accommodate the approximately 2/3^rds population of Orthodox Jews living in the association and the Orthodox Jewish principle of modesty. This principle means that the Orthodox residents are not supposed to swim at a time when members of the opposite sex might be present. According to the decision, men’s swim time encompassed 32.5 hours per week while 33.5 hours were allocated to women’s swims. Only 25 hours were open to mixed swims, of which 13 hours were on Saturdays when Orthodox residents would not swim due to the Jewish Sabbath.

Three individuals (“plaintiffs”) who challenged these rules were found in violation and fined by the association. They filed a complaint in federal court alleging violations of the FHA and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. After discovery in the trial court, both the plaintiffs and the association filed motions for summary judgment. The District Court ruled in favor of the defendant association because it found that “the gender-segregated schedule applies to men and women equally.” The plaintiffs appealed.

By Caroline Record, Esq.

In September 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) released final regulations relating to housing discrimination, which now require community associations to investigate claims of harassment by one resident of another resident who is a member of a  “protected class.” Under the Fair Housing Act, a protected class includes race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability/handicap. In the past, if an association resident harassed another association resident, the association’s board or community manager may have viewed this as a personal issue, which would not be within the association’s scope of responsibility to investigate/address. This position was based on the belief that the association neither encouraged nor participated in the alleged harassing conduct and, therefore, could not be responsible for the conduct of its residents.

Hill Wallack LLP‘s Community Association Practice Group will be exhibiting at the 2015 New Jersey Cooperator’s Condo, HOA and Co-op Expo on Saturday, May 9, 2015, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey.

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 at Booth 600.

For more information or to register to attend, click here!

By Jonathan H. Katz, Esq.

On March 20, 2015, the Department of Justice announced that they had reached an agreement with Greenbrier Village Homeowner’s Association Inc. in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The agreement resolved a November 2013 lawsuit that alleged that the Association unlawfully discriminated against residents with children by enforcing rules prohibiting the use of common areas within the Association. As part of that settlement, the Association agreed to establish a new non-discrimination policy in accordance with the Fair Housing Act and to pay over $100,000 in penalties.

By Jonathan H. Katz, Esq.

On August 21, 2014, New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General, Division on Civil Rights (the “DCR”) released a “Fact Sheet,” which addresses disability accommodation rights for “owners and occupants of condos, cooperatives, and other common interest communities governed by a homeowners’ association or similar entity.”

The Fact Sheet is the result of a statute, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.3, recently enacted, which requires the DCR, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs, to post information on its website explaining disability rights under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”).

The Fact Sheet discusses a variety of issues related to the rights of persons with disabilities under the LAD, including examples of what will constitute a reasonable accommodation and/or a reasonable modification. The Fact Sheet also includes a section focused on assistance animals, such as service dogs, guide dogs and emotional support animals. Finally, the Fact Sheet provides information on how persons with disabilities can pursue a formal complaint if they believe their rights under the LAD have been violated by a board, association or other housing provider.

You can view the DCR’s Fact Sheet by clicking 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.