February 29, 2024
Court of Appeals Resolves Dispute Between Competing Community Association Boards
January 16, 2024
WA Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Association's Covenant Enforcement Action
Enforcing governing documents sometimes
requires litigation, and the owners in question usually attack their community
association’s enforcement procedures both in general and as applied to them. Association boards that work with a qualified attorney can ensure that their enforcement procedures and actions are likely to survive such scrutiny.
December 29, 2023
Looking Forward to 2024!
December 22, 2023
Court of Appeals Decides that Property Owner Complied with Tree-related Duties
"A landowner is not under a duty to guarantee their trees will not harm persons or property on adjacent land when the trees are part of the natural landscape. Rather, a landowner is obliged to take corrective action toward their trees when on actual or constructive notice of defects ... A landowner is on notice when defects in their trees are 'readily observable.'"
The Court concluded that the record failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the owner of the property on which the tree was located had actual or constructive notice of a defect in her trees. Without such notice, she had no duty to take corrective action.
November 28, 2023
Court Upholds Association's Decision to Refrain from Enforcing Covenant
"When a homeowners’ association makes a discretionary decision in a procedurally valid manner, we must not substitute our judgment for that of the homeowners’ association unless there is fraud, dishonesty, or incompetence .... The supreme court noted that this rule was necessary to insulate homeowner associations from being subjected to lawsuits anytime a homeowner disagreed with a discretionary choice made by the Board."
If your community association board has questions about the nature and scope of its covenant enforcement powers and duties, then it should consider retaining a qualified attorney to provide clarity.