Local Educator Rebecca Osman Helps People Improve Communication Skills

All the world's a stage, and we all want to perform well when it's our time in the spotlight. To that end, I recently attended an excellent series of workshops presented by local educator Rebecca Osman.  Ms. Osman is the founder of Your Stage Coach, a business devoted to helping people improve their communication, presentation, and leadership skills.  She teaches people how they can adjust their voice, body, and mind to more effectively connect with others and inspire confidence.  Her workshops feature fun, interactive demonstrations that draw upon her extensive experience in theater, music, and dance.  I look forward to applying the techniques that I learned from Ms. Osman in future professional and social situations.

You should consider attending one or more of Ms. Osman's workshops if you are interested in reaping the benefits of better communication. She is presenting a two-hour workshop entitled Powerful Profitable Presentations on the following dates and times next month: April 5 at 11:30 a.m. at Mosaic Coffeehouse in Seattle, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southcenter DoubleTree Hotel, and April 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the Swedish Cultural Center.  Those workshops are free if you pre-register for them on her website (yourstagecoach.com/classes). Ms. Osman is also presenting a paid two-day workshop entitled Connect & Captivate on May 9 and 10 in Seattle.    

Before Litigation, Community Associations Should Consider Mediation

The March edition of the King County Bar Bulletin contains the following article that I co-wrote with my paralegal Elizabeth Demong.  We argue in this article that community associations and owners should strongly consider engaging in mediation before initiating litigation.

In his forward to a 2000 collection of case studies compiled by the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict (CCPDC), former Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance called for an international effort to improve the existing methods of preventing and resolving deadly conflict. While conflicts within condominium and homeowners associations involve lower stakes than the types of situations that Mr. Vance has faced (he played a major role in the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa and end the Bosnian War), they can still get plenty ugly once litigation rears its head.  Fortunately, community associations and owners with opposing interests can often successfully mediate their disputes, even if there is substantial bad blood between them.  Mediation is particularly appropriate in that context because it seeks to reconcile parties and rebuild a sense of connection between them.  After all, everyone still has to live and work together once the dogs of war have been chased away.

Disputes between community associations and owners can escalate rapidly. Consider this hypothetical situation: 

A condominium unit owner stores items on a second-floor balcony in clear violation of the community’s rules.  The board sends a violation notice to the unit indicating that daily fines will be imposed if the items are not removed by a specified date.  When the deadline comes and goes without the items being removed, the board begins to charge daily fines.  The owner arrives home from an extended trip to find that $3,000.00 in fines has been imposed.  The owner removes the items from the balcony, but the board is not willing to remove any of the fines.  Both sides come away from a meeting regarding the fines convinced that their position is correct.  The board sends the owner a letter stating that it will sue her if she does not pay the fines.

Absent the intervention of a third party, the association and the owner in this hypothetical will likely spend many months and thousands of dollars engaged in litigation.  Regardless of the outcome in court, the parties will almost certainly regard each other with hostility from that point forward, which will probably lead to more disagreements.  This unfortunate outcome is inevitable in some cases, but mediation should be seriously considered before litigation is pursued.    

Mediation is an informal process in which two parties hire a neutral third party to help them resolve a dispute.  A mediator does not typically express views on the merits of the parties’ positions.  A mediator’s primary goal is to help the parties reach agreement by identifying issues, exploring possible basis for agreement, describing the consequences of not settling, and encouraging each party to consider the interests of the other party.  Both sides are encouraged to compromise.  Mediation can usually resolve disputes faster and cheaper than litigation, and it has the potential to make future disputes less likely by restoring the parties’ long-term relationship.

In his forward to the CCPDC’s report, Mr. Vance concedes that it is difficult to negotiate with people one dislikes.  He writes that as “much as I might have been repelled by the acts of many of the leaders with whom I negotiated, they were the only men empowered to make peace, and peace in the end was the most important goal.” Community associations and owners likewise may not always hold one another in high regard, but this does not preclude successful mediation of their disputes.      

When reflecting on his involvement in the negotiations to transfer power from the white minority to the black majority leader in the 1990s, Mr. Vance describes a negotiation in which South Africans “sought out areas of agreement with the other side and worked together on a process of power sharing and reconciliation.”  He praises those who showed “leadership...[which]...allowed for the truth of the apartheid years to emerge in a way that encouraged catharsis and honesty without vengeance.”  Seeking common ground, facilitating open communication, and foregoing punitive measures were vital because the citizens of South Africa still had to live together in close proximity after the transfer of power took place.  Mediation can similarly help community associations and owners end disputes in a way that will sow the seeds of future peace between neighbors.       

Conflict between community associations and owners will happen from time to time, and occasionally litigation is necessary to resolve it.  However, mediation often offers a better path.  By agreeing to negotiate solutions with the assistance of a mediator, associations and owners can in many instances reach settlements that reflect the interests of both sides and, as a result, produce real and lasting reconciliation.                   

I Will Make My Second Appearance on Local Radio Show Brashenomics Today!

I joined local radio show Brashenomics as a guest for the second time this afternoon.  My portion of the show focused on how real estate agents and community associations can manage sources of potential conflict and work together more effectively.  The show aired today on 1150 AM.  Video of my portion of the show can be viewed here.

Leasing Vacant Properties to Collect Delinquent Assessments

All is not lost for community associations when delinquent owners conclude that they must abandon their properties.  Associations and owners have much to gain by entering into voluntary agreements that authorize associations to lease vacant properties.  The rent can then be used to pay delinquent and future assessments.  If such agreements are not possible, then Washington condominium associations also have the ability to ask courts to appoint receivers over vacant units, which can then be leased until the lenders foreclose. 

Community associations must comply with a complex web of federal, state, and local laws that relate to the landlord-tenant relationship when they lease properties.  By way of example, the Washington Residential Landlord-Tenant Act can be found here, and information about Washington's new requirement that residences must be equipped with carbon monoxide detectors can be found here.  Obtaining legal advice regarding the association’s obligations as a landlord is highly recommended.

How Will Laws Governing Washington Community Associations Change in 2013?

A number of bills relating to condominium and homeowners associations have already been submitted for consideration during the current session of the Washington Legislature.  Three of those proposed laws merit special attention thus far.   

The first proposed law applies to homeowners associations governed by RCW 64.38.  It is designed to limit the ability of homeowners association boards to raise revenue without a vote of the owners.  Boards of such associations would be permitted to increase regular assessments up to twenty percent per year, impose a special assessment of up to five percent of the annual budget, or do both without a vote of the owners.     

The second proposed law also applies to homeowners associations governed by RCW 64.38.  It is designed to allow such associations to provide meeting notices by electronic mail.  Homeowners associations would be permitted to electronically transmit meeting notices to an address designated in writing by an owner unless that owner provides the association with a written request not to receive notices by electronic transmission.     

The third proposed law applies to condominium associations governed by RCW 64.34.  It is designed to allow many such associations to annually update their reserve studies themselves.  A condominium association with fewer than fifty units would be permitted, by a majority vote of the owners, to elect to have the board update the reserve study annually after the association has had one reserve study conducted by a reserve study professional.

Further updates about these bills and other proposed laws relating to Washington community associations will be provided here as events develop.  The legislative session is just getting started, and additional bills regarding smoking, electronic board meetings, and quorums are anticipated.