CAI-NJ Aug.2016

TRANSITION... from page 16.

amicable. However, transition can be long, contentious and expensive. If the membership does not support the board, management, its attorneys and experts, half of the battle is already lost. The board must share as much informa- tion as possible with the membership during the transition process so that the members know what it going on, know why various items have not yet been fixed and know why it is important for the association to spend the time and money to see the transition process through to resolution. Negotiate. Once the board has a comfort level with the experts’ find- ings and recommendations, the board and counsel will negotiate with the sponsor, developer, sub-contractors and others. In most cases this negoti- ation results in an amicable transition agreement whereby the sponsor and other responsible entities make repairs and/or pay the association so that it may make the repairs. In exchange, the association gives the responsible entities a release and hopefully every- one lives happily ever after. But…should we litigate? If there is no amicable resolution, should the association litigate? This is a big decision and the “cost to cure” and “viability of recovery” evaluations become that much more important. There are many times where a liti- gated transition is necessary. The board should not shrink from turning to the courts on behalf of itself and its members. But, before doing so, a cost-benefit analysis must be carefully considered.

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