CAI-NJ Sept.2018(w)(1)

The Board and The Law By Steve Kroll, Fairways at Livingston

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“We make our best effort to understand the legal foundation of an issue, but it is not a replacement for receiving legal advice from our association’s lawyer.”

A s a board member of a condominium association, there are issues that arise that require the legal expertise of my association’s law firm. Our board typically reaches out for legal guidance when we collec- tively feel that we can’t realistically resolve an association issue without understanding how current law might influ- ence our deliberations and subsequent decision options. While board members can read our association’s docu- ments like the master deed and by-laws to gleam what the founding documents say on a particular topic, often times it isn’t sufficient to resolve an issue either because the word- ing isn’t definitive enough or doesn’t address all aspects of the issue. Other times a new issue comes along that wasn’t anticipated when the association’s documents were drafted. Although we are a privately governed community where the board turns first to the original documents and subsequent resolutions, we recognize that any state or local

municipal law takes precedence over our association’s governing documents. We also read the necessary statutes as well, but we are not trained lawyers in condominium association law. We make our best effort to understand the legal foundation of an issue, but it is not a replacement for receiving legal advice from our association’s lawyer. Once a new issue has been identified that requires the input of legal counsel, the board informs our community manager to keep her in the loop. It is critically important for the community manager to be fully aware of any legal issues under discussion and legal actions that have been taken by the association’s attorney. Typically, the issue is brought to the attention of our legal counsel either by email or by a phone call from the board president with notification to the entire board and community manager. Email exchanges between the board, community manager, and our association lawyer allow all

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