June 2024

about the community is great in premise. However ADR Committees are typically only sustainable in large senior communities where volunteers have enough spare time to train and conduct ADR and where disputes are frequent enough to keep the volunteers involved. Forming and prop erly training an ADR committee can easily take a month and involve significant expense, and scheduling a hearing with combative parties can then take a year or more if either of the parties intentionally delays or undermines the process. ADR Committees are not suited for communities that only need to provide ADR once or twice a year. • Property Management Programs Your property manager may provide ADR services or may staff an ADR panel from residents of their other communi ties. If those programs are available to your community and the parties are willing to participate, then take advantage of the in-house resources covered by your management agreement. • Industry Attorneys A number of attorneys in our industry will serve as medi

ators or arbitrators for either a flat fee or an hourly rate. An experienced attorney provides the added benefit of understanding how a lawsuit is likely to play out if ADR is unsuccessful, and they will not be steamrolled by the parties’ attorneys. Attorneys may also be available to address emergent matters on short notice and extend the ADR beyond the normal two-hour session. Most importantly, attorneys can provide binding arbitration. • Retired Judges For matters likely to decline into litigation, a retired judge may be necessary. Judges will command a higher fee than attorneys but provide more authoritative experience. More importantly, there is no question that our courts will respect the adequacy of an ADR conducted by a retired judge if the unit owner is inclined to accuse the association of sab otaging the ADR process. • AAA Arbitration Some bylaws require AAA arbitration, but currently, the American Arbitration Association is NOT accepting com munity association disputes.

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1 Kensington Circle | Toms River, NJ 08755 CLICK HERE OR SCAN THE QR CODE TO REGISTER GREENBRIAR WOODLANDS 9:30 am - 10:00 am - Registration & Breakfast 10:00 am - 12:00 pm - Program LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Summit Tuesday, July 16, 2024

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JUNE 2024