The Role of the Attorney for the Community Association

Adapted from: Community Associations: A Guide to Successful Management
Co-Authored by: Vickie Gaskill, CPM®, MPM®

The community association may want to consider the services of an attorney, preferably one whose expertise is in real estate law and/or community associations. Oftentimes the Board of Directors will shy away from hiring a legal representative because of the costs involved, but there are far too many issues that can come up. Also, there are very few associations who have attorneys on their membership roles. Even when they do, the attourney members either don’t have the proficiency in the field or they aren’t able to give their services pro bono (for free). Remember, the members of the association are going to hold the board accountable if they fail to work with a legal specialist at a time when decisions stand a chance to jeopardize their own personal homes. Associations have been sued and their members' homes have been liened in order to pay off the rewards from large lawsuits.

Before the community looks for an attorney, they first must identify what it is they need an attorney for. What issues do they have that may require legal assistance? Following are a few of the type of services that may require the assistance of an attorney:

· Original Construction of the CC&R’s, Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation (Governing Documents)
· Interpretation and enforcement of the Governing Documents
· Assistance with the collection of past due assessments including placing liens and following up on foreclosure actions
· Represent the community association in litigation brought forth by members of the association or other third parties
· Provide guidance towards proper operations and helping the Board of Directors to understand their roles and responsibilities
· Assistance in the rewrite and/or amending of the governing documents
Occasionally attend meetings that have the potential of “spinning out of control” (oftentimes this is because of a very heated issue that may be on the agenda for the meeting)

Once the Board has gone through this exercise, there are a number of places that they can look for their legal specialist. Local and state bar associations list their members online and in the yellow pages, but be sure and look for those that specialize in community associations. http://www.lawyers.com/ is a great place to find attorneys in your community’s geographical area. Many attorneys in the community association field belong to trade associations representing the same (i.e. http://www.caionline.org/, http://www.irem.org/. etc.) Generally speaking, the attorneys in these trade association are very active in their respective organizations, oftentimes sharing invaluable informationwith their fellow members, at little or no cost. Boards need to do their homework when going through the selection process for their legal representative.