It may be time to replace the expression “death and taxes” with “death, taxes and NH Condo Act amendments.” Year in, and year out, it seems the legislature will continue to make tweaks to the statute. We will utilize this space to keep you informed of such changes. Thankfully the changes in question are good ones in that they give a board more flexibility for informal meetings.

In the early morning hours on August 1, 2024, on the very last day of formal sessions for the 2023-2024 Massachusetts legislative session, the House and Senate passed a comprehensive housing bill allowing for electronic meetings and voting in condominiums. The Governor is expected to sign the legislation in the coming days. This is a tremendous victory for Massachusetts condominiums and one that MEEB attorneys have supported for many years.

Remember the Pandemic? Who doesn’t? They say pain has no memory, but the pain created by the pandemic was varied and widespread.

For rental property owners, the pains were primarily financial and they were exacerbated by state and federal moratoria that temporarily prohibited landlords from evicting tenants for non-payment of rent. The state moratorium was in effect for seven months, from March 2020 until October 17 of that year. But the federal moratorium, which kicked in for Massachusetts property owners when the state order expired, remained in effect until July 31, 2021.

Insurance has always ranked high on the list of challenges for condominium association boards. But inflation, federal regulations and risks related to climate change are making it more difficult for boards to fulfill their obligation to maintain adequate insurance for their communities. The two biggest challenges:

As MEEB has reported previously, many of our clients and colleagues have been debating whether the Corporate Transparency Act’s newly enacted reporting requirements apply to unincorporated associations in Massachusetts, like trusts, which are the most common form of association in Massachusetts.

SERVING BEYOND TERM?

Some members of the board continue to serve after their terms have expired, because no one wants to take their place.

When we’ve discussed drones in the past, we have focused mainly on how condominium associations can (and should) regulate their use to mitigate the safety and liability risks these small, unmanned aerial vehicles may create. But risks aren’t the whole story. Drone technology also has many potential benefits that community associations are beginning to recognize.

IS THERE RECOVERY AFTER BANKRUPTCY?

A resident of our community, who owes several thousand dollars in unpaid common area dues, just declared bankruptcy. What can we do?

Condominium associations have an obligation to maintain common areas. Are they also liable for damage to owners’ units if a common area component fails? While the typical answer is no because the Owner is responsible for the Unit by virtue of the condominium documents, a Massachusetts Superior Court addressed the question recently, and its answer has potentially disturbing implications for condominium associations.

Attorneys and foreclosure auction bidders are likely familiar with the so-called “Gavel Rule” pertaining to bankruptcy filings which occur shortly after a foreclosure sale auction has transpired.  The Gavel Rule provided that so long as the auction was concluded—by the fall of the proverbial gavel—before the owner filed for bankruptcy, the sale could not be undone by the bankruptcy filing.  In actuality, the owner’s equity of redemption was terminated at the signing of the memorandum of sale, an event that would follow directly after the conclusion of the auction, but nevertheless, the Gavel Rule name has stuck.  Due to a recent ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, however, the Gavel Rule is no longer the law in the Commonwealth.