Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, PLC

Statute Books and Law Summaries

Shannon Carpenter — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Keep yourself updated on the current laws regarding community associations and condominiums in Arizona. We have the newly revised Arizona Statute Books available free right now. This is a book that our attorneys have put together that contains all the laws regarding planned communities and condominiums in Arizona, tabbed by topic for your convenience. We also have one page laminated summaries of the most frequent laws that are likely to be misunderstood or to be brought up in meetings. This is a must-have for board members and managers alike! To obtain your copy of the law summary or the book, just click on the quick link to the right and your items will be mailed out immediately!

Seminars

Admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:58:45 +0000

Seminars

New Associate

Shannon Carpenter — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0000

We are happy to introduce our newest associate, Lindsey O’Connor to Carpenter Hazlewood. She began work October 1st and will be working in collections, general business and litigation. Welcome, Lindsey!

Shindig II

Admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:45:02 +0000

It is red hot outside. Escape the sizzle and come cool down at our white party! Join us in the cool atmosphere of the Hotel Theodore (previously the Mondrian) for our annual client appreciation event on July 14th from 5:30 to 8:30 for some fun, food, prizes and relaxation. Don’t forget to wear something white! Call Heidi at 480-991-6949 to RSVP or for more information.

Summer is Here

Admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:44:14 +0000

With the arrival of summer, we take a short break from our normally packed education schedule. But don’t worry, we are busy planning lots of fun, new topics to teach in Tempe, New Mexico, and Tucson. We will release the schedules, along with some other updates and changes to the look and feel of Carpenter Hazlewood as the summer draws to a close.

What Are The Record Retention Obligations For My Association?

Kellie Callahan — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Frequently, we receive questions from managers and directors about record retention. In addition to its governing documents, a planned community or condominium in Arizona is governed by the planned community statutes (ARS § 33-1801 et seq) or the Condominium Act (ARS § 33-1201 et seq), as well as the Nonprofit Corporations Act. Some helpful information is in these statutes, some in other sources.

Pursuant to A.R.S. 10-11601 of the Arizona Nonprofit Corporations Act, all planned community and condominium associations that are incorporated as nonprofit corporations are obligated to keep certain documents as permanent records of the corporation. These records include:

Governing Documents (Articles, Bylaws, CC&Rs, Rules & Regulations, amendments)
Minutes of all meetings of its members and board of directors
Records of all actions taken by members of the board of directors without a meeting (i.e. unanimous written consent resolutions)
Records of all actions taken by a committee of the board of directors on behalf of the corporation
Accounting records (IRS regulations recommend that you keep all financial records for at least 7 years, including bank records and receipts)
A record of its members in a form that permits preparation of a list of the names and addresses of all members and in alphabetical order by class of membership showing number of votes each member is entitled to cast and the class of memberships held by each member

A.R.S. 10-11601 also requires an association to keep a copy of all of the following records at its principal office, at its known place of business, or at the office of its statutory agent:

An association’s articles of incorporation and all amendments currently in effect
Bylaws and any amendments
Resolutions adopted by the board of directors
Minutes of all members’ meetings and records of all actions taken by members without a meeting for the past 3 years
All written communications to members within the past 3 years (Notices, e-mails, letters, ballots, web-pages, newsletters, etc.), including the financial statements furnished for the past 3 years under A.R.S. § 10-11622
A list of the names and business addresses of the association’s current directors and officers
The association’s most recent annual report
Any and all agreements among members under A.R.S. § 10-3732

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-1813 (planned community) and A.R.S. § 33-1243 (condominium), an association must keep all records relating to the removal of a Board member for one year.

What about miscellaneous emails, lot file information of former owners, election materials, etc. that are not expressly covered by statute? Every Association should consider adopting a document retention policy as a means of regulating what information and records are retained, how the records are stored (e.g. paper files, electronically stored, etc.) the location of these records, and the length of time that they will be retained by the Association. Then, records can be destroyed according to the written policy at the appropriate time.

If you need assistance in developing a record retention policy for you community, please contact Kellie Callahan or any of our attorneys.

Back to Basics: What Is a Disability For Fair Housing Purposes?

Jason Smith — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Community associations confront issues about disabilities on a regular basis, but we think it is worth repeating the basic elements of the law on this topic. Fair Housing disputes can be limited or avoided by understanding this fundamental issue and getting it right from the first moment that a resident seeks preferential treatment. Disability is defined to include the following three elements:

a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits
one or more major life activities

In order to qualify for reasonable accommodations of association rules and procedures under the Fair Housing Act, a person must prove these three elements of a disability. It is not enough to simply state the impairment that a person has, but this frequently is the only information provided. For example, a condominium owner responds to a no-pets violation letter by claiming that he has chronic fatigue syndrome and needs a dog for assistance. This happens all the time. Is this person entitled to an accommodation to the no-pets rule? The answer should be a confident “No” – at least not yet. The physical or mental impairment and its limitation of a major life activity need to be verified, but only if it is not obvious (e.g. someone in a wheel chair). Associations have the right to request “reliable” information to verify the disability, which is typically a written statement from a medical provider. This written statement from a medical provider should not simply re-state the owner’s statement either. A doctor’s note that says the owner has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and a dog would be beneficial to the patient still fails to prove the three elements of a legal disability. The note needs to also indicate what major life activities are substantially limited by chronic fatigue syndrome. What is a “major life activity” you ask? The Arizona Legislature just passed a clarification amendment to the state’s version of the Fair Housing Act that adds the detailed list of “major life activities” from the federal version. The broad list includes the following: Caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working. After you finally have the information showing all three elements of a disability, you can move on to consider if the requested accommodation is reasonable and necessary to accommodate the disability. Toward this goal, the medical provider’s written statement should go further and describe the necessary accommodation and indicate how that accommodation is related to the described disability. This information is critical to the ultimate decision whether to grant an accommodation. If you have any questions about this or other Fair Housing issues, please contact Jason Smith in our office for more information.

The Trouble with Association Membership Lists

J. Roger Wood — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Everyone is concerned about privacy these days. From concerns about security cracks in online communities like Facebook to websites that gather personal information like spokeo.com, folks are concerned about how companies keep personal information private. Our personal information is more public and more available to third parties than ever before and certainly more available than we care to think about. The HOA and Condominium Association and its members also share similar concerns about the propriety of an owner’s personal information. Boards and community management companies alike are sensitive to what information to keep, what information to shred and what information must be given to other owners.

Arizona’s HOA and Condo statutes require a certain level of transparency with association records, specifically anything related to the Association’s finances and “other records of the association”. But, what about the membership list? Does an Association have to give a homeowner the list of names and addresses of all of the homeowners?

Yes, even putting aside whether the “other records” portion of the association statutes requires it (probably), Arizona’s nonprofit corporations (A.R.S. § 10-11601(C)) statute requires that the alphabetical membership list, complete with names, addresses and membership classes, be prepared and kept as part of corporate records. The language is not suggestive, but compulsory: “a corporation or its agent shall maintain a record of its members in a form that permits preparation of a list of the names and addresses of all members and in alphabetical order by class of membership showing the number of votes each member is entitled to cast and the class of memberships held by each member.” The statute (A.R.S goes on to require Arizona nonprofits (and therefore most HOAs and Condos) to produce that list to any member who requests it. The list must be available for inspection and copying within 5 days of a homeowner’s request.

There are a few limitations on the timely disclosure of a membership list in the nonprofit statute. Homeowners that make such a request must do so “in good faith” and the homeowner must state “a proper purpose” for which the list will be used. The Arizona statute does not define “proper purpose”, but the nonprofit act does prohibit the member from using the list for any of the following: 1) to solicit money or property; 2) for any commercial purpose; or 3) to sell to any third party. If the homeowner is not openly intending to use the list for pecuniary gain, then preparing and producing the list is required by Arizona law.

The bottom line is that associations need to produce membership lists to owners/members who request them, with names and addresses, to allow them to communicate with other members. Associations do not need to produce phone numbers or email addresses or other information under these statutes (although some associations prefer to have members communicate by email and have directories with that information).

If you have questions, contact any attorney in the firm.