BERDING | WEIL - Articles, Brochures, Materials and other Useful Resources

Assessment Collection in an Economic Crisis	Paul Windust
Bankruptcy Won't Work - Why There's No Protection for Members When Community Associations "Go Broke"	Tyler Berding and Sandra Bonato
Community Associations in the 21st Century: Using Technology to Beat the Recession	Steven Weil
Getting Sober in the New Economy - Are Rentals a Better Solution for Affordable Housing?	Tyler Berding
Hang Together or Hang Separately? - Selling a Distressed Common Interest Development as a Single Parcel: Is Partition an Alternative to losing it to Individual Foreclosures?	Tyler Berding
Look Closer. Or Else! Older Community Associations Need Better Inspections to Avoid Financial Failure	Tyler Berding
Major Reconstruction Projects in Community Associations: An Overview of the Unexpected	Tyler Berding
Making Ends Meet: Fiduciary Duty on a Limited Budget	Steven Weil
Pay As You Go? Can a Program of Periodic Maintenance Reduce the Number of Major Repair Projects in a Community Association?	Tyler Berding with Alfred D. McKelvy
The Board's Dilemma - How Can Community Associations Avoid a Funding Crisis? PDF download	Tyler Berding
The Great Foreclosure Debate - Should Community Associations use Alternatives to Foreclosure to Protect Their Cash Flow?	Tyler Berding
Staying In or Selling Out?	Tyler Berding
What happens When a Community Association Fails? - Does the experience in Florida presage the future for California?	Tyler Berding
Your Association is Broke - What Bills do you Pay When the Cash Runs Out?	Tyler Berding

Budgets and Funding

2010 Community Association Financial Health Survey	Tyler Berding
Assessment Laws Focus Attention on Association Assessment Collection Policies and Procedures	Sandra Bonato and Steven Weil
Borrowing From Reserves: A Primer From California Law	Sandra Bonato
Budget Forms PDF download	Steve Weil
Do Community Associations have Service Lives? ...and what happens if they do?	Tyler Berding
E-Delivery of Budget Packages???!! - Yes, a Brand New Law Says Associations Can!	Sandra Bonato
Is Reserve Funding Mandatory? - Can an Association Legally defer the funding of Reserves Necessary for Repairs and Renovations?	Tyler Berding
Is Your Reserve Budget Just an Illusion? PDF download	Tyler Berding
Predictions of the Future in an Uncertain Present - Why Community Associations are Failing the Price of Survival and a Glimpse Into the Future PDF download	Tyler Berding
The Berding\|Weil Reserve Funding Survey Results for 2008	Tyler Berding
The Uncertain Future of Community Associations	Tyler Berding
The Uncertain Future of Community Associations (Booklet) PDF download	Tyler Berding
When Market Value Slips Out the Back Door	Tyler Berding

Elections, Directors and Meetings

A Check on Board Power: The Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act	Steven Weil
Embracing the New Board Meeting Agenda Law	Steven Weil and Sandra Bonato
JUDGING DIRECTORS: How Courts Throughout the Nation Evaluate Board and Association Decision Making and How to “Bullet-Proof” Those Decisions	Steven Weil
Judicial Deference Revisited: When Will A Court Second-Guess A Board's Decisions?	Matt Malone
Mandatory Funding? - The Board's Decision to Fund a Community Association is not Discretionary in California Boards and Directors	Tyler Berding
What Happens When Boards Violate Davis-Stirling? (And Is There Such a Thing as �Condo Police?�)	Steven Weil and Andrea O'Toole
WHEN "ABSOLUTE" IS NOT - Does an Association Director have an Absolute Right to Inspect Association Records?	James O. Devereaux
Why Won't They Serve? - Homeowners won't volunteer for boards of directors of community associations—another nail in the coffin?	Tyler Berding

Governing Documents

Authorizing Action in the Face of Homeowner Association Apathy or Paralysis: Judicial Rescue for Governing Document Amendments, Loans and Quorums	Steven Weil
Killer Weed in the Common Area? How do Boards of Directors deal with the use of Medical Marijuana in Community Associations?	Paul Windust
The Politics and Psychology of Amending Governing Documents	Steven Weil
WAITING FOR GODOT? or Should Associations Defer Updating Governing Documents to See What the Legislature Is Going to Do About the Davis-Stirling Act?	Mary Filson

Community Association Operations and Management

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Meeting - Or, When is a Homeowner's Association like Wisconsin?	Steven Weil
Appellate Court Says Recording Foreclosure Judgment Crucial to Maintain Collection Priority	Paul Windust
CC&R Enforcement: The Five Most Important �Don'ts� You Need To Know	Steven Weil
Community Association Decision Making - Who Decides -The Board, the Members or the Legislature?	Steven Weil
Directors Gone Wild!	Steven Weil
Don't Publish the Names of Owners who Haven't Paid Their Assessments	Steven Weil
"E" is for Efficiency - Delivering Association Budgets and Other Documents by E-mail	Melissa Bauman Ward
Governor Declines to Interfere With CID Operations	Steven Weil and Sandra Bonato
How to Tow: Notice and Authorization Procedures, Requirements and Penalties	Sandra Bonato
It's Your Neighbors, Stupid. Who, not what, is a Homeowners Association?	Tyler Berding
Legislative Alert for San Francisco Condominiums, Cooperatives, Planned Developments and their Managers	Andrea O'Toole
Liability in the Bargain? - The Dangers of Hiring an Unlicensed Contractor	Timothy Smith
OSHA in the HOA: Iversen and the Application of Cal-OSHA to an Association's Independent Contractors	Matt Malone
Parking Wars! - Community Association Parking Regulation on Private and Public Streets	Andrea O'Toole
Planning For The Future: The Restated Davis-Stirling CID Act	Sandra Bonato
Rental Restrictions: Salvation or Salvo?	Steven Weil
Small Claims Court: The Assessment Collection Alternative	Paul Windust
SB 150 and Rental Restrictions - What Does It Really Mean for Associations?	Sandra Bonato and Melissa Ward
Step Away From that Computer! Before you send another Email, Read How New Legislation Restricts Board Procedure, Executive Sessions, Emergency Meetings, Discussions and Decisions.	Sandra Bonato and Melissa Ward
Suspension of a Homeowner Association's Corporate Status - It's Not "Just a Technicality"	Mary Filson
Ten Things You Need to Know About the New Records Law
The Myth of Public Agency protection in the Building Permit Process
The Three-Year Trap and Other Problems with an Association's Records in Litigation	Elizabeth Bassett
Upstairs, Downstairs - Strategies for Dealing with Noise Disputes	Paul Windust
Virtually Legal Technology and its Impact on Association Operations	Steven Weil
Who Do You Trust? - The Essential Ingredient in Effective Management of Community Associations	Tyler Berding
Who's the Client?	James O. Devereaux
Why Members Don't Care	Tyler Berding

Fiduciary Duty

Court Whacks Directors with a $500,000 Attorney Fee Award!	Steven Weil
No Right to Refuse Payment	Tyler Berding
Recent Trends in the Business Judgement Rule and other Standards of Review PDF download	Steven Weil
SLAPP: The First Amendment and Community Association Politics PDF download	Steven Weil & J.Nussbaum

Housing Issues

Aging in Place: A New Plan for the Suburbs? - Could Older Common Interest Developments become part of More Livable, Less Car-Dependent Communities?	Tyler Berding
Back to our Housing Future	Tyler Berding
Common Interest Developments: Housing at risk? PDF download	Julia Lave Johnston & Kimberley Johnston-Dodds
First Thing We Do, Let's Ban All the Bloggers! - All speech is not necessarily objective or persuasive.	Tyler Berding
Left Holding the (Sand) Bag - Who will pay for the damage caused by rising sea levels? It Could be Your Homeowners Association!	Tyler Berding
Predicting the Future of Community Associations - An Outline for the Next 50 Years	Tyler Berding
Private New Towns - A promising concept saddled with an old problem	Tyler Berding
Rentals, Yes - Condos, No! An answer to the blogophile's prayer?	Tyler Berding
The Contractual Community - Why Community Associations Are Not Governments And Why That Matters	Tyler Berding
When Condos Become Obsolete - What Determines the Life of a Common Interest Development?	Tyler Berding

Government and Politics

Legislative Round-Up: 2008 Budget Impasse Impacts CID Legislation	Sandra Bonato
Needed: A 500 pound Gorilla	Tyler Berding
Who's Minding the Store? - State Regulators are Asleep at the Switch	Tyler Berding
Why are Common Interest Developments not on Party Platforms?	Tyler Berding

The Common Interest Law Report

Understanding Board Decisions and Judicial Deference:
Two Recent Appellate Cases Illustrate When A Court Will Defer To The "Business Judgment" Of A Board of Directors

Matt Malone and
Andrew Baugh

The Legal Ethics Series

Attorney Fees in California Construction Defect Cases - What Clients Should Know about Fee Contracts, Referral Fees, And Professional Ethics

Tyler Berding and
Allison Andersen

CONDOMINIUM CONVERSION ISSUES

Condo Conversion Budgets - How do you learn the Truth?	Tyler Berding
Condo Conversion Budgets - How do you Learn the Truth? PDF download	Tyler Berding
Condominium Conversions: Owner Equity at Risk? PDF download	Tyler Berding
Condominium Conversions: Old Apartment or New Development?	Tyler Berding
Negligent Conversion? - Is the converter liable for failing to properly assemble the parts of a new community?	Tyler Berding
The "Soft-Story" Problem and Earthquake Safety - Another Issue for Condominium Conversions	Tyler Berding

CONSTRUCTION DEFECT and BUILDING MAINTENANCE ARTICLES

A Wakeup Call - Failed Balcony Railing Causes near Fatal Injuries	Tyler Berding
Are They Building Condos Better?	Tyler Berding
CAL-OSHA Requirements for Permanent Scaffolding
Caring for Community Associations with a Maintenance Trust	Tyler Berding
CC&R Provisions Mandating Binding Arbitration of Construction Defect Claims Ruled Unenforceable	James O. Devereaux
Did You Already Blow the Statute of Limitations? PDF download	Tyler Berding
Disaster! - No reserves. No Insurance. What's Left if a Natural Disaster Destroys a Community Association?	Tyler Berding and Steven Weil
Get the Facts Out Now! - Early preparation of a construction defect claim can produce quicker results	Lucas Olona
Good Legal Advice or Confidence Game? You Decide.	Tyler Berding and Sandra Bonato
Helping Lambs Slay Lions: California Courts Refuse to Enforce Binding-Arbitration Clauses in Developer-Drafted CC&Rs.
Homeowners Associations have a Right to a Jury Trial in Disputes with their Developers
Landslides: Nuisance or Construction Defect?	Tyler Berding
Maintenance Manuals for New Associations: How Much Maintenance is enough?	Tyler Berding and Steven Weil
Surety Bonds	Daniel Rottinghaus
The Affordable Housing Myth	Tyler Berding
The Berding\|Weil Approach to Managing Defects in Buildings: Why litigation may not always be your first choice
The Mediator's View: An Interview with Jonathan Margolis	Tyler Berding
The Role of Experts in Evaluating Building Performance Issues	Tyler Berding
What You Don't Know - When do Statutes of Limitation begin to run on Construction Claims?	Tyler Berding
When Your CC&Rs Hate You - Or, How Developer Protections in Governing Documents Work to Block Association Defect Claims	Matt Malone
Why "As Is" Really Isn't How It Is:... - The Legal Effect Of "As-Is" Clauses in the Context of Homeowners Association Defect Claims	Matt Malone
Why We Try Cases - An Interview with the Trial Attorneys at Berding\|Weil	Tyler Berding

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE ARTICLES

California Vinyards - The Development of Vineyards in Napa Valley, California - A Brief Overview PDF download	Robert Young
California Vinyards - Second Installment PDF download	Robert Young
California Vinyards/Wineries - A Popular Replacement Property Alternative PDF download	Robert Young
California Vinyards "The Next Step" PDF download	Robert Young
California Vinyards - Financing a Winery Development - Alternatives to Checkbook Financing PDF download	Robert Young
Mechanics' Liens - Can Public Property be Subject to Contractor's Mechanics' Lien Rights? You Bet It Can PDF download	Fredrick Hagen
Recognizing Construction Defects in Commercial Projects PDF download	Tyler Berding
Surety Bonds - Protection for the Owner Before the Work Starts PDF download	Daniel Rottinghaus
The Requirements of a Basic Brokerage Commission Contract and Alternative Enforcement Mechanisms PDF download	Scott Barton
What may be in store for you from the Homeland Security Act? PDF download	Daniel Rottinghaus
When will a Landlord's Notice of Non-Responsibility for Tenant Improvements Fail? PDF download	Daniel Rottinghaus