As an Association Manager, I’ve encountered my fair share of unusual situations—but what recently happened in one of our communities was both new and deeply unsettling.

Amendments to the Common Interest Community Ombudsman Regulations went into effect August 1, 2025. These amendments change the required association complaint procedure. The changes may appear minor but add clarity and are favorable. 

Living in an association is more than just sharing a physical space; it's about cultivating a sense of belonging and connection with your neighbors. While individual units may be separate, the collective experience of a thriving community enhances the overall quality of condo living.

Perhaps the greatest achievement for any association is creating and sustaining a sense of community among residents and leaders. This goal is best achieved when homeowners, non-owner residents and association leaders recognize and embrace their rights and responsibilities. It was with this goal in mind that CAI developed Rights and Responsibilities for Better Communities. These principles can serve as an important guidepost for board and committee members, community managers, homeowners and non-owner residents.

Homeowners have the right to:

Neighbor to neighbor disputes seem to be at an all-time high right now. Many times, the neighbors are trying to bring the Association into these battles. In order to best utilize the Association’s assets, Boards and managers must recognize when it is appropriate for the Association to engage, and when to stay out of the conflict.

While video doorbells seem to be ‘all the rage’ lately, they bring about quite a few concerns related to privacy, especially in common interest communities. The balance is between one’s right to the latest technology securing their home for package deliveries, for example, with the reality of a camera and audio recorder capturing additional footage of one’s neighbors. It is important to review the governing documents in place in your community to determine if the installation of such devices are a violation, missing from the governing documents entirely, or a regulated addition.  

Disputes can arise between owners and their association regarding who is responsible for maintenance or removal when once healthy trees in the community begin to show signs of death or disease, especially when the trees are located near homes or other structures.  Whether the association or owner is responsible (and could be held liable for damages which result if the tree, or a part thereof, encroaches on neighboring property or falls and causes injury or damage) will often depend on whose property the tree is located on, whether modifications or alterations have been made to the property, and what the association’s governing documents provide. 

Community associations should take notice that Virginia recently became the final state to allow civil litigants a right to appeal a trial court final order.  

Under prior law, for most civil cases, appeal was not an automatic right. Instead, if a party wanted to appeal a final civil judgment from a circuit court, that party had to petition the Supreme Court of Virginia to take the appeal. A writ panel of three justices and/or senior justices would consider the request, and only grant the appeal if at least two justices on that panel agreed.  The appellee, or non-appealing party, had the option to file a brief in opposition to the petition, but did not have to do so.  The appellee did not present oral argument unless the writ panel accepted the case.  

Are you managing the association or are you allowing the association to manage you? We all want to be proactive managers but what does that entail and how do you deal with all the items that creep into the day preventing you from dealing with the tasks that you planned to accomplish?