You are hereby invited to attend the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Virginia Chapter CAI to be held immediately in advance of the Holiday Social on Friday, December 1, 2023 at The Sheraton Virginia Beach, 3501 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach VA 23451 at 2:00pm. The social is a ticketed event and advanced reservations are required. You will also have an opportunity to meet the SEVACAI Committee Chairpersons and the 2023-2024 Board of Directors. Space is limited, so make your reservation today at www.sevacai.org.

Community associations should incorporate preventive maintenance and structural inspections into their reserve studies—the important budget planning tools that identify the components a community association is responsible for maintaining or replacing, indicate the status of the reserve fund, and provide a stable and equitable funding plan to offset anticipated future major common area expenditures. The recommendations are part of new Reserve Study Standards released by Community Associations Institute (CAI), the leading international authority on community association governance, management, and education.

How long have you been affiliated with the SEVA Chapter?
On a committee since 2019, affiliated as a member since 2016.

In what capacity are you involved with community associations?
I am an association manager for United Property Associates.

On Friday, September 29, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced several key administration and board appointments. Deborah Casey, Principal and Vice Chair at Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, was appointed to Virginia’s Common Interest Community Board.

The Common Interest Community Board regulates common interest community managers, as well as certain employees of licensed management firms. The Board’s authority also includes condominium and time-share program registrations, and extends to transactions occurring within Virginia, even if the property involved is located outside the Commonwealth. Property owners’, condominium unit owners’, and proprietary lessees’ (cooperative) associations are required to register and file annual reports with the Board.

In July, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released updates to project eligibility standards for condominiums and housing cooperatives.

There are many different social media platforms that may be utilized by community associations; Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to name a few. Before jumping in, take some time to consult legal counsel, and develop a strategy. Know the good, the bad and yes, even the ugly!

Some insurance carriers refer to Directors and Officers (D&O) Liability as miscellaneous liability.  Take my word, it is not a coverage that should be considered miscellaneous.  There is a world of difference between D&O coverage offered to you as an endorsement on your master policy and proper D&O coverage specifically written as a stand-alone policy.  

Effective July 1, 2023,  the various resale provisions in the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act, Condominium Act, and Cooperative Act have been removed and consolidated into a new single act known as the Resale Disclosure Act, which is located in Chapter 23.1 of Title 55.1 of the Virginia Code.  The new Resale Disclosure Act groups resale provisions together for Virginia property owners’ associations, condominium associations, and cooperatives, and collectively refers to them as “resale certificates.”

Your association’s budget impacts the financial and physical health of the community and residents’ property values. The budget is the first, crucial step to restoring aged, once-beautiful communities to their former glory, and it determines the enjoyment residents will derive from their community.

How long have you been affiliated with the SEVA Chapter?
Just over 1 year

In what capacity are you involved with community associations?
I am a community manager working with myStreet Community Management.

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:

These past several years have been indescribably stressful for everyone. Economic concerns after a year’s long pandemic, lack of socialization, mask-wearing, and general fear and anxiety have only increased the slow erosion of kindness and empathy we have seen devolve over the past few years. 

The past decade has seen an explosion in the popularity of electric vehicles.  All expectations are that this popularity will continue to grow.  There are many makes and models of electric vehicles, and they can be classified as either battery electric vehicles (“BEVs”) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (“PHEVs”)—both of which need to be charged by plugging into an outlet or charging station.  

Back in the days when I worked for a pond construction company, one of my crew members told me that he needed some help identifying a snake that they had found on the job site. He said it was a water snake, and thought it was a cottonmouth. I asked if he had taken pictures of it, but instead, he presented me a burlap bag with the snake inside. Its head was smashed, and its body had been neatly cut into several pieces with the blade of a shovel. As an ecologist and lover of wildlife, the site of the demolished snake left me heartbroken and speechless. It was a large, beautiful, and HARMLESS northern water snake. All I could think of to say was, “That is NOT the way to identify a snake!”

CAI announced the recipients of its annual awards at a ceremony on May 19th in Dallas, TX in conjunction with the 2023 CAI Annual Conference and Exposition: Community NOW. The honors salute individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made outstanding contributions to advance community association living, as well as individual Chapters who have contributed to the overall growth and betterment of the organization.

Communities encounter many problems when trying to maintain safe and beautiful common area concrete.

• Spalling or pitted concrete

The General Assembly had a busy session that involved consideration of proposals for new laws that would affect community associations.  The Virginia Legislative Action Committee monitored dozens of bills.  In addition to supporting some legislation, many of the LAC’s efforts are expended in opposing bills that ultimately do not become law or suggesting modifications to proposed legislation.  The LAC’s lobbying team provides subject-matter expertise to legislators in community association policy and insight into how proposed legislation would affect associations and other stakeholders. 

Community Associations are wonderful organizations benefiting millions of US residents every day. There are countless benefits to living in community associations. One of the beautiful things about people is that we have figured out that banding together in communities is generally beneficial offering clean, cohesive neighborhoods oftentimes with amenities such as parks and pools, further encouraging the idea of community. These inherent benefits have association living on the rise, providing homes for nearly 1 in 5 Americans. But where did it all start?

We are on the cusp of Spring, which means Summer is just around the corner. And pool season is the hallmark of Summer. In addition to securing a pool service contractor and/or lifeguards, community associations should consider the broad spectrum of responsibilities and measures related to the pool. Below is our suggested checklist of items for community associations to review well before the start of pool season for maximum protection.