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A U G U S T , 2 0 1 6
amicable. However, transition can be
long, contentious and expensive. If
the membership does not support the
board, management, its attorneys and
experts, half of the battle is already lost.
The board must share as much informa-
tion as possible with the membership
during the transition process so that the
members know what it going on, know
why various items have not yet been
fixed and know why it is important for
the association to spend the time and
money to see the transition process
through to resolution.
Negotiate.
Once the board has
a comfort level with the experts’ find-
ings and recommendations, the board
and counsel will negotiate with the
sponsor, developer, sub-contractors
and others. In most cases this negoti-
ation results in an amicable transition
agreement whereby the sponsor and
other responsible entities make repairs
and/or pay the association so that it
may make the repairs. In exchange,
the association gives the responsible
entities a release and hopefully every-
one lives happily ever after.
But…should we litigate?
If
there is no amicable resolution, should
the association litigate? This is a
big decision and the “cost to cure”
and “viability of recovery” evaluations
become that much more important.
There are many times where a liti-
gated transition is necessary. The
board should not shrink from turning
to the courts on behalf of itself and
its members. But, before doing so, a
cost-benefit analysis must be carefully
considered.
TRANSITION...
from page 16.
CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 83