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HOA Board Director, Officer, or Both?

This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevantQ: Can a homeowners’ association (HOA) board of directors change the term served by the officers by a resolution, without a vote of the members? Our bylaws state that officers are appointed by the board for a one-year term, yet our officers are serving for…

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Read|Delete 4.15.13

Which is the most tax friendly state? ALASKA According to the Tax Foundation, for the 17th straight year, Alaska ranks as the state with the lowest tax per resident, including federal, state, local taxes, sales taxes, fuel taxes, etc. – 6.6%.  Alaskans don’t pay income or state sales tax and get refunds due to local…

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2013 NC Community Association Legislative Update

Courtesy of my colleague, Greensboro attorney Jim Slaughter, who keeps close tabs on the happenings in Raleigh that affect NC community associations: With about half of this year’s portion of the 2013-2014 Legislative Session over, now seems a good time to review some of the community association related bills introduced so far.  Most of the…

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Read|Delete 4.10.13

When CEOs are asked what boards could do to better help the company, their Wish List boils down to this: Focus more on the risks that are the most crucial to the future of the enterprise. Do your homework. (“If you don’t take the time and effort to learn the business, I can’t really have…

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Friday Factoid – 4.5.13

Not only does Lamborghini (the Italian car company) own registered trademarks on its names, it also registered with the USPTO a trademark on the unique way its car doors open. Source: USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), USPTO Reg. No. 2,793,439

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Friday Factoid – 3.29.13

As a lead-up to the creation of hundreds of new global top level domain names (i.e., .web and .lawyer), the Trademark Clearinghouse is now accepting applications to record registered marks and certain other marks.  Owners who record their marks with the Trademark Clearinghouse may apply to pre-register certain domain names that are an “identical match”…

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Friday Factoid – 3.22.13

Kodak (which filed for bankruptcy) developed the digital camera and obtained a patent for digital cameras well before they were mass produced.  Kodak chose not to invest in its new technology because it feared digital cameras would undercut existing sales for its film business.  Ultimately, digital cameras dominated the photography market.  An agreement was recently…

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HOA rental fees; Recovery of court costs and attorney’s fees in lien/foreclosure actions.

Q: May a North Carolina homeowners’ association (HOA) impose a surcharge on units that are rented out by a homeowner? Our HOA has proposed a fee of $25 per month to be assessed against all rental properties. HOAs only have whatever authority is granted to them under the North Carolina laws and the HOA’s governing…

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Friday Factoid – 3.15.13

A 2012 study of jobs conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center found that IP-intensive industries account for 55.7 million direct and indirect jobs, over $5 trillion in national gross domestic product, and 74% of total U.S. exports. Source: http://www.ndpconsulting.com/Ndp_News.htm

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Two options for HOA income-tax returns

Note:  This question was answered by my colleague, CPA Gail Pizetoski of Condo-Smart.com and CondoHOACPA.com. Q: My husband is on the board of our HOA, and for the past two years our manager has said we have to file tax returns for the HOA. Our only income is from the assessments, plus a few dollars…

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