As a housing cooperative board member, balancing community needs with legal requirements can be challenging. You might encounter a member with a disability requesting reasonable accommodation or modification. Using the undue burden test Reasonable accommodations or...
Across the United States, affordable housing is slipping out of reach. Families search for safe, reasonably priced homes but come up empty. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA) brings a historic response with tax incentives designed to tackle the crisis...
A homeowners association (HOA) is the body that governs a housing community. It is an organization that comprises individual homeowners looking to maintain order and peace around the area of their residence and is especially popular in common interest communities...
Although many members of Michigan condominium boards are not aware, disabled co-owners have the right to modify common areas. They do not have to abide by any rules in the association documents that would prevent this type of modification. The changes have to be for...
If you are on the board of directors for a homeowner’s association, your organization must remain in compliance with the Fair Housing Act. This legislation makes it illegal for direct providers of housing and related organizations, including HOAs, to institute and...
Homeowner’s associations across Illinois, Michigan and the rest of the United States typically set guidelines by which residents have to abide. Yet, many HOAs run into trouble when residents feel as if their HOAs are singling them out or discriminating against them in...
The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that says, in part, that homeowners associations have to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities to prevent discrimination. Allowing members to keep a service animal or assistance animal is an example of...
Housing cooperatives have become increasingly popular in recent years, as more and more Americans decide that they’d rather live in a close-knit community alongside people with similar goals and priorities. While living in a housing co-op can be quite pleasant,...
Michigan homeowner's associations are important organizations that protect the safety and well-being of every resident in a neighborhood. The rules should not be ignored by any homeowner, including any rule that restricts the freedoms of pet ownership. It's the...
The Fair Housing Amendments Act built upon the Civil Rights Act and extended protections against discrimination in buying, renting, and financing properties. The law protects many people, including those who may have a disability. Michigan residents with a disability...