Social Media Lawyer

Social Media and Other Sitesthat Can Save You Time and Moneyby Jeffrey O'Brien, Esq.,Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, PA

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Technology has revolutionizedhow we do business. Social mediasites, websites and smartphone

applications all combine to make us moreefficient in our respective businesses,and the CfC industry is no different. Hereare just a sampling of resources availableto eIe managers and board members tomake their jobs easier:

CIC Midwest Linkedln Group: Yes,folks,eIe Midwest has its own LinkedIn group.On it you'll find various discussions andinformation on upcoming events. What-ever your role is with eIe communities,joining the CfC Midwest Linkedln groupis a must. Do you have a question abouta legal issue involved with your CfCcommunity and don't know where to turnfor the answer? Post the question on theele Midwest LinkedIn group page andyou'll almost certainly hear from one ofthe member attorneys in a short while.

Minnesota Multi Housing Association(MHA) LinkedIn Group: MHA also has

hire a professional reserve company to per-form the required review every three years.

Q: Does the new prohibition on takingor borrowing money from the reserveaccount to fund operating expensesmean that associations can no longerreserve for painting, seal coating, andother major maintenance expenses?

A: The new statutory language makes itclear that funds that are being reservedfor the replacement of components in theassociation must be kept separately fromall other accounts that the associationmaintains for operating expenses, and thatfunds in the replacement reserve accountmay not be used for operating expenses.However, it does not prevent associationsfrom maintaining separate "operatingreserve" accounts to be used for the

its own group, and for those professionalsinvolved on both the rental and ele sidesof the multi-housing industry, this groupoffers many of the same aspects as theeIe Midwest group to the broader groupof multi-housing industry professionals.

Xpenser.com: Xpenser.com isn't a socialmedia site, but rather an application whichcan be used via a computer or smartphone.Xpenser lets you record expenses as soonas they happen via whatever means areavailable to you quickly and painlessly.Send them in via Email .SMS.IM. or voice(call a number and say your expense). Usethe iPhone, Android, or WebOS nativeapplications. From your Blackberry, email"Lunch $78 .50 with BigClient" and it'srecorded. From your phone, SMS "expgroceries $27.13." From your computer,1M"Equipment $889.19 backup server."Fromyour phone, call and say "taxi $39 officeto airport." Use the Web interface to editand finalize them or export them to yourfavorite financial management software. No

funding of larger maintenance and repairprojects. Associations should consultwith their tax advisor to make sure thatthese operating reserve accounts areproperly set up to avoid any possible taxconsequences of having surplus operat-ing funds at the end of the year.

Q: Is there a penalty for failing to com-ply with the new reserve requirements?

A: There is no penalty provision builtinto 515B .3-114( 1) for associations thatfail to comply with the new reserve re-quirements. However, as with all provi-sions of Me lOA , 515BA-116 provides aright of action for homeowners and otherparties damaged by the failure of theassociation or other parties to comply withany statutory provision, and furtherprovides that the prevailing party in such

COMMUNICATIONS

more forgetting yourcash expenses, nomore half-day expenseentry sessions

Squareup.com:Square is an appwhich enables youto accept credit cardsquickly and easily O'BRIENusing your mobile device. Subscribersreceive a free card reader when they down-load the app. Fees are 2.75% per swipe. Ifyou enter credit card numbers manually,Square costs 3.5% + 15¢ per transaction.

Doodle.com: Having trouble schedulingan important meeting via email? TryDoodle. Doodle eliminates the chaos ofscheduling and saves you a lot of time andenergy when you're trying to find a timeto bring a number of people together. Theservice is used for business and personalscheduling by more than 10 million peopleper month. Instead of using just one

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an action may recover its attorney's feesand costs in bringing the action. In otherwords, the association and/or its boardof directors can be sued by one or morehomeowners for failing to comply withthe statutory requirements and could befacing a judgment that includes an award">of attorney's fees and costs. Further, anaward for attorney's fees and costs maynot be covered damages under the associ-ation's applicable insurance policy, mean-ing that those amounts would have to bepaid out-of-pocket. •

Phaedra J. Howard, Esq.Hellmuth & Johnson, PLLCe-mail: phoward@hjlawfirm.com952-746-2142Web: http://www.hjlawfirm.com or http://www.mncommunityassociation.com

26 CIC MIDWEST NEWS WINTER 2012

Jeffrey C. O'Brien is a Partner withMansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A. He canbe reached at (612) 339-4295 or viaemail atjobrien@mansfieldtanick.com.

GOODNEWSNew Subcommittee ChairsWe welcome our two newest CIC Midwestsubcommittee chairs:

Douglas Strandness,Dunbar Strandness,is our new LegislativeSubcommittee Chair.He became an asso-ciate member ofMHAin 1981 when he wasa property managerworking for LaSalle STRANDNESSGroup.When he started his own companyin 1991, he immediately joined MHA .Hewas involved in the start up of the MHAInvestors Club.In 2000, he worked withKim Carlson of Cities Management, whowas then the MHA Board Chair, to ini-tiate the formation of CIC Midwest.Hecontinued that effort when he becamethe Board Chair in 2001.He has also beeninvolved with the MHA LegislativeCommittee and with lobbying at the StateCapitol for at least 20 years.

Doug has been involved in all aspectsof the multifamily housing industry since1975.After working primarily in day-to-dayproperty management for 30 years, forboth rental and CIC properties, he refo-cused his efforts in 2010 .He now worksas a consultant in the areas of assetmanagement, management of major rehabprojects, redevelopment and financing.

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option, Doodle enables you to proposeseveral dates and times and the partici-pants can indicate their availability online.You '11find the perfect time to meet in aquick and easy way, no matter how manypeople and calendars are involved. Doodleis free and doesn't require you to register.

These sites are far from a time consum-ing distraction. In fact, usage of thesegroups and sites can actually increaseyour productivity. -

Send your company's Good News items to connie.anderson@mmha.com. Deadlines for eachquarterly issue of ere Midwest News are: March 1, June 1, September 1, December 1.

Gretchen Schellhas

Gretchen Schellhas,Thomsen &Nybeck,received the Major Award in October. Shebecame the CEO of Thomsen &Nybeckin 2007, and that's when Gretchen andher group stepped up their involvementin CIC Midwest. She and her team sharetheir time and expertise by teaching,writing articles, and committee work.Gretchen has repeatedly been featuredas a Superlawyer by Minnesota Law &Politics. We think she's super too.Weare happy to present our major award toGretchen Schellhas.

Matt Lupkes, New Concepts Management,received the Major Award in November.Matt has been a renaissance man withCIC Midwest - he can do just about every-thing, and he does. We recognize him forhis outstanding contribution to CICMidwest as past chair of the Resourcessubcommittee, and current chair of theMMP (Membership/Marketing/Promo-tions) subcommittee. He is a prolific writerof articles for CIC Midwest News, a stellaridea man, participates in education, CICMidwest LinkedIn hotline questions, andas part of the strategic leadership tea~

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CCAM

Justin P. Short, Esq.,Best & Flanagan, isour new PublicationsSubcommittee Chair.He specializes inrepresenting coop-eratives and commu-nity associations onHUD financing issues,construction warran- SHORTties, construction defects, communitygovernance and other general litigationmatters.

Major AwardsWe are happy to present our MajorAward to those CIC Midwest memberswho have contributed time and expertiseto help move our organization forward.

Phaedra Howard, Hellmuth & Johnson,received the Major Award in September.

She was integral in CIC Midwest's legis-lative effort this spring, working closelywith MHA Director of GovernmentRelations Todd Liljenquist. She was a toprecruiter in the last two membership con-tests. She is co-chair of the CIC MidwestEducation subcommittee, teaches manyclasses, and is part of the team that isredesigning the ACCAM certification pro-gram. She also serves on the CIC MidwestPublications subcommittee and writesarticles for every issue. She tirelesslyanswers questions on the CIC MidwestLinkedIn discussion group. And she ispart of the CIC Midwest strategic leader-ship team. Thanks to all of her efforts,and those of the Hellmuth & Johnsonteam, Hellmuth & Johnson won theMADACS Award for Vendor of the Year.

Phaedra Howard and Cindy Reiter

(the original CertifiedCommunity AssociationManager course) isApril 26-27th, 2012.

ACCAM (Advanced CCAM)in a modular format

begins in the Fallof 2012.

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