October 2, 2009

This week's tip is about whether or not you should moderate your HOA's online discussion forum.

"This is one of those areas where the law isn't keeping up with the technology," says Elizabeth White, a shareholder and head of the community associations practice at the law firm of LeClairRyan in Williamsburg, Va.

"I completely recognize the community-building aspect of these sites. If associations are doing them well, they can be tremendous assets. From the lawyer's perspective, however, real-time communications pose tremendous challenges. Residents point to the benefit, but we have to defend claims. There's a real possibility for slander, defamation, and fair housing violations."

That's why Elizabeth advocates monitoring your site.

She says, "If it's an association-sponsored site, there's a responsibility for the association to have knowledge of what's on the site, and it can't do that without monitoring."

Kristen L. Rosenbeck, a partner at the Mulcahy Law Firm PC in Phoenix, which represents associations, agrees. "I don't recommend that community Web sites be unmonitored or a free-for-all," she says. "If the board says it wants to create one, a board member needs to step forward and say, 'I'll be in charge of it,' or the board needs to assign a member to oversee the site. I recommend the person overseeing it be a diligent board member."

You can get more information about managing an HOA or condo discussion forum from a new HOAleader.com article. You'll discover more information on the dangers these sites can pose, how to set your rules, and whether or not you can ban members from posting. Go there now »

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President