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