About The Author
Kevin Hirzel is the Managing Member of Hirzel Law, which focuses its practice on condominium and homeowners association law. Hirzel Law has offices in Farmington, Grand Rapids, Sterling Heights, and Traverse City Michigan, as well as Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Hirzel is a fellow in the College of Community Association Lawyers (“CCAL”), a prestigious designation given to less than 175 attorneys in the country. He has served as a member of the Community Associations Institute’s (“CAI”) National Board of Trustees, the national CCAL Board of Governors, and the national CAI Government and Public Affairs Committee. Mr. Hirzel has been recognized by Best Lawyers, Leading Lawyers, Super Lawyers and was also named a “Go-To-Lawyer” in condominium and real estate law by Lawyer’s Weekly.
Mr. Hirzel has been interviewed on community association legal issues by various media outlets throughout the country, such as CBS, CNBC, Common Ground Magazine, Community Association Management Insider, Crain’s Detroit Business, the Dan Abrams Show on SiriusXM Radio, the Detroit News, Dr. Drew Midday Live on KABC Radio, Fox Business News, Fox News, HOALeader.com, the Law & Crime Network, Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly, Newsmax, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, WWJ, and WXYZ. Mr. Hirzel is a dynamic speaker and frequently lectures on community association law throughout Michigan, as well as nationally at the CAI National Law Seminar, and is a two-time winner of the best manuscript award at the CAI National Law Seminar.
About Hirzel’s Handbook
Need help learning the legal requirements and best practices for operating a condominium or homeowners association? Hirzel’s Handbook is a step-by-step guide for everything you need to know to successfully manage an Illinois community association. The book was designed as a resource for volunteer board members and property managers to understand the basic principles of community association operations, as most board members and property managers only receive “on the job training.” Hirzel’s Handbook fills the void and provides sage advice from an experienced community association attorney on properly operating a community association and avoiding common problems. The handbook covers operational issues, such as, architectural control decisions, association finances, corporate governance, meetings, and insurance. After reading Hirzel’s Handbook you will also understand how to handle more complex issues, such as transitioning an association from developer control, bylaw enforcement, collections, amending the governing documents, and Fair Housing.
Overview
List of chapters in this Book
Introduction
Chapter One - Types of Community Associations
Chapter one lays out the different types of condominium projects in Illinois, including mandatory and voluntary homeowners associations, the differences between traditional condominium and homeowners associations, business, mixed-use projects, and master community associations.
Chapter Two - Community Association Operations
Chapter Three - Community Association Insurance
Chapter three discusses the duties of the insurance carrier, insurance requirements and different types of insurance coverage.
Chapter Four - Transitioning the Association From Developer Control to Owner Control
Chapter four will help the reader understand how to transition the association from developer control to owner control.
Chapter Five - Enforcing the Governing Documents
Chapter five discusses the methods that a condominium association can use to enforce the governing documents.
Chapter Six - Collections
Chapter six covers community association collections and expands on how your condominium association can handle liens and judicial foreclosures, when a bank or other mortgage lender is obligated to pay assessments after a foreclosure, and what happens when an owner declares bankruptcy.
Chapter Seven - Amending the Governing Documents
Chapter seven discusses amending the governing documents, providing information regarding when your articles of incorporation need to be updated, when you should amend your governing documents, red flags that your governing documents may be outdated, the process for amending governing documents, the types of amendments that do not require a co-owner vote, and how to properly use rule-making authority.
Chapter Eight - Fair Housing
Chapter eight focuses on fair housing, such as the process for fair housing claims, theories of liability under the Fair Housing Act, disability discrimination, familial discrimination, race, color, or national origin discrimination, religious discrimination, and sex discrimination.
Chapter Nine - Distressed Condominiums and Deconversions
Chapter nine discusses the difference between distressed condominiums and deconversions and why they should be considered seperate and distinct.
Conclusion - Your Condo or HOA is What You Make of It!
The conclusion provides key takeaways for operating a condominium or homeowners association, next steps and an opportunity to complete a health check for your association!
