News

Effective April 1, 2010, the Commonwealth of Virginia will require additional criteria for training program approval for common interest community managers. The new regulations will require at least one supervisory employee or officer with five years of experience to complete a comprehensive training program approved by Virginia's Common Interest Community Board. Additionally, at least 50% of the persons who have principal responsibility will be required to obtain a license or complete an introductory training program approved by the Board.

Other changes in the licensure law include changes to the bond reporting requirements for provisional licensees, the qualifications for licensure, and the acts prohibited under the regulations.

Please click here to see the new regulation which will be effective beginning in April 2010. If you or any of your community's members have any questions about the new regulations, or if you need legal assistance of any kind, you can contact Compton & Duling, L.C. to speak with an attorney at (703) 583-6060.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENT APPEALS

In a tough economy, businesses need to reduce expenses wherever possible, including their commercial real estate assessments. There are various review options available if a business believes its assessment is too high. After gathering pertinent information and doing an analysis of the costs and benefits, businesses must meet the assessment appeal deadlines or they will lose their opportunity to reduce their assessment and pay less tax than they otherwise would pay.

In the not too distant past, most people who were going through a divorce and owned real estate could count on receiving proceeds for their interest in that real estate -- either through the sale of the property or through a buy-out from their soon to be ex-spouse.  That asset would help them to move out, pay for legal representation, provide a down payment on a new home and generally enable someone to move on with their life.  And, although a divorce is one of the most traumatic of life events, having a financial cushion made the process measurably better.

Whether you are an individual, a small business, or a developer with a property that has a site plan recently approved or in process, there are provisions of the law you should be aware of in order to protect your investment in this current market. Under Virginia law (Virginia Code Section 15.2-2261), an approved final subdivision plat which has been recorded or an approved final site plan for a property shall be valid for a period of not less than five (5) years from the date of approval. You will notice that the language of the statute treats final subdivision plats and final site plans differently. An approved final subdivision plat must be recorded in order to remain valid for the five (5) year period, which in many cases will require that bonds be posted and maintained in full force and effect. This should be contrasted to a commercial site plan, which under the statute is deemed final once it has been reviewed and approved by the locality if the only requirement remaining to be satisfied in order to obtain a building permit is the posting of any bonds or escrows. Thus, there is no requirement to post bonds for a commercial site plan in order to achieve the five (5) year period of validity.

Whether you are in the process of forming a Virginia limited liability company (or “LLC”) or operating your business as an LLC, you need to have an “operating agreement”, which  is a written contractual document which sets forth the financial rights, obligations and duties of the members in an effort to reduce the possibility of future disputes.   What you may not know however, are the possible scenarios members could face if the LLC does not have an operating agreement or if the agreement does not adequately plan for unexpected circumstances. Unfortunately, Virginia law does not require an operating agreement and many people form LLCs without a written operating agreement.