Two common topics of discussion in condominium and townhome associations are: (1) who is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the building components; and (2) who is responsible for paying for repairs. Unless the association’s declaration...
Colorado: Covid-19 Safety Measures in Common Areas for Common Interest Communities
Community associations, like all other entities in the United States, have had to learn to navigate a new landscape of COVID-19 restrictions in the past year. Associations have had to adapt to the ever-changing situation on the fly, filling in the gaps left by...
Preparing Minneapolis: Does Your Property Have Riot Coverage?
Many insurance policies contain exclusions for damages associated with “civil unrest,” “riot or civil commotion,” “vandalism or malicious mischief,” or other terms meant to exclude the type of damages many Minneapolis property owners experienced as a result of rioting...
Another SJJ Victory at the Minnesota Court of Appeals
Glaros Hanson v. Midwest Inv. Servs., LLC, 2020 WL 5647239 (Minn. Ct. App. 2021) Smith Jadin Johnson attorneys Charles Austinson and Tim Johnson recently won a case at the Court of Appeals disqualifying an attorney from representing a company against one of its...
Court Orders Insurance Company to Identify Why it Denied a Claim
Discovery disputes in litigation are usually the result of unresolved misunderstandings between the parties over the nature of the issues in dispute. Most often, discovery disputes are and should be resolved without court intervention. Occasionally, there are...
Additional Minnesota Statutes Concerning Homeowners Associations
Many Boards and property managers are familiar with the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act, Minn. Stat. § 515B (“MCIOA”). MCIOA is the main statute that governs and regulates most, but not all, common-interest-communities (“CICs”) in Minnesota. While MCIOA is...
Why MCIOA? The Advantages of Opting into the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act
The Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act, Minn. Stat. § 515B et seq. (“MCIOA”, pronounced “em-kai-wah”) was passed by the Minnesota legislature in 1994 in order to provide a more uniform administration of common interest communities. Subject to a few exceptions,...
Is There a Hidden Deadline in Your Homeowners Policy?
In prior posts, we have commented on the standard two-year time limit for suit found in many Minnesota homeowners policies that effectively serves to shorten the time in which you may make a claim for insurance proceeds. The two-year time limit for suit is generally...
SJJ Secures Another Victory for Policyholders
SJJ attorneys already established a policyholder’s ability to recover interest on an underpaid insurance claim when the policyholder is forced to resolve it through the appraisal process in 2017 before the Minnesota Supreme Court. Since then, some insurance companies have tried to alter their policies in an attempt to prevent policyholders from receiving interest on these underpaid claims.
Probate Part III – When Probate Should Be Avoided
In part three of Smith Jadin Johnsons series on probate, this post discusses the scenarios when drafting a revocable trust as a client’s main estate planning device, and subsequently avoiding probate, makes the most sense. Depending on the type of estate, revocable trusts can be the preferred method of asset distribution for estates that are complex and for estates that require control over assets and/or privacy.
