Stark & Stark's Community Associations practice serves clients throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Homeowner and condominium associations and cooperatives have multi-faceted legal needs. These needs include drafting and negotiating service contracts, rule and regulation enforcement and creation, alternative dispute resolution, assessment collection, developer transition, negotiation, construction defect litigation, general litigation, municipal relations and reimbursement, fair housing compliance and covenant enforcement and interpretation. Using both a team and cross-disciplinary approach, Stark & Stark's Community Associations Group brings together attorneys with expertise in corporate law, bankruptcy, collections, real estate and litigation. The Group is thus able to counsel as well as advocate for its clients.

Stark & Stark provides businesses with the ability to have top-notch legal counsel at their disposal on an "as-needed" basis. Our clients contact us to help them to structure their new ventures and to help them to address any legal concerns along the way. We act proactively, to ensure that our clients are protected from unnecessary risks. We manage our clients' legal problems so that they can focus on building their businesses.

General Business Counsel

The Community Associations Group attorneys regularly appear before the Appellate, Chancery and Law Divisions of the Superior Court, arguing in favor of community associations' rights to tow vehicles, enforce restrictive covenants, recover condominium attorney fees and their rights to a correct interpretation of an insurance policy. Stark & Stark has tried, before both judges and juries, many types of matters including:

The Group's attorneys are active lecturers and authors. They have lectured and given seminars with respect to age-restricted communities. They have lectured and written articles concerning collections, insurance, bankruptcy, rules and regulations, alternative dispute resolution, a developer's obligations pursuant to New Jersey's Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act, free speech and affordable housing issues.

Stark & Stark's Community Associations Group also understands the practical challenges faced by community associations every day. They support, help and educate property managers, board members and other professionals - privately and in the context of open meetings. They work closely with engineers, insurance professionals, accountants and other professionals.

Experience

Stark & Stark's attorneys are recognized for their experience. The Group includes a member of the New Jersey General Assembly's blue ribbon panel created to study New Jersey's community associations. One of its attorneys serves on the New Jersey Community Associations Institute's Board of Directors. Another of its attorneys is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Community Association Manager, a publication serving the needs of the country's community association managers. Further, the Group is an active participant of the New Jersey Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), a trade organization dedicated to the concerns and advancement of community associations, as well as the Delaware Valley and Hudson Valley Chapters. The Group includes a former CAI Speaker of the Year and CAI Author of the Year. Its attorneys have served on almost all of CAI's committees, including its legislative action and editorial committees. Its attorneys have chaired CAI's conference, membership and public relations committees. Stark & Stark's Community Associations Group was named CAI - New Jersey's 2002 Member of the Year.

The Group's attorneys volunteer their time to mediate suits filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Special Civil Part. One member of the Community Associations Group is the Chairperson of the Office of Attorney Ethics, District VII Committee. The Group's attorneys actively volunteer in civil, charitable, educational and religious organizations and groups, as well as county and state bar associations.

Clients

Stark & Stark represents over 200 community associations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. Our clients receive prompt and personal attention. No community association is too large or too small. Our clients range in size from 6 to 1400 homes and units. They range in type from small, single family home communities to many unit condominiums and cooperatives to townhome developments. From Pennsylvania to New York, our clients can be found from Cape May to Bergen County, from Camden to Mercer County, from Mercer to Ocean County, from Monmouth to Hudson County, from Queens, New York to the eastern part of Pennsylvania. Stark & Stark's Community Associations Group is committed, through its wide range of expertise and depth of experience, to providing exceptional legal services to community associations.

Shareholders

The Group is led by its two shareholders, A. Christopher Florio and David J. Byrne. Between them, they have over 25 years of experience representing community associations.

Recent Experience

• Verna v. The Links at Valleybrook Neighborhood Association, Inc.- successfully defended homeowner's association's right to retain its authority to enforce their parking rules and regulations even though it had previously ceded the jurisdiction of its streets to the municipality.
  
• Briarglen II Condominium Association v. Township of Freehold - successfully secured the Appellate Division's reversal of a trial court's refusal to apply New Jersey's Municipal Services Act ("Kelly Bill") to a community association in development.
  
• Sporn v. Ocean Colony Condominium Association - successfully secured the dismissal of several condominium owners' complaint, filed in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, regarding the United States Fair Housing Act, parking issues and allegations of retaliation.
  
• Represented a condominium which successfully litigated a condominium's right to recover legal fees in collection cases in excess of the amount of assessments in dispute.
  
• Aided a condominium in avoiding Department of Environmental Protection fines associated with private beach rights.
  
• Assisted a cooperative in extending the term of its proprietary lease.
  
• Helped a client in resolving a longstanding collection case in Queens (NY) Courts.
  
• Successfully negotiated and litigated over 75 separate transitions, resulting in damages paid to clients and repairs made for clients.
  
• Secured many court orders compelling developers to turn over plans, drawing specifications, funds and receipts.
  
• Represented a hotel condominium in an action involving all 100 units and mortgagees to reform that hotel condominium's master deed.
  
• Forced insurance carriers to defend cooperatives and condominiums to defend those clients against suits by homeowners.
  
• Successfully protected a client's name, trademark, and website from a local realtor's "squatting".