David J. Byrne

Partner

David Byrne is a partner in the Community Association Department. He devotes his practice to the representation of condominiums, community associations, cooperatives and homeowners associations. David provides homeowners associations, condominiums and cooperatives with a full range of legal advice and services, including:

Drafting and negotiation of service contracts
Rules and regulations and alternative dispute regulations (ADR)
Collections, delinquent assessments and common charges
Transition negotiations with developers and/or sponsors
Construction defect litigation
Municipal services and relations
Fair housing compliance
Restrictive covenant enforcement and interpretation
Any necessary litigation-related services
Governance
Fiduciary duties of board members

He has lectured extensively on a variety of topics, including:

Recovery and management of assessments and/or common charges
A developer’s obligations pursuant to New Jersey’s Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act
ADR
Mediation
Transition
“Going green” and communities
Predatory towing
Insurance
Contract law
Construction defects
Fair housing
Sponsorship duties per New York law
Rent receivership

David is a member of the advisory committee of the Community Association Manager, a publication serving the needs of the country’s community association managers. He serves as a consultant in legal malpractice cases involving community association attorneys, and on behalf of management companies and associations with regard to their fiduciary duties.

David has defended several associations via jury trials against fiduciary duty suits and testified before the 2003 New Jersey State Committee on Investigations inquiring into home construction and inspection abuses. He frequently lectures for the New Jersey chapter of CAI, the Cooperator, the South Jersey Condominium Managers Association, the Institute of Real Estate Managers, the New York/New Jersey Cooperator Annual Conference, NYARM, the Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley chapter of CAI, and the Hudson Valley Chapter of CAI. He is currently vice president of the board of directors of the Big Apple Chapter of CAI. In 2008, he was named in the New Jersey Law Journal’s list of top 40 Lawyers under 40* in New Jersey.

Prior to joining Ansell Grimm & Aaron, David was a partner at Herrick, Feinstein LLP in its Community Association Department.

*No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.

Representative Matters

Dismissal of the complaint of several condominium owners in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, regarding the United States Fair Housing Act, parking issues and allegations of retaliation, a decision reported at 173 F. Supp 2nd 244 (D.N.J. 2001)
Appellate Division’s reversal of a trial court’s refusal to apply the Municipal Services Act (“Kelly Bill”) to a community association in development, a decision reported at 330 N.J. Super. 345 (App. Div. 2000)
Landmark New Jersey Appellate Court decision upholding parking-related rules on public roads in a private community and protecting that board from a defamation suit, a decision reported as Verna v. Links at Valleybrook Neighborhood Association, Inc., at 371 N.J. Super 77 (App. Div. 2004)
Successfully argued that a condominium need not provide ADR prior to instituting an action for injunctive relief, a decision reported as Finderne Heights Condo. Association, Inc. v. Rabinowitz, 390 N.J. Super. 154 (App. Div. 2007)
Served as lead counsel to Leisure Village, successfully establishing, in 2012, that New Jersey’s Municipal Services Act does not bar the claims of qualified private communities made more than one year after the community’s costs had been incurred, a case reported as Leisure Village Association v. Township of Lakewood (L-1684-11)
Prevailed in a plenary hearing proving all the community’s roads are “roads” and eligible for reimbursements and/or services, for the purposes of New Jersey Municipal Services Act
Argued a groundbreaking appeal in Woodlake at Kings Grant Condominium v. Mesey, resulting in an appellate court opinion that recognized a court is empowered to grant a condominium’s application to place a unit into rent receivership, in the context of that condominium’s lien foreclosure
Successfully appeared before New Jersey’s Appellate Division, arguing in favor of a community association’s right to tow vehicles, enforce restrictive covenants, and protect owners’ privacy and the collection of assessments and attorneys’ fees

Admissions

New Jersey Bar
Pennsylvania Bar
New York Bar

Associations & Memberships

Publications

David has written numerous articles for the Community Associations Institute (CAI) Community Trends®magazine, the national publication Community Association Law Reporter, New York and New Jersey Cooperator, CAI’s Community Assets magazine, CAI’s In Focus magazine, and the New Jersey Law Journal. His articles have addressed issues including:

Affordable housing
Collections
Rent receiverships
Management and recovery of assessments and common charges
Free speech concerns
ADR
Fiduciary duty
Municipal services
Transition
Fair housing
Mediation
Governance
Rules and regulations
Foreclosure

Location

Princeton, NJ

Support Staff

Assistant: Margaret Crapanzano

609-557-1040

Practice Areas

Education

Rutgers School of Law, J.D., 1994

Rutgers College, B.A., 1991