AGA’s CAP Group at CAI-NJ Expo
Ansell Grimm
October 26, 2016
Visit Ansell Grimm & Aaron’s Community Association Practice Group at the 2016 CAI-NJ Annual Conference & Expo, booth # 309 on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at the Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset. Attorneys from AGA will be on hand to answer questions regarding the Group’s legal services for homeowners associations, condominiums and cooperatives. If you wish to schedule a meeting, please contact David Byrne, Esq., Practice Group Chair at 609.557.1031 or djb@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com. To learn more about the event visit https://cainj.wildapricot.org/widget/event-2141216.
Stacey Patterson, an attorney in AGA’s Community Association Practice Group led a roundtable discussion on behalf of Community Associations Institute (“CAI”) – Hudson Valley which took place in Hillburn, New York on September 15th.
The discussion was attended by various professionals in the Hudson Valley community association industry and board members from New York condominium associations and HOAs. Board members and managers had the opportunity to ask Ms. Patterson legal questions including questions surrounding ADA compliance, unit owner access to community documents, common element maintenance and modifications and governing document interpretation.
Ms. Patterson is located in AGA’s Woodland Park, NJ and White Plains, NY offices. To discuss your legal needs, you may contact her at 973-925-7343 or srp@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com.
In New Jersey, community associations are required to formally offer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve housing related disputes among members (home owners) and/or the association itself. Ansell Grimm & Aaron PC’s Community Association Practice Group partner Richard B. Linderman, will present an educational program on ADR on Wednesday, Sept. 14from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. at Tir Na Nog, Cherry Hill.
The program, which will provide an overview of what mediation is and how it works in the ADR process, is sponsored by the Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley Chapter of Community Association Institute’s New Jersey Regional Council. Community association managers will receive two continuing education credits for taking part in the event which is being presented in conjunction with three Business Partner Roundtables.
For more information, or to register for the ADR seminar or the roundtables, please visit CAI’s New Jersey Regional Council page.
For more information on AGA’s Community Association Practice Group, contact, Richard B. Linderman, at 609-557-1032 or via email at rbl@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com.
David J. Byrne and Ansell Grimm & Aaron’s Community Association Practice Group, will exhibit at Community Association Institute of New Jersey’s Legislative Breakfast on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at Forsgate Country Club, Monroe. Key New Jersey opinion leaders and lawmakers, including state Department of Community Affairs Director Charles A. Richman, will discuss pending state legislative issues regarding New Jersey’s common interest communities. For additional information about the event, or CAI-NJ, visit their website or contact them via email at info@cainj.org or by phone at 609.588.0030.
For more information about AGA’s CAP group, or to discuss legal needs for your homeowners association, condominium or cooperative, please contact David J. Byrne at 609.557.1031 or djb@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com.
Today Ansell Grimm & Aaron, P.C. (“AGA”) obtained not only a victory for their client, Cypress Point Condominium Association, but a clear victory for all condominium and homeowners associations in New Jersey. In a groundbreaking decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court (the “Court”) has confirmed that insurance policies held by developers and general contractors cover the faulty workmanship of subcontractors they hire. Specifically, the Court found that defective workmanship is an “occurrence” under commercial general liability policies, and that those policies specifically and unequivocally cover property damage caused by the faulty work of the subcontractors hired to actually perform the construction of the buildings.
AGA Community Association Group Partner Mark Wiechnik, appeared before the New Jersey Supreme Court in April 2016 to argue the case after the developer/general contractor’s insurers appealed a July 2015 decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division. At the Appellate level Wiechnik, and AGA Community Association Group Attorney Breanne DeRaps, successfully argued that, under a plain reading of the insurance policy in question, consequential damages to the common areas of the condominium complex and unit owners’ property caused by subcontractors’ defective work are “property damage” and an “occurrence” and that the trial court had erred in granting summary judgement in favor of the insurers.
This ruling gives New Jersey condominium associations and homeowners the means to recover damages from the sponsor, developer and/or general contractor, who typically have no assets to satisfy a judgment. For years, insurers have taken the position that exclusions in the policy for “your work” meant that the entire building, i.e. the “work” of the general contractor, was exempt from coverage. Carriers often refused to pay any damages even to associations and homeowners who were experiencing catastrophic leaks into their homes. That ends today.
If you have questions about the case, please contact Mark Weichnik at 609-228-5593 or mmw@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com.
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For more than 85 years, ANSELL GRIMM & AARON, PC has been dedicated to providing excellent legal representation. In providing zealous advocacy and skilled legal advice to our diverse clientele, our attorneys all practice with a common philosophy… commitment to excellence and commitment to people.
Ansell Grimm & Aaron P.C. Community Association Practice Group attorneys Lysa Bergenfeld and Stacey Patterson teamed with Erika Berfumo from Certa Pro Painters, Valentine Valdman from Station Square, Ray Ambrosino and Brad Memoli from Garden State Securities, Caesar Mistretta from Hub International Insurance Brokers, and Bob Rogers and Dawn Ruggiero from First Service Residential at Community Association Institute’s 2nd Annual Olympics, at Thompson Park in Monroe. Proceeds from the July 20 event are donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation which arranges experiences for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
For more information about AGA’s Community Association Practice Group, please contact Lysa Bergenfeld at 609-557-1034 or Stacey Patterson at 973-925-7343.
In the latest issue of Association Help Now, David Bryne, managing partner of Ansell Grimm & Aaron’s Community Association Practice Group addresses the tricky question of vote counting when it comes to issues affecting the declarations and bylaws of homeowner’s associations.
“In New Jersey, the general rule is the amendment percentage is set by the document that is sought to be amended, except in certain situations” Byrne explains in the article, “A condominium can be terminated if 80% of everyone votes to terminate. That’s a provision set by statue.”
For the full story, visit AHN’s website.
On May 26th AGA Partner Brian E. Ansell will be installed as First Vice President of the Monmouth County Bar Association. AGA Counsel Pamela A. Mulligan will be installed as President of the Burlington County Bar Foundation and as Treasurer of the Burlington County Bar Association on June 3rd.
Mr. Ansell, based in the firm’s Ocean Township office, has been very active with the Monmouth County Bar Association and has been a trustee since 2008 and officer of the Monmouth County Bar Association since 2012. Mr. Ansell focuses his practice in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, criminal defense, municipal court, DWI defense, as well as general civil, criminal and chancery litigation including litigation related to wills and estates. Mr. Ansell is Chair of the Civil Practice, Judicial Appointments and Municipal Court Committees and has served on multiple other committees throughout his tenure with the Monmouth County Bar Association. Mr. Ansell’s installation will take place at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Ms. Mulligan currently serves as Secretary for the Burlington County Bar Association and Treasurer of the Burlington County Bar Foundation and has been active with the Burlington County Bar Association and Foundation since 2007. In 2011 Ms. Mulligan was awarded the Robert W. Criscuolo Award from the Burlington County Bar Association for her contributions to the Association and to the Community. Ms. Mulligan is currently the Chair of the Corporate Networking Committee and a member of the Due Diligence, Debtor/Creditor/Bankruptcy, Budget & Finance, CLE, and Women in the Profession Committees. Ms. Mulligan was previously co-chair of the Debtor/Creditor/Bankruptcy and Young Lawyers Committees. She has presented CLEs for the Bar Association on the topics of Bankruptcy and Foreclosure and has moderated other seminars for the Bar Association. Ms. Mulligan focuses her practice in the areas of real estate, creditors’ rights, bankruptcy and intellectual property limited to copyright and trademark. Ms. Mulligan’s installation will take place at Kings Grant Community Center in Marlton, New Jersey.
Mr. Ansell may be reached via email at bea@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com or via his direct line at 732-643-5230.
Ms. Mulligan may be reached via email at pam@62q.f7d.myftpupload.com or via her direct line at 609-557-1045
Mark M. Wiechnik, a partner in Ansell Grimm & Aaron, P.C.’s community association practice group, will be a featured speaker at the National Business Institute’s May 3 seminar on Construction Defect Litigation at the Holiday Inn, Princeton, 100 Independence Way. Mr. Wiechnik will be speaking about what is covered and what is not covered by insurance policies, including the debates currently taking place regarding how insurance coverage is affected by building codes and standards, warranties and the Magnuson-Moss and Miller Acts.
To register for the seminar please visit the NBI website at: Construction Defect Litigation from A to Z. Attendance at the seminar satisfies state-mandated continuing legal education requirements for New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The seminar runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a 1 hour lunch break at noon.
