Condo Media - June 2014 - 15

by Richard E. Brooks, Esq.

MASSACHUSETTS

C A I

Simple Document Can Help Prevent Sales From Falling Apart

Many managers have been using
delegations of authority for some time
now without any issues. Of course if
the management company changes,
a new delegation of authority would
need to be issued authorizing the new
manager. However, the delegation
of authority survives any changes on
the board so that the delegation of
authority can be in effect for as long as
the manager manages the property.
Since the managers do the account-

ing, they are also in the best position
to know whether or not any condominium fees are due. By all logic, it
should be the manager who signs
the 6(d) in the first place; however,
condominium documents require that
it be signed by the board.
The reason I am writing this article
at this time is not just to remind our
readers of this solution, but I am
noticing that many of our clients are
currently requesting delegations of
authority. More than likely, lenders
and/or lenders' attorneys are being
more careful and noticing that 6(d)
certificates are not always signed by
the board. Managers may be authorized by boards to sign 6(d) certificates; however, without a delegation
of authority signed and recorded
at the registry, a careful lender or
attorney will not accept the 6(d)
certificate signed by the manager. Of
course, this can present a great problem if the manager has signed a 6(d)
without a recorded delegation of
authority. The 6(d) certificate is not
usually presented until the closing. If
the closing attorney refuses to accept
the 6(d) certificate, the sale could fall
apart and we all know who will be
blamed for that.
As the delegation of authority is a
simple document to prepare, I would
suggest that each condominium association contact its attorney and have
a delegation of authority specifically
drafted for your association so that the
management company can sign 6(d)
certificates on behalf of the board. CM
Richard E. Brooks, Esq., is a partner
in the law firm of Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C. in Braintree, Mass.
Condo Media * June 2014

N e w s

lthough this is not a new
idea or maybe even not a
new topic for a Condo Media
article, I think it is time
again that managers and boards consider using delegations of authority.
Every time there is a sale of a condominium unit, and many times in the
event of a refinance, a 6(d) is requested. The 6(d) must be signed by
a majority of the board (or less than a
majority if the condominium documents so allow), and the 6(d) certificate must be notarized.
Often the 6(d) is not requested
until hours before the closing. Without the 6(d), most closings will not
go forward. Therefore, obtaining the
signatures of the board members and
getting the 6(d) notarized becomes a
time-sensitive project. Yet, because it
entails numerous signatures, getting
the 6(d) signed by the board is not
always the easiest proposition. Board
members are frequently inconvenienced or annoyed by this rather
mundane function of signing a document in the presence of a notary.
The solution is as simple as the
board delegating their authority to
sign the 6(d) to their property manager. The legal document is easy to
prepare and need only be signed once
and recorded.
Once it is on record, most, if not
all, attorneys and lenders will rely
upon that document which authorizes
the property manager to sign the
6(d) certificate. Since the property
manager is the person who gets the
request for the 6(d) and most property managers have a notary available,
the delegation of authority speeds up
the entire process.

R e g i o n a l

Delegation of Authority

Condo Media - June 2014

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