DEVELOPMENT OF PLANNED COMMUNITIES

SHARON REULER has unique expertise in creating planned communities for real estate developers. Unlike some firms that create property owners associations as an adjunct service to their primary work, SHARON concentrates exclusively in this area. Having previously represented hundreds of owner-controlled associations, SHARON knows what property owners associations need to function effectively. Ongoing involvement with state legislation in the volatile arena of property owners associations keeps SHARON acutely aware of whatever is blowing in the POA wind. She brings real world experience to the paper she produces.

SHARON REULER is a vital member of the development team that breathes community into the bricks and mortar. At the core of that representation are the project documents that establish and govern the mandatory association of property owners. Typically, these include the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (the CC&Rs), the Association Bylaws, and the Articles of Association by which the Association is incorporated. As needed by her clients, SHARON also prepares common area deeds, annexation instruments for phased developments, marketing materials, design guidelines, use rules, management certificates, and other documents related to the creation and marketing of the property owners association.

In connection with creating the planned community, SHARON works with developer clients and their management companies to effect a smooth transition of the control of the association to the property owners. Many clients ask us to participate at transition meetings to explain to the owners how the project documents work and to provide an overview of the governance structure. SHARON also seeks opportunities to help train a client's sales and marketing teams on these issues.

Because the names of our clients appear in documents that will be used daily by generations of owners, SHARON want her clients to be as proud of the project's documentation as they are of the project's entry feature and amenity center. Mindful that the project documents are handed to prospective purchasers and posted on client's websites, in addition to being in the public record, SHARON strives to make her client's documents attractive and readable.

What's so special about SHARON'S documents?

• Custom tailoring for the unique aspects of each development.

• Responsive to each developer's unique concerns.

• Protect development and marketing rights using concepts that are more contemporary and flexible than the old-fashioned Class B membership.

• Reflect changes in case law, statutes, lenders, underwriting guidelines, and standards of operating property owners associations.

• Written in plain English.

• Attractive letter-size presentation for use as marketing tool.

• Graphics alert the reader to unusual or particularly important provisions.

• Formatting designed to facilitate legibility after document images are reduced in size by microfilming or scanning.

• Tables of contents in longer documents.

• Developer protective provisions are segregated for quick reference by our clients, and to improve the post-development usefulness of the documents.

CONDOMINIUM DEVELOPMENT

SHARON REULER is a Texas authority on condominium law, having been involved since 1979 with the drafting, evolution, and successful passage of the Texas Uniform Condominium Act in 1993. SHARON is the most published attorney in Texas on the subject of the statute, having authored two definitive articles for the State Bar of Texas.

The description of SHARON's Development of Planned Communities practice area also applies to condominium development, and is not repeated here. Because the development and marketing of Texas condominiums is subject to a state law that does not apply to planned communities, SHARON identifies this as a different but related practice area.

In addition to the basic project documents - the Condominium Declaration, Association Bylaws, and Articles of Association that incorporate the Association - SHARON prepares the Condominium Information Statement, the Budget Preparer's Certificate, a Community Manual with initial rules and policies, and the Condominium Management Certificate, all of which are required by statute. For condominium conversions, SHARON prepares the Declarant's Conversion Statement and the notices to tenants that are required by state law. All of the documents are designed to work together without duplication of provisions. For many clients, SHARON also prepares the unit sales contract and project-specific contract addenda.