What is alternative dispute resolution?
Alternative dispute resolution is a way of settling disagreements, between neighbors, or between a resident and the board, without going to court. It usually takes the form of mediation, where a neutral third party helps both sides reach an agreement, or arbitration, where that third party actually decides the outcome.
Why does alternative dispute resolution matter?
Lawsuits are expensive, slow, and hard on community relationships that need to survive long after the dispute ends. ADR gives boards a faster, less adversarial way to resolve conflicts, which matters enormously in a community where the people on either side of a disagreement are still going to be neighbors next year.
When You’ll Run Into This
ADR tends to come up the moment a dispute starts sounding like it might end up in a lawyer’s office. Getting a mediation clause into your governing documents now means you won’t be scrambling to figure out the process later, once tempers are already high.
