Today more ways to communicate exist than ever before: Cell phones, email, social networking sites such as Facebook, blogs, video call systems like Skype, online chat forums, microblogging services such as Twitter, websites, and virtual in…
Condos and homeowner associations have made headlines over the years for passing all kinds of overreaching and downright silly rules and regulations—everything from forbidding the flying of the American flag to having prohibitions about ha…
Speak to any volunteer-run organization, whether it is a town board, the soccer association, a church’s childcare program or the school PTO, and the same complaint resounds: “We don’t have enough people stepping up to serve.” Condominium h…
A decorous, welcoming lobby in a high- or mid-rise condominium entices interested buyers to purchase, and it encourages current residents to interact more socially. The entrance area has also customarily been the hub for the day-to-day lif…
A billboard brags about a car with “all-wheel-drive for the winter months and a sunroof for the summer ones,” and New Englanders smile knowingly. Nevertheless, the fact is that Northeastern winters can be serious business, and for few more…
While essential to the successful operation of all cooperatives or condominiums, governing documents are often only glossed over by otherwise well-intentioned board members, residents and property managers leading to potential pitfalls.…
As housing markets in many parts of the country—including New England—have foundered, many developers have opted to convert portions of communities originally intended to be condominiums into rental properties. When a development with n…
Most people assume that as soon as they buy their first home, they will finally have the freedom to paint their decks purple, to hang fluorescent window treatments and colorful sconces, or litter their lawns with political or yard sale…
Q I am three months behind in my homeowner's association payments. Can the condominium foreclose on my unit? My mortgage payments are up to date, and I called my lender who said no, they cannot foreclose. What do you say? I wrote a let…
Board members and trustees are volunteers with many responsibilities. They devote time to their association, act as a governing body for the condo and have the powers to control what is permitted to take place and not take place. It’s …