Q What if any are the limits to what the board of trustees are required to do under Massachusetts General Statutes 183A? What happens if they overstep their bounds? — Unauthorized in Auburn A “The mandatory provisions a…
Q Last year I became disabled and applied to the board for approval for a companion dog. Upon approval, I signed an agreement that restricted the dog from certain areas and reiterated the dog could not be a nuisance to neighbors. I instal…
Q I was wondering if you had any information about whether a co-op management company is required by law to answer questions about random fees appearing on a monthly statement. I've been struggling for 6 months with my management company …
Q In this day and age, must notices of rule violations be sent by certified mail? Can they be sent via priority/tracking mail? Can they be sent by email? Must complaints by others to a rules committee always be placed on standardized form…
While keeping the records of the association is not the most fascinating part of serving on a board of trustees, it is in some ways the most important. In fact, the flow of paperwork is the lifeblood of the community. The association…
While the vast majority of one-time projects and long-term service contracts involving vendors and service providers and their condominium or HOA clients go smoothly and either conclude or continue without incident, a small percentage …
While some condos and HOAs are lucky enough to have lawyers serve as members of their board, the majority of boards don’t have an in-house legal expert. They often reach out to their attorney to answer questions, vet documents, send the…
In buying into a condominium community and its lifestyle, the prospective owner signs a contract, agreeing to accept and uphold the community’s rules and regulations—and essentially waiving certain rights. In doing so, this buy…
Can’t we all just get along? It’s a million-dollar question. When people move into a community, they often look for the friendliness and camaraderie that living in an association brings. But with many personalities often butting heads o…
Too often, association boards—and condo residents—discover serious coverage gaps in their insurance policies in the face of a claim. And often, the gap occurs when neither group wants to pay a high deductible. In recent years,…