New England Condominium January 2021
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Management in Crisis  How the Pandemic Changed an Industry   BY A J SIDRANSKY  January 2021        NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM  traveling to and from the building and the nervous behavior of the   residents were causing pervasive, chronic feelings of fear and despair.   The truth is that never before had property managers and their   client communities faced a crisis of this type, presenting itself in this   way. It seemed part science fiction, part war story—except the enemy   wasn’t an alien invasion (at least, not exactly) or a foreign occupying   army. It was an invisible, incurable microbe that often brought suffer-  ing, and could easily bring death. The zombie apocalypse had arrived.  205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED  continued on page 6   THE CONDO, HOA & CO-OP RESOURCE  CONDOMINIUM  NEW ENGLAND  The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts   to control it continue to preoccupy con-  dominium association boards and prop-  erty managers and challenge their ability   to  respond  to  rapidly  changing  govern-  mental guidelines and requirements. Fed-  eral regulations issued by the Centers for   Disease Control  and Prevention  (CDC)   temporarily prohibiting property own-  ers from evicting residential tenants for   non-payment  of  rent  create  a  new  set  of   challenges. Although the moratorium pri-  marily affects owners of rental properties,   some condominium associations may feel   its effects, as well.  The moratorium applies only in states   that have not enacted pandemic-related   eviction restrictions or that have restric-  tions less stringent than the CDC’s. A   more restrictive emergency eviction ban   enacted by the Massachusetts Legislature   in response to the COVID-19 pandemic   expired on October 17, when Governor   Charles Baker decided not to extend it.   The differences between the two moratoria   are significant.  Massachusetts Eviction Moratorium  The Massachusetts moratorium pro-  hibited landlords and property managers   from pursuing “Non-Essential Evictions,”   which the law defined as:  • Evictions for non-payment of rent  • Evictions resulting from foreclosures  • No-fault or no-cause evictions for   termination of tenancies at-will or non-  renewal of tenancies  • Evictions for cause, other than those   involving criminal activity or lease viola-  tions affecting the health and safety of oth-  ers  The day-to-day life of a property manager—while not quite as predictable as that of, say, an   accountant—does revolve around certain cyclical tasks, like building inspections, staff meet-  ings, and keeping boards informed of what is going on with various projects in their buildings.   That’s not to say that there isn’t an occasional emergency, of course; a boiler fails, a visitor   slips and falls, a vendor doesn’t deliver. And while any good manager takes these challenges in   stride, there’s little that could have prepared managers for what they would face with the arrival   of COVID-19.  The novel coronavirus is called ‘novel’ for a reason. It’s a newly emerged public health threat   that you can’t see, smell, taste, or feel—at least until you’ve contracted it. It’s there, everywhere,   and at the beginning of the pandemic, no one knew exactly where. It created paralyzing fear for   both our leaders and individuals, particularly in New York City, its first epicenter. In a hyper-  urban environment where people were packed in like sardines to begin with, physical distance   between loved ones, neighbors, and strangers went from being a luxury to being a requirement.   The many nonverbal cues we receive and interpret from facial expressions disappeared behind   featureless masks; no more smiles from the porter when he came to deliver a package to your   apartment.  The mental and emotional stress foisted upon literally millions of people in what many   would agree was often already a stressful environment has frayed nerves, shortened tempers,   and in some cases ignited conflict between neighbors and between residents of co-ops and   condos, their boards, and their management agents and staff.  The stress has extended to the smallest of things. One manager reported that when the   board of a building she manages decided to ban domestic helpers from entering the property,   she received a call from an irate shareholder. The shareholder told her in no uncertain terms   that she “hadn’t picked up a vacuum in 50 years—and wasn’t about to start now!” Another   reported that he had to set up support groups for the staff in his building because the stress of   CDC Eviction   Moratorium Creates   Challenges   How It May Impact    Massachusetts HOAs  BY DILLON G. BROWN, MEEB  Self-Management in   Stressful Times  Some Communities Go it   Alone—Others Outsource  BY A J SIDRANSKY  continued on page 7   While many condominium associations   and co-op corporations hire professional   property managers or management firms   to handle the routine (and not-so-routine)   tasks involved in running a multifamily   building or HOA, a significant number take   the opposite route, eschewing formal man-  agement and running their properties them-  selves. While most of these self-managed   communities tend to be on the smaller side,   self-management  can  be  successful  at  any   size, from a handful of units to hundreds.   Self-management involves numerous   skills, however; everything from accounting   to minor home repairs may need to be han-  dled directly by the board, rather than being   delegated by a manager or firm. Obviously,   anyone with a plumbing problem can call a   plumber; you don’t have to be a professional   manager to intervene when a leak rears its   head. But that said, the most successful self-  managed properties are those that do have   a range of practical skills distributed among   owners, and a positive, community-oriented   view from members. It’s a ‘pitch-in’ sort of at-  mosphere, and it’s not for everyone.  The arrival of COVID-19 has had major   implications for all properties and their man-  agement of course, but the pandemic-related   restrictions on close personal contact has   had a particularly personal effect on smaller,   self-managed communities.   New England   Condominium   spoke with several self-man-  aged community leaders to understand how   the global health crisis has changed the way   they live, and how they manage themselves.  New England Strong  High View condos, located on Cape Cod   in Sandwich, Massachusetts, is a 96-unit con-  dominium community. The units are located   in four three-level garden apartment style   buildings  that  were  constructed  in  phases   between 1974 and 1982. The property is not   age-restricted, and features a clubhouse.   Ursula  Price is High View’s treasurer,   and has served as such since 1993. She says   that when the property converted to condo-  minium ownership, it had a contracted man-  agement company. The association changed   companies several times, but the residents   continued on page 9 


































































































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