Page 1 - New England Condominium January 2021

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