Tighter lending requirements for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgages for condos have put financial and administrative pressure on condos around New England at a time when many are ill prepared for any new challenges. …
As annual and quarterly budgets come up for review, associations are looking to cut additional costs anywhere and everywhere they can. But how much more “fat” can be trimmed from budgets? Surprisingly, there are a few unsung cost saving …
Q A common area privacy hedge behind my home has been attacked with a fungus and many plants have died. The hedge was a barrier for both privacy and sound fromthe boulevard that my home borders. I have sent several letters that have been …
First dubbed “Eden” by settlers at the end of the eighteenth century, Bar Harbor, Maine has always sounded like the quintessential place to vacation. Even the original inhabitants, the Wabanaki Indians, called the area Ah-bays'auk or the…
Even while faced with massive deficits, the governors of each of the New England states have pledged not to raise taxes in their proposed fiscal year 2011 budgets. While this is good news for taxpayers in the short run, no new taxes in…
While it’s generally understood how to employ the first two people – to call the accountant when bills are due and at tax time and the property manager pretty much all the time – rules for engaging the condo’s lawyer remain somewhat vagu…
With New England condominiums still grappling with the recent economic downturn, it’s no accident that most new state condo legislation deals with money matters. From a proposed superlien law in New Hampshire that would put condos first…
The late 1990s saw a surge of nationwide smoking restrictions put into effect. State by state, smoking ban legislation was proposed, put to a vote and passed into law. No public dwelling seemed untouched, including the workplace, shops,…
They came to learn, to network, and to discover new solutions for managing their community associations. And they went home with stacks of information and minds brimming with ideas. Over a thousand board members, homeowners an…
Q I’m a board member of my condo in Massachusetts. We have one member of the board who is a real estate broker. Our condo owns a very small piece of land that is adjacent to another building near ours. The owner of the nearby building w…