Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 12, 2010 – that’s when New England Condominium magazine’s annual New England Condo Expo returns to the Seaport World Trade Center at 200 Seaport Boulevard in Boston, showcasing over 150 exhibitors f…
Q A couple owns a home that is part of a homeowner association and they get behind on their monthly condominium dues. In the meantime, they also get behind on their mortgage and the bank forecloses on the home. The homeowner association…
Four million people visit Portland, Maine each year. But don’t picture lobster bibs and sunburned summer tourists. The largest city in Maine is not known for its fish shacks, candy stores or beaches. The center of both commerce and cult…
Few things can be as upsetting as discovering that the dollars and cents that fuel a community association have been mishandled or worse yet, stolen. For residents, fraud undermines their sense of trust in the men and women who…
On July 1, 2010, a variety of sweeping changes to Connecticut’s Common Interest Ownership Act will take effect, and associations throughout the state will need to change the way they approach building management. “It’s the biggest change…
To disclose or not to disclose? That is the question community association boards wrestle with on a regular basis. If homeowners want to see the association’s financial records, should the books be open to them? What about a list of owne…
For board members, the time spent serving their association and fellow residents can be among the most strenuous yet rewarding periods in their lives. For years, they make decisions that affect their community in the present and may co…
For most people, “foaming at the mouth” is just an expression. Attorney Ellen Hirsch de Haan has encountered the real thing – and not at an animal shelter, but at a condominium owners’ meeting. A former president who recently h…
Q Do you have any information on what to do about a neighbor who admittedly has a problem with cockroaches and occasionally mice? I moved into a new unit about a month ago. I had an exterminator before I even moved in, and after a month…
When people mention “suburbs,” it’s not uncommon to think of quiet towns – bedroom communities – lacking the vibrancy of the nearby city that residents head off to each morning. Malden, Massachusetts, however, though only a 12-minute tra…