Most U.S. municipalities have local laws on their books governing how exterior building façades must be inspected, maintained and repaired. While such legislation is occasionally enacted at the state level, generally these laws are a local …
With summer travel on the horizon, now is the perfect time for managers and residents to assess and refine their strategies for handling short-term vacancies in their buildings. When residents are away, no matter the duration, pre-planning …
Keeping a building dry is both an interior and exterior challenge. All buildings, regardless of materials and construction, are at risk of water infiltration and moisture build-up in walls, ceilings, window wells and roof materials. This …
Q. Our condo building’s roof is in poor shape, and has not been well maintained the past few years. It’s also old, and simply reaching the end of its useful life. Recently, a few major roof leaks have caused damage in the units directly b…
Transparency is touted as a cornerstone of good board governance. Shareholders and unit owners want—and have the right—to see what goes on behind the curtain at board meetings and better understand why certain decisions are made. Residents …
Each and every multifamily community is different, with unique needs, expectations, and challenges. If you’re a regular reader of this publication, you’ve heard that refrain many times, across a broad range of contexts—including board gover…
Q. I live in a small HOA, and our same board has been in place for over a decade. We hold annual elections as per our governing documents, but we can’t get anyone else in the building to serve, and none of us can step down because our gov…
As electric vehicles (EVs) have become more popular, more and more reports of fires and explosions caused by the lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries that power them have made the news from coast to coast. Any fire in a multifamily setting is inc…
Securing residents’ property and personal safety has always been of primary concern for shared interest communities, be they high-rises, townhomes, or suburban HOAs. A generation ago, security technology was pretty much limited to human gua…
Despite their sizable influence, and the fact that their members are residents of the communities they govern, condominium and co-op boards are often misunderstood. What can they do? What can’t they do? Can they approve a request from one r…