The holidays: a time for upholding long-standing traditions, usually involving festive gatherings of family and friends, communal meals, sacred services, gift exchanges, visitors, and, invariably, crowds—until this year, that is.  The coro…

When a crisis hits a multifamily community—or any other organization—the difference between a good outcome and a disastrous one is often a matter of simple preparedness. Residential communities in particular need to have a plan in case of a…

It’s become axiomatic that over time, technology gets smaller, more efficient, and more capable of multiple increasingly sophisticated and specialized tasks. Think about your mobile phone. There was a time in the not-so-distant past that it…

Q. I am a member of the board at an 84-unit condo development.  One of our biggest complaints is the issue of dogs and where they defecate. Everyone in the community seems to think that their dog is special and does not have to use the de…

The annual meeting of owners or shareholders in multifamily housing associations and cooperatives is a legally mandated opportunity for a community to convene, learn, share, and exercise their essential duty—to vote. The lead-up to the elec…

In Part 1 of “Multifamily Energy Savings Solutions,” we introduced some relatively simple products and processes that individual owners or shareholders can adopt to reduce energy consumption and emissions and to save on their energy costs. …

Even though the world has been contending with COVID-19 and its consequences for nine months and counting, the routines and practices we’ve adopted to prevent its spread and minimize personal risk of infection are still evolving. With new d…

Q.   I own a condo in a nice community, but I plan to move next spring because I can’t deal with this situation. The unit below mine is owned by a young woman who often smokes cannabis with her boyfriend. She says she has proof that she is…

When making the choice to purchase a condo or a co-op apartment, many buyers choose a condominium so as to reduce the board’s involvement in the decisions they will make regarding their home. Condo boards’ authority over certain decisions a…

While residents of condos, co-ops, and HOAs do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by staying in their homes as much as they can, they rely on the supers, porters, valets, doorpeople, janitorial workers, handymen and -women, securi…