When making the choice to purchase a condo or a co-op apartment, many buyers choose a condominium to reduce the board’s involvement in the decisions they will make regarding their home. Condo boards’ authority over certain decisions and asp…
At the heart of volunteerism is the notion of doing something for the common good. For many, choosing to live in a co-op or condo community is also choosing volunteerism – specifically, volunteering for board service. But within that sense …
Community living comes with lots of rules and regulations – many of which are codified in largely static, hard-to-amend governing documents like proprietary leases and condominium declarations. Others are laid out in the more flexible cont…
Community associations are microcosms of democracy, run by an elected board of volunteers trusted to make good decisions on behalf of the community as a whole. Boards make the call on every large and small issue for their constituency. So i…
Removing a disruptive, abusive, non-paying, or otherwise problematic tenant from a rental building is relatively easy. Doing the same thing in a co-op is also possible, though substantially harder. But removing a condo owner from the premis…
While the ‘Green New Deal’ and other long-term climate solutions are being debated at the federal level, some states and municipalities are getting in on the action as well, setting legal emissions benchmarks that will have a real impact on…
Q. My condo board notified us that we will be subjected to a maintenance increase for this year after a five-year assessment. What if, say, an owner has several combined units and utilizes the common hallway for personal us? Will the hall…
Q. The way our trustees operate seems a little unusual to me. They won’t allow us condo owners to speak or communicate with them or the accountants directly unless it’s through an employee of the trust. Additionally, there is an escrow ac…
Q. Our condo building has a no-pets amendment for nearly 40 years. So when a new owner joins our community, he or she is supposed to sign disclosure forms that indicate “no pets, no renters.” However, a new owner has been seen with a dog …
Running a community association can be – and often is – stressful enough without the added issue of people in a position of power in the community using that position for personal gain in the form of kickbacks. Whether the offender is a sup…