A decorous, welcoming lobby in a high- or mid-rise condominium entices interested buyers to purchase, and it encourages current residents to interact more socially. The entrance area has also customarily been the hub for the day-to-day lif…
Embezzling occurs so rarely among New England condominium associations, that when a well-respected manager, trustee or contractor is caught pocketing a community’s funds, everyone affected is likely to be ill-prepared for the consequences.…
As the 2012 federal legislative fiasco over the debt ceiling—as well as any number of other spending bills proposed since then—demonstrated, balancing a budget can be like pulling teeth. Balancing a condo or HOA community's budget can some…
Preparing the annual budget is by no means an easy task. Those charged with preparing condominium or HOA budgets will soon begin reviewing costs, gathering data and projecting expenses for the coming year. At some point, board of trustee m…
The New England Condo Expo, now in its sixth year at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, brought together thousands of trustees, board members, managers and service providers from all over the New England region on May 20th, for a fu…
Where There’s Smoke … There’s Fire? Q I live above a daily cigar smoker, and particularly in the warmer months I like to leave my windows and balcony door open. I’ve complained several times to the board and management that the smok…
It goes without saying that individuals and associations alike need to be properly covered by insurance; that’s just common sense. But the wide variety of choices can make obtaining that coverage a daunting process. To help boards and HOAs…
The headline of a recent Walpole, Massachusetts newspaper article reads: “Fight between Walpole selectmen cuts meeting short.” The first sentence of the article stated, “Selectmen came to verbal blows on Tuesday night, prompting other boar…
Running the day-to-day business of a condo development or an HOA of any size—be it a sprawling, multi-building community, or a single self-contained building—requires not just a functional board but a team of competent outside professional…
Sometimes it’s a shady developer or a crooked contractor. Sometimes it’s the unit owner you just can’t get rid of. There are times when it’s actually nobody’s fault and just the Byzantine nature of some state or federal laws, but the lawsu…