Conflict comes hand-in-hand with living in close quarters—and condominium and cooperative living is a prime example. Most dust-ups between neighbors involve run-of-the-mill issues like noise or hallway clutter, and can be settled with a cor…
If you live in a condominium, cooperative or HOA, guess what? You’re part of a participatory mini-democracy run by an elected group of volunteers. As such, it’s to your benefit to get involved in how your community is governed in order to p…
Even among otherwise conscientious, community-minded condo, HOA, and co-op residents, the idea of running for and serving on their board often ranks somewhere between taxes and dental work on their list of things to look forward to. It conj…
Buying into a residential community like a co-op, condominium, or HOA can be a bit like selecting the political system you’d like to live under. Governance styles can range from an Athenian democracy where every member of the community is i…
Residents in condo and HOA communities are frequently quite busy. Boards generally consist of elected volunteers who nearly always have other jobs and lives outside their duties as trustees. So while a professional management company can ha…
The 347,000 planned communities in the United States—a number that includes cooperatives, condominiums, and homeowners associations—are generally governed by volunteer members of the building or community elected by their fellow unit owners…
One of the unique aspects of life in an HOA, condo, or co-op is that in many ways, a building or association is a microcosm of the larger world outside it. It can suffer from the same factionalism and partisan bickering as any political ent…
Members of condominium and co-op boards are often faced with conflicting interests and messages relating to matters of transparency and discretion. As a matter of good governance, transparency is always the preferred policy, whether you’re …
Paper, or electronic? It’s now a choice for everything, from the books we read for pleasure to the books we keep on our associations and corporations. Even restaurant menus are digital today in the wake of the need for ‘touch-free’ environm…
When one buys a private single-family home, it’s clear who the king or queen of the castle is: the homeowner. When it comes to condominiums and cooperative apartments, however, the relationship between owner and property is a little more co…