When Superstorm Sandy hit the New England states last fall, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was quick to offer federal disaster assistance to the states affected to supplement the lo…
The great majority of co-op and condo residents pay their monthly maintenance fees on time and in full with no problem. People do fall behind on payments sometimes, of course — a temporary cash flow issue or other short-term financial h…
Budgets and financial reports provide a crystal-clear picture of how the association is doing. From an investment perspective, they show how unit owners, managers, tenants, building owners, board of trustees, etc., whether the property…
Looking at the balance in an association’s reserve account, a homeowner could easily feel complacent. After all, a quarter-million dollars is a lot of money. Maybe—or maybe not. If the condominium comprises 200 units, is nearin…
Just as families are encouraged to set aside a portion of the household budget into a savings account, so are community associations advised to maintain a reserve fund for capital improvements—repairs and replacements of major common-ow…
The Roman god Janus had two faces that allowed him to look backward into the past and forward into the future. When thinking about end-of-the-year association finances, boards would do well to take a lesson from Janus and look back at …
Q: If there is damage to my roof and it leaks into my condominium unit and I reported it to the board three times with no repairs made, can I repair it myself and deduct the cost from my common charges? Please advise ASAP. Your atte…
Proxy Dilemma Q Two weeks prior to our annual condo election, the unit owners receive their proxies in the mail. However, a board member who was up for re-election obtained a proxy from the manager two weeks earlier than all the…
Of all the members of a condominium’s board, the treasurer is in a unique position to uphold the fiduciary responsibility of the association, similar to that of a chief financial officer in the corporate world. Basically, the t…