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…
Living in a community association can sometimes be – or at least feel – complicated. For most people, their home is their biggest single investment, and the value of that individual investment depends a lot on the cooperation of neighbors, …
Residents in co-op, condo and HOA communities are frequently quite busy. Boards consist of elected volunteers who nearly always have other jobs and lives. So while a professional management company can relieve much of the day-to-day operati…
Everyone – including the boards and managers of community associations – inevitably makes mistakes, or is guilty of using poor judgment. And while it’s very unlikely that every member of a community will commit outright illegal acts, it’s a…
Most newly-elected condo or co-op board members aren’t experts in running a multifamily building or development. They may be eager, enthusiastic, and committed to serving their community. But they also probably have little idea of how to do…
Laws, and the legal decisions that support and enforce them, are constantly evolving and can affect every facet of community life in HOAs, condominiums and co-ops. While law and legal cases can emanate from any of our three levels of govern…