In today’s litigious society, lawsuits are an unpleasant fact of life. Everyone has a gripe – and that gripe can often result in legal action. The questions are, how is your cooperative corporation, condominium association or HOA protected,…
Whether it’s pending Airbnb legislation in various markets; homeowners winning the ability to sue condominium developers for faulty practices; or changes to how boards and managers can transmit meeting minutes to residents, condos and HOAs …
Successful association or cooperative living requires buy-in from all parties involved, from management to staff to board to residents. Should one of these groups put their own self-interests above the common good, the wheels can come off q…
With so many people leading busy, sometimes hectic, lives that revolve around work, kids, social functions, and other obligations, it’s often very difficult for HOA administrators to find residents willing and able to serve their community …
There’s an old adage that goes along the lines of, “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your relatives.” That’s true of the people you serve with on your co-op or condo board. Board politics, like all politics, can get uncomfortab…
A democracy fares best when it is proportionally representative of its constituents. For all intents and purposes, the board of a condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association is a democratically-elected entity, and as such, one could…
The key to any healthy relationship is good communication. That holds especially true for the sometimes-delicate dialogues that take place among residents, shareholders, board members, and managers in co-ops and condos of all sizes and conf…
Here’s a scenario: It’s mid-December. The board has assembled for their last meeting of the year. The managing agent brings great news: due to several unforeseen factors, including the past year’s mild winter and savings resulting from c…
Supers, building managers, maintenance persons, custodial staff, groundskeeping personnel, porters, doormen, concierges—depending on the size of a community, the staff roster for a condo, co-op or HOA can be pretty long. The truth is, in th…
Most people go about their days paying little attention to the labor performed by those who make their lives easier. From transit workers to service employees to government officials, how often does one stop to thank the people making every…