The late 1990s saw a surge of nationwide smoking restrictions put into effect. State by state, smoking ban legislation was proposed, put to a vote and passed into law. No public dwelling seemed untouched, including the workplace, shops,…
They came to learn, to network, and to discover new solutions for managing their community associations. And they went home with stacks of information and minds brimming with ideas. Over a thousand board members, homeowners an…
Four million people visit Portland, Maine each year. But don’t picture lobster bibs and sunburned summer tourists. The largest city in Maine is not known for its fish shacks, candy stores or beaches. The center of both commerce and cult…
Few things can be as upsetting as discovering that the dollars and cents that fuel a community association have been mishandled or worse yet, stolen. For residents, fraud undermines their sense of trust in the men and women who…
On July 1, 2010, a variety of sweeping changes to Connecticut’s Common Interest Ownership Act will take effect, and associations throughout the state will need to change the way they approach building management. “It’s the biggest change…
To disclose or not to disclose? That is the question community association boards wrestle with on a regular basis. If homeowners want to see the association’s financial records, should the books be open to them? What about a list of owne…
For board members, the time spent serving their association and fellow residents can be among the most strenuous yet rewarding periods in their lives. For years, they make decisions that affect their community in the present and may co…
For most people, “foaming at the mouth” is just an expression. Attorney Ellen Hirsch de Haan has encountered the real thing – and not at an animal shelter, but at a condominium owners’ meeting. A former president who recently h…
Q I live in a medium-sized HOA in Connecticut and we have a long-standing dispute in our community which I am hoping you can help resolve. First, our documents define the “condominium” as being composed of “the buildings, grounds …
Although there seems to be no shortage of talking heads touting the beginning of the end of the economic decline, associations (like the average consumer) are still struggling to do more with less. It just so happens that servi…