2012 November
Focus on... Building Maintenance

Maintenance Covering Your Bases
2012 November Covering Your Bases

 Warranties for products are simple to understand, most people might think.    You go to the store, buy a computer or a DVD player or a TV, or even a larger  appliance like a refrigerator, and you get a piece of paper describing a  …

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Maintenance On the Bricks
2012 November On the Bricks

 From the hills of northern Connecticut to the brownstones of Boston and New  York, brickwork is everywhere across the northeast. Around since the early  1600s, the popular building material is commonly used not only because of its  aesthe…

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Maintenance Smart Buildings, Smart Boards
2012 November Smart Buildings, Smart Boards

 If phones can be “smart,” why not buildings? With the ever-expanding array of consumer technology  available today, it should come as no surprise that residential buildings are  incorporating more and more cutting-edge technology into the…

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Management Isn't That Capital!
2012 November Isn't That Capital!

 Sooner or later, every resident in a condo or HOA community will have to deal  with the inconvenience of living through a major capital improvement project—a roof replacement, an elevator rehab, serious exterior work, or something of  tha…

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Maintenance Breathe In, Breathe Out
2012 November Breathe In, Breathe Out

 Few things are as important to our health and well-being as the air we breathe,  especially inside our own homes. That is why it is so important for individual  homeowners as well as management to stay up to date on issues of indoor air  …

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Maintenance The Water Way
2012 November The Water Way

 As we go about our busy lives, we often forget about the plain facts of life  here on this spinning globe: gravity creates an unceasing tension in the  materials we assemble into buildings and other structures. Whether or not we  are payi…

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Management Trash Talk
2012 November Trash Talk

 Some condo developments have the luxury of having their waste removal and  garbage collection handled as part of the town’s municipal services—but the majority still need to find their own private company and pay for the  service on their…

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Board Operations Keeping the Look
2012 November Keeping the Look

 Most people assume that as soon as they buy their first home, they will finally  have the freedom to paint their decks purple, to hang fluorescent window  treatments and colorful sconces, or litter their lawns with political or yard  sale…

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Q&A: Late Payments and Condo Foreclosure
2012 November Q&A: Late Payments and Condo Foreclosure

Q I am three months behind in my homeowner's association payments. Can the  condominium foreclose on my unit? My mortgage payments are up to date, and I  called my lender who said no, they cannot foreclose. What do you say? I wrote a  let…

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Q&A: Questioning Board President's Authority
2012 November Q&A: Questioning Board President's Authority

Q I believe that our condo association president has turned into an aggressive  dictator. Does he or she have the legal right to ask our secretary to remove  discussions and motions from the minutes without cause and refuse to hear other …

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