I live in a condominium I have brought several issues to the management and board’s attention for the past three years, and spent two years on the board before removing myself due to the frustration of dealing with our management company. T…
Q I seek your assistance with understanding a regulation recently implemented by the Board of Trustees at the Esplanade in Hudson, MA, where my husband and I reside. Specifically, the Board of Trustees is requiring that unit owners pro…
Null and Void Q I am a unit owner in a condominium. According to the bylaws and rules of our condominium, the board of managers should consist of five members, but for the last five or more years, there have only been two people.…
Q One of the tenants in our small condo (it’s only six units) has been underpaying his monthly dues since August of 2012. The total amount he owes our building is just over $8,300. Two weeks before our annual unit owners meeting in Jun…
Q. In a situation wherein a person refuses to pay maintenance fees, what can be done? Every time we ask whether we can cut off snow removal from the person's driveway, we are told that it could be considered a "gray area." What if the per…
As you can imagine, our office has been inundated with calls and emails concerning proper protocol should a resident or a tenant in a building either contract or be exposed to someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. This raises…
Even as businesses, schools, and even entire economies shut down at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the task of running residential buildings and communities never ceased. In fact, it could even be argued that as people wer…
If you live in a condo or a co-op, you most likely have heard the term fiduciary duty, usually in reference to the responsibilities and obligations of board members and management. But what is a fiduciary duty? In essence, it’s a legal rela…
Buying into a residential community like a co-op, condominium, or HOA can be a bit like selecting the political system you’d like to live under. Governance styles can range from an Athenian democracy where every member of the community is i…
Conflict comes hand-in-hand with living in close quarters—and condominium and cooperative living is a prime example. Most dust-ups between neighbors involve run-of-the-mill issues like noise or hallway clutter, and can be settled with a cor…
Over the past few years, operating expenses for everything from fuel to labor to the cost of cleaning supplies have been steadily rising—and disrupting co-op and condo association budgets—all over the country. The premiums for properly insu…
Maintaining your community’s public spaces is critical to the image your community puts forward to residents, visitors and potential buyers. Frequent updating and polishing of common areas—particularly high-visibility, high-traffic areas li…
Self-managed communities large and small can save a considerable amount of money by eschewing third-party management and handling their day-to-day business in-house. This means the board must assume the tasks and responsibilities that commu…
Self-managed communities large and small can save a considerable amount of money by eschewing third-party management and handling their day-to-day business in-house. This means the board must assume the tasks and responsibilities that commu…
Ideally, the board members of condominiums, co-ops, and HOAs are conscientious, level-headed folks committed to doing the job they were elected to do, treating everyone fairly and equitably, and not using their position to push a personal a…
In the world of owned residential communities like HOAs, condo associations, and co-ops, the issue of leased or sublet units is often the elephant in the corner of the communal room. Most owners choose to buy homes in shared-interest commun…
At the bedrock of a shared interest community, like a condo or co-op, is how and by whom the property is managed. While self-management may make the most economic sense for smaller communities, and there are certainly good examples of effec…
A condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association elects a board for a specific purpose: to manage the community’s day-to-day business, oversee special projects, and draft and uphold the rules and regulations that keep life orderly and …
Even before Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced the Green New Deal resolution to Congress on February 7, the impending consequences of climate change and global warming has been a hot topic (no pun intended). While some may cove…
Q My Massachusetts condo association commissioned an environmental report to determine the cause of mold in my closet. It pointedto poorly-caulked exterior, lack of waterproofing, and general poor maintenance of the common area. They qu…