Page 3 - New Jersey Cooperator January 2019

NJCOOPERATOR.COM THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR — JANUARY 2019 3 COMING UP IN THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR Publisher Yale Robbins yale@cooperator.com Executive Vice President Henry Robbins henry@cooperator.com Associate Publisher Joanna DiPaola joanna@cooperator.com Senior Editor Hannah Fons hannah@cooperator.com Associate Editors David Chiu david@cooperator.com Pat Gale patgale@cooperator.com Staff Writers Michael Odenthal michael@cooperator.com Alan J. Sidransky alan@cooperator.com Art Director Shirly Korchak shirly@cooperator.com Production Manager Aetna Dowst aetna@cooperator.com Traffi c Coordinator Victor Marcos victor@cooperator.com Vice President of Advertising Tom Christmann tom@cooperator.com Advertising Directors Fred Marks fred@cooperator.com Rick Levin rick@cooperator.com Peter Chase peter@cooperator.com The New Jersey Cooperator is published monthly by Yale Robbins Publications, LLC, 205 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016, (212) 683-5700. President: Yale Robbins, Executive Vice President: Henry Robbins. Subscriptions are available free by request to co-op and condo board members and homeowner associations. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The New Jersey Cooperator, 205 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016. ©Yale Robbins Publications, LLC 2019. All rights reserved. Application to mail Periodicals postage rates is pending at New York NY. FREE Subscriptions for Board Members, Property Managers and Real Estate Decision Makers. To Subscribe, please visit us at: njcooperator.com/subscribe ` February Board Relationships March Exterior Maintenance April Landscaping & Lawn Care/Expo Issue May Recreational Amenities & Programs June Law & Legislation July Budget & Finance August Insurance/Board Training DEPARTMENTS: 4 PULSE/CALENDAR 5 LEGAL Q&A 19 MARKETPLACE TABLE OF CONTENTS THIS MONTH’S FOCUS: MANAGEMENT ADDRESSING MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS By Mike Odenthal Most of the time, when a problem arises in a multifamily building or community association, the go-to solution is to get management on the phone (or text, or email). Th e refrain usually goes something like: “Management will take care of it!” “Th ey’ve seen this a million times!” “What can’t they handle?!” 8 6 RUNNING SMALL ASSOCIATIONS By A.J. Sidransky Condominium associations come in all sizes and shapes. Th ey can contain hundreds of units, or as few as two. While many of the issues faced by associations are universal regardless of size, small condominium associations do face some unique challenges that set them apart from their larger cousins. Th ose challenges touch all aspects of life in these communities, from legal to management to social issues. NON-RESIDENT BOARD MEMBERS By Mike Odenthal An individual’s interest in their community association is rarely solely fi nancial. In most cases, a building or HOA is also that individual’s home. And as such, they’re motivated to contribute positively to its quality of life, neighborhood congeniality, and aesthetics – just to name a few factors that make a place somewhere people love to live. For that reason, most of the people who volunteer to serve on their association board are full-time resi- dents of said association. 10 BOARD OPERATIONS: WELCOME ABOARD By Mike Odenthal Little in life is more nerve wracking than that fi rst day on a new job: ‘Are you prepared to do this?’ ‘Are you even qualifi ed to do this?’ ‘Is your shirt buttoned correctly?’ ‘It is, right?’ ‘Why does it look wrong?’ ‘Should you change your shirt?’ 14 MAINTENANCE: SOUNDPROOFING By A.J. Sidransky Do you remember when you were a kid that the closest thing you had to a cell phone at the time was two cups with a string tautly attached between them, and then speaking into one cup to see if your friend holding the other could hear you? Th at long-ago game worked because sound travels along rigid pathways. If you let the string between the cups go slack, the sound doesn’t travel. Th at’s all you really need to know to understand soundproofi ng – and you had already learned it in kindergarten. 12