I live above a daily cigar smoker, and particularly in the warmer months I like to leave my windows and balcony door open. I’ve complained several times to the board and management that the smoke is getting into my unit, my rug, my bed shee…

Q My condo's board recently approved a plan to provide an office for our property manager. Since the building did not have a space for an office, they want to put up walls in one of our common areas, so the property manager has a place to…

You can’t turn on the television these days without seeing another show devoted to the legal genre—be it “The Good Wife,” “Suits,” “Franklin & Bash” or the many incarnations of “Law & Order.” These shows rely not just on great charac…

I Love Lucy is one of the most beloved sitcoms in all of television history. In one episode, after Little Ricky is born, the baby is screaming and screaming, keeping awake the next door tenant, Mrs. Trumbull. Mrs. Trumbull complains to lan…

Few things can raise one's blood pressure like signing a big contract. That can be especially true for board members or managers signing sometimes mammoth contracts on behalf of a co-op or condo association, obligating their neighbors, fri…

Much like corporations and charity organizations, condos, co-ops and HOAs across the nation are helmed by groups of residents who volunteer to serve their communities, and who are elected to their post by their neighbors. This is of course…

The 2014-15 legislative session in Trenton is underway, and as always, several housing-related bills are being debated or introduced. Some impact the state’s condos and HOAs as well as its relatively small number of co-ops. Others, while t…

The seventh annual Condo, HOA & Co-op Expo presented by the New Jersey Cooperator brought thousands of board members, managers and service providers to the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus on May 7th. The Expo is a fixture on the calend…

Can Pool Usage Be Restricted to Adults Only? Q Our community has a neighborhood pool, which myself and my neighbors greatly enjoy using. My husband purchased our home, in fact, because it was directly next to the pool. Recently thou…

New Jersey is synonymous with many things, but iconic architecture isn't usually among them. To be sure, the state is full of historical landmarks, from the Jersey Shore to Princeton University, but there isn't the same kind of overall foc…