Planning for a rainy day is pretty easy. Have an extra umbrella handy or a waterproof coat, and you’re probably fine. Planning for the rainiest day ever, on the other hand, is significantly more daunting. Especially if during that day there…
People feel ‘harassed’ all the time – by crowded trains, loud noises, and even the weather. Co-op and condo residents often feel that their board, or even a neighbor, is ‘harassing’ them. But what qualifies as harassment in the legal sense?…
Whether it be a detached single-family house, or one unit among hundreds in a high-rise condominium, a home should be a safe haven: a place where you can seek refuge from the elements and all the other risks and cautions of the world. Given…
Q. There is an owner below who keeps pounding on the ceiling in the middle of the night until all hours of the morning. It's seems like a two-by-four wooden plank is used to make this noise. The condo association had security go to the ap…
Q. We have a board consisting of five (5) members. Our election is coming up and we have three (3) new members running along with the five (5) incumbent directors. We’d like to vote for two (2) of the new members and three of the incumben…
Condo, co-op and HOA communities are made up of people – and people aren’t perfect. Within a community association, squabbles are inevitably going to break out between unit owners. Oftentimes these problems will be resolved relatively easil…
The invention and adaptation of vertical transportation – otherwise known as the elevator – in the 1850s changed the face of architecture, space design, and apartment living forever. Unfortunately, like any mechanical system, every so often…
Whether you live in a high-rise building or a spread-out condo association, you probably take having reliable, adequate heat in the winter months for granted. But heating a multifamily community is not so easy as simply turning a dial. Ther…
Real estate lore has its share of stories about merciless, if not downright unscrupulous, city inspectors popping in on unaware building owners, conducting unscheduled examinations of all types, and sometimes even demanding payoffs in excha…
Q. My HOA has threatened to confiscate my unit. I withheld/escrowed my June assessment soon after I learned they refused to communicate or cooperate with my insurance company who was to cover other losses. This isn't in the bylaws. They'v…