Q. What can be done if a unit owner, who has not paid his or her maintenance for a year and owes the association $30,000, has now declared bankruptcy. How does the association get its money? —Stuck With th…
Q. Can a board member vote on a rule change that will directly benefit him/her? For example, the board member is an investor with more than 10 units and needs more parking spaces for tenants, therefore s/he has moved to vote to change the…
The signs, they are everywhere. They give elegance and style to the names of our buildings and communities. They earn extra income for our buildings with advertisements, and they point out the location of our commercial tenants on the groun…
A residential property could have triple-reinforced titanium steel walls and it still wouldn’t be worth a darn without a sturdy roof. It’s through the latter that many problematic elements can enter a building, from wind to rain to ice to d…
They say that a stitch in time saves nine. But when dealing with exterior maintenance and repairs for your condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association, that proverbial stitch can save nines – or tens – of thousands of dollars. Small…
Q. Can a board member vote on a rule change that will directly benefits him/her? For example, the board member is an investor with more than 10 units and needs more parking spaces for tenants, therefore s/he has moved to vote to change th…
Q. We own two apartments in our condominium in New Jersey. We moved in 2005 and were told by the board that our windows needed to be replaced because the building had water issues. The board recommended the company to use. We complied, an…
One of the most unforgettable events of 2012 was the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, which, according to the National Hurricane Center, resulted in approximately 147 deaths in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Canada, and at least $50 billion in pro…
There’s an old adage that goes along the lines of, “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your relatives.” That’s true of the people you serve with on your co-op or condo board. Board politics, like all politics, can get uncomfortab…
A democracy fares best when it is proportionally representative of its constituents. For all intents and purposes, the board of a condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association is a democratically-elected entity, and as such, one could…