Category: Board Operations

 When owners move into an HOA or condo development, most have a basic idea of who’s responsible for repairs and maintenance in their unit, and who’s responsible for the common areas—even if they don’t bother to read the governing documents…

 When it comes to stories about board members pushing their own pet projects,  stalling meetings, and generally gumming up their HOA’s administrative works for selfish reasons, most property mangers have one or  two doozies.    Cons…

 Here’s the scenario: the developer of your suburban building, who still owns enough  units to throw his weight around, hires a property manager who plays fast and  loose with the municipal tax codes. So much so in fact, that he winds up i…

During the day, J.R. “Sankarasivam” Jeyaranjan works 40 hours a week as a bank risk manager. At night and on weekends, and during pretty much any spare time he has, Jeyaranjan is president of his Jersey City co-op’s board of directors, …

Conventional wisdom holds that if you have to have neighbors, you’re better off living next door to owners than renters. By definition, owners have a stake in their building, and are supposedly better neighbors. They are cleaner, quiete…

Sometimes, no matter how much it may pain us to do so, we all have to say or do unpleasant things. That can certainly be the case for co-op and condo board members, most of whom will one day face the dreary prospect of raising maintena…

It’s sometimes hard to grasp how fast technology has evolved in such a short time. Whether it’s finding cheap plane tickets or finding a date for Saturday night, the Internet can do it all. Technology has transformed the way we communic…

In any association of two or more parties, clear communication is essential to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship. In an HOA, there are interlocking relationships, such as between the board and the manager, and between the board…

Most co-op and condo boards that hire property managers, rather than manage themselves with in-house staff, are reasonably satisfied with them. After all, the managers are presumably trained and experienced professionals. But now and t…

Reality television has made an industry out of putting people in challenging or high-stress situations, sitting back, and letting the “unscripted” drama play out. Shows like “The Apprentice” and “Survivor” drew weekly audiences of millio…