When you’re reading the history of the Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI-PADELVAL, for short), it might be helpful to whip out the map to get a sense of who they are and the communitie…
Generally speaking, the issue of municipal services—snow removal, paving, garbage collection, etc.—as they apply to HOAs is pretty cut-and-dry: municipalities receive money directly from owners in the form of property taxes. HOAs budget …
It’s an oft-repeated mantra when it comes to condo and HOA management: no two boards are ever the same. Each is—or should be—a reflection of the community it serves, and each is made up of a unique blend of personalities, skill sets, an…
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…