Category: Board Operations

2005 Sep Listening to Residents Helps Everyone By Liz Lent

When it comes to questions of home and hearth, even the best of friends may argue. So it should come as no shock when co-op and condo associations, boards and residents fall into disagreements. It's what's done to settle or hopefully pre…

2005 Jul The Role of Your HOA Accountant By Alexander Gelfand

David Allen Stockman, former director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, may have had the federal budget in mind when he said that, "None of us really understands what's going on with all of these numbers." But he might just as…

2005 Jun Getting on Your Co-op or Condo Board By Adelaide Polsinelli

Getting on a condo or co-op board requires a significant investment—both in time and sweat equity. As president of my co-op board, I can attest firsthand to the labors involved. Rarely does a day pass that I don't receive a call from a s…

2005 Jun How to Run a Successful Board Meeting By Robert E. Barlow, Jr., CIRMS, PCAM

There are many ways to lose talented, knowledgeable and caring volunteer officers from the board of community associations: Don't protect them from personal liability for the decisions they make by foregoing directors and officers l…

2005 Apr Examining Assessments and Increases By Mary K. Fons

Owning a condo or being a member of a homeowner association is a something many New Jersey residents know a thing or two about. In 2004, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimated that 970,000 existing co-ops and condos were so…

2005 Mar Association Rules vs. Aesthetics By Liz Lent

A giant shrub trimmed to resemble a stock car? Shutters painted an eye-shattering fuschia? Eight not-so-tiny reindeer blitzing across the roof? Some people's idea of design heaven is almost certainly someone else's idea of aesthetic purg…

2005 Feb Improving the Professional Relationship By Marc J. Luxemburg, Esq.

Anyone who has spent time serving on the board of his or her co-op or condo knows that it is a job that no one can do alone. Even if you have the most conscientious group of board members, the job is too time-consuming for a group of vol…

2005 Jan The Most Common Directors' & Officers' Claims By Joel W. Meskin, Esq., Stephanie Solomon, Esq.,, James J. McConn Jr., Esq.

Community associations, whether a homeowners' association, property owners' association, cooperative, timeshare/interval association or commercial association are legal entities that are governed by bylaws and applicable statutory and gover…

2005 Jan Organizing HOA Committees By Mary K. Fons

It takes a lot to run a successful building—there are employees to hire, services to contract, boards to elect, new residents to review, general technical maintenance to take care of, and all the rest on that ever-present "to do" list with …

2004 Nov The Impact of Contractor Liability By Keith Loria

We all know that accidents happen, but in today's litigious environment, an accident or injury occurring on the grounds of your condo or townhouse community can lead to thousands of dollars in legal fees, court costs, and potential judgm…