While the exhortation to “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” has never really gone out of style, one should take caution before lighting up just anywhere. Many places, from restaurants to airplanes to hospitals, expressly and strictly forbid anyone …
Whether as a member of a cooperative or a condominium association, a shareholder or unit owner maintains certain rights within their chosen community. However, achieving harmony among neighbors isn’t always easy. Rights aside, residents are…
It’s no secret that insurance is a necessity for any building or association. Nevertheless, the expense of coverage means that issues of liability and risk are all too often examined only after problems have occurred. Usually, insurance hol…
When it comes to legislation and legal issues that apply to condo associations, co-ops, and other multifamily housing models, the focus is often local; city ordinances, council meetings, and so forth – but there are judgments handed down an…
For many people, one of the most attractive aspects of co-op or condo living is the fact that everything, from the windows to the elevators to the numbers on the apartment doors, looks great; clean, bright, elegant and well-maintained. For …
Thank goodness spring is just around the corner – even if winter isn’t the same brutal, icy season it used to be, it’s still a welcome relief when the clouds part, temperatures rise, and leaves and buds begin to appear outdoors. Nice as the…
Almost five years have passed since Superstorm Sandy slammed the East Coast and caused major havoc and destruction, reportedly resulting in 117 deaths and an estimated $65 billion in damages. For many affected people in New York and New Jer…
Chances are if you’re a resident in a co-op, condo, or HOA community, you’re familiar with your property’s board of directors (or trustees, or managers, depending on what part of the country you live in). Boards are usually made up of volun…
Despite the fact that most people would agree that discrimination is a bad thing, discrimination persists, which suggests either that existing laws against it are sometimes ignored, or that the legal definition of ‘discrimination’ isn’t alw…
Are condominiums, co-ops and HOAs cohesive communities? Is community part and parcel of what the purchaser is seeking when they buy into a co-op, condo or HOA? The concept of ‘community cohesiveness’ could be defined as a community in which…