As a condo owner, you’ve got a gripe. Whether it’s about Mrs. Smith’s poodle barking all day, the neighbor’s teenaged son, who blasts his heavy metal music full-volume when his parents aren’t home, or a long-coveted parking space that ha…
Getting elected to the board of one's co-op or condo building is usually a very positive thing: it gives a person the chance to play a part in the preservation of their community, and also gives them the opportunity to leave it in bette…
New Jerseyans have the most of everything. The highest population density, the densest system of highways and railroads, the most major shopping malls in a 25-mile radius, the most TV reality shows, and even the highest concentration o…
When Mohammed Hameeduddin was elected Mayor of Teaneck last July, he became the first Muslim mayor in Bergen County history. He won that seat by edging out Deputy Mayor Lizette Parker, who had hoped to make similar history by becoming …
While calamities like fires, floods, and tornadoes can happen almost anywhere and impact anybody, thankfully most condo and HOA residents will never have to deal with such a major emergency. That doesn't mean that boards, managers, sta…
The job of a co-op or condo board member seems pretty straightforward: have meetings, take votes on this or that item of business, approve checks, keep an eye on the budget, and so forth. That’s the administrative part of the …
Board members find themselves acting as referees so often, some may feel like they're wearing black-and-white striped shirts. Maybe they're mired in the middle of a conflict between homeowners because one group of gardening enthusiasts…
That being said, there are times when information can and should be more tightly controlled, and when non-board shareholders actually don't have the legal right to certain information. Knowing when to include and when to exclud…
The sitting president of a Connecticut condo board recently approached the property manager with a proposition: If he saw to it that her contractor boyfriend was awarded certain jobs in the building, the property manager would receive …
It would be tough to understate the havoc caused by subterranean termites—each year, the destructive feeders cause some $5 billion to structures in the U.S. That's more damage to homes than storms, fires, and earthquakes combined. Fifty…