Serving the board of your co-op or condo can offer many benefits, but also bring many challenges. As board members also live among residents they serve, community issues are always present. It can turn into a 24/7 job that interferes wit…
Congratulations. You have been chosen to help lead your community on a small governing council that will determine the major policy decisions affecting everyone who lives in your community. From finances to rules enforcement to selection of…
Lawsuits are an unfortunate, expensive fact of life these days—chances are if you live long enough, you'll be involved in one to at least some degree. In the context of an HOA, a legal issue can arise between a resident and the board, be…
These days, suing someone is often the knee-jerk reaction to resolve a problem. But before you call your attorney, focus on determining exactly what you're using your legal professionals to do. For example, do you really need to go to co…
Few subjects get people as riled up as taxes. Whether it's sales tax, income tax, estate tax or property tax, the thought of the taxation can infuriate and perplex. If not for taxes, after all, we would likely be speaking with British ac…
Governor Jon Corzine has finished his first year as governor of New Jersey—he won 54 percent of the vote over Republican nominee Doug Forrester in 2004—and has now begun his second year. It's been an extremely eventful year for the gover…
Most people wouldn't know where to begin if they had to fight to keep the government from taking their home for redevelopment by a private developer. In one of many housing-related bills before the state Assembly, legislators are now con…
We've all heard stories—harrowing tales of crazy lawsuits, mishandled misunderstandings, shady dealings, outright fraud. From loony shareholders or unit owners, corrupt staffers or belligerent neighbors, the legal imbroglios residential …
One irony of modern life is that being in close proximity to your neighbors doesn't necessarily make you closer to your neighbors. At best, people might know just a handful of neighbors in their community. Many of us lead hectic lives, a…
On January 25, 2007, the Appellate Division struck down key provisions of the regulations of the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) limiting municipal fair share housing obligations for the period from 1999 to 2014 (often referred to a…