Three years ago, a member of the New York Giants football team was looking to move into Manhattan and applied to buy a co-op at one of the more luxurious buildings in town. Although the player made millions each year, he was denied entra…
When it comes to buying your community association's fuel and heating oil, if your goal is to pay rock-bottom prices well below what everyone else is shelling out, forget it. Everyone knows today's prices are high—and while we can all ho…
While there are many similarities between co-ops and condos, are the two very different when it comes to things like insurance and liability? The answer is both yes and no. There are similarities, but some significant differences as…
When a new unit owner moves into a condo development, he or she usually receives a welcome packet that contains all the governing documents, such as the declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions, the bylaws and the house rule…
Homeowners associations are governed by a private board, generally comprised of residents of the condominium. Just because board members are unpaid volunteers, however, does not exempt them from exposure to lawsuits. Indeed, HOA board me…
In most cases, New Jersey's community and homeowner associations largely govern themselves, with little oversight from the state and no standardized procedures or best practices. But recently there has been some movement from the powers …
While a condominium owner owns his unit, and a shareholder in a cooperative owns shares of a corporation, there are a lot of aspects of their living situations that they can't control. If the elevator doesn't work, or the grass isn't bei…
For most people, the thought of legal fees and litigation costs are enough to cause heightened anxiety and maybe a heart palpitation or two. Consider that same scenario when it comes to board members in charge of the well-being of an ent…
There are new faces, a new two-year session, a new governor and a new General Assembly speaker in Trenton, and these changes may have repercussions for homeowner reforms, housing legislation and other quality-of-life issues. From CE…
Lawsuits should be the last resort for resolving conflicts within community associations. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and other mediation avenues make it possible for community associations to avoid litigation altogether. Nevert…