Page 17 - Chicago Cooperator Spring EXPO 2019

CHICAGOCOOPERATOR.COM THE CHICAGOLAND COOPERATOR — SPRING EXPO 2019 17 There are many reasons HOAs choose GAF roo ng for the homes in their developments. Here are three: Quality products from a company you can trust Peace of mind with industry-leading warranties And the beauty homeowners want Find out more at gaf.com We protect what matters most ™ © 2019 GAF 3/19 Why GAF? . . . NORTH AMERICA’S LEADING BOILER MANUFACTURER INTRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION SVF COMMERCIAL BOILER THE CONTRACTOR'S CHOICE - EST. 1881 Firetube Performance, Perfected Learn more at weil-mclain.com/SVF 97.1 % Industry - Leading Thermal Efficiency See us at Booth 118 See us at Booth 304 ago, they woke up a completely different person. Elderly and with a lot of energy, they were somewhat disheveled, but ex- tremely articulate, and this person is now known not only in our community but throughout the town by first name only, like a rock star. It’s been common knowl- edge that this person deals with mental health issues, and they had the memo- ry of an elephant, so it was easy to no- tice – and somewhat frustrating – when they started exhibiting short-term memory loss and were violating every rule in the book. “Eventually, hoard- ing became an issue. Not vermin or filth, but definitely stuff – all of it important to the resident – that was stacked. Clearly the association had an issue, but no one on hand was a healthcare professional, so it fell to us to get in touch with local profession- als like the fire mar- shal and the head of social services. It was slow at first. But, as our rock star was also a heavy smoker, they eventually went to sleep with a cigarette in hand. They never heard the smoke alarm – but fortunately, a neighbor did! There’s nothing like a fire to get the town’s attention – so now they’re helping our resident resolve their issues. With our help, both resident and community are in a better place.” Scott B. Piekarsky, Esq., Managing Member of Piekarsky & Associates in Wyckoff, New Jersey “You have to approach residents with behavioral health issues in a sensitive manner. Walk gingerly and carefully. People have privacy rights, and you don’t want to libel or slander them; you also don’t want to exacerbate a problem. “We’ve had situations where some people just act kooky, and other scenari- os where residents are truly in need of an intervention. If it’s a really serious mat- ter, then you can call the local police of course. “In New Jersey, we’ll often have situ- ations with elderly folks who are living alone, and they’re potentially being ne- glected or cannot take care of themselves, or it may be a behavioral health issue on top of a medical issue. Every county in the state has something called adult pro- tective services, or APS. We’ll call their office in these situations to see if they can look into things. And certainly, if there are other family members available lo- cally, we’ll reach out to them to intervene and indicate that there’s an issue. “In New Jersey there is also mandato- ry alternative dispute resolution (ADR), so we might use that process to sit down with the resident, approaching them in a kind and relaxed manner, and engage a dialogue, as- suming that they are both cognizant and cogent enough for that process to have merit. “The worst thing that people can do is to be con- f r o nt at i o n a l with those who have sensitive behavioral is- sues. There are people who ab- solutely need to be attended to, medicated, or even institu- tionalized. The test in New Jersey is, ‘Are they a danger to themselves, others, or the property?’ And at that point it becomes a police matter. “We had an elderly woman in a co-op who was living alone; her kids had aban- doned her. She had a continence prob- lem, and when you got off the elevator in the co-op building you could smell the urine. Eventually she was noncompliant in so many areas that we had to file legal action to evict her from the co-op. But it actually worked out, because she called legal services, and legal services called APS, and finally out-of-state family got involved and placed her in assisted liv- ing near a relative – which should have happened long prior. I obviously felt bad dragging a 75-year-old to court, but it actually was in the best interests of ev- eryone involved. We had a kind sensitive judge, good legal professionals, and we did what her family should have done for her long ago. “But every case is different in my ex- perience and, if management can’t solve something, get on the phone with a law- yer, because we have the resources and deal with this quite frequently.” ■ Mike Odenthal is a staff writer/reporter for Th e Chicagoland Cooperator. “I’ve seen managing agents fail to understand that they’re acting at a board’s direction. When a managing agent acts be- yond the scope of what the board tells them to do, it can immediately create a problem for that manag- ing agent.” — Ira S. Goldenberg