Plumbing is a minor miracle: clean water, on demand, and at the temperature one chooses in his or her apartment. What would have been the height of luxury just a couple of generations ago is now considered a bare necessity. Miraculous as it…

When it comes to how co-op and condo communities navigate the race to address climate change, a goal like switching to 100 percent renewable energy may seem too tall an order. On the other hand, recycling household glass, paper, and plastic…

Energy costs are a major component in any housing environment, and one of the main areas where boards and managers look at to optimize efficiency and save money. One already popular — and growing — alternative to fossil fuels is solar energ…

Most of us rarely think twice before tossing a banana peel into the garbage can. Which is fine! Anything from a deflated bike to an old boot can usually be thrown in the trash without a second thought. But there are some items that must be …

Q. I have an upstairs co-op shareholder who has four grandchildren every weekend. She allows these kids to run, jump, stomp, and roughhouse from the time they arrive Fridays from 6:00 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.; an…

By all accounts, most boards of condominiums, cooperatives or homeowners’ associations are doing their best. After all, they’re just groups of democratically-elected volunteers with a fiduciary duty to act in their constituents’ best intere…

The board of a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners’ association literally exists to serve, and to represent residents’ best interests in the day-to-day business of the association. The relationship between the owner/shareholder and the …

One of the unique things that sets co-op, condo and HOA living apart from living in a single-family home, or even a rental, is the buyer’s choice to live in a community-within-a-community. By purchasing a unit in a particular building or de…

There’s an old adage that ‘insurance is for pessimists’ – but that’s very much not the case. In the world of home ownership, and especially in shared communities, proper insurance is a critical factor in protecting not only your most import…

Insurance can seem like a mundane administrative afterthought – right up to the moment you need coverage. In a community association, just because a responsible board handles the lion’s share of maintaining the policy covering common areas …