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 …

Twice a year, The Cooperator Expo - Chicagoland , brings together scores of vendors and service providers to share information on new products, services, and best practices for multifamily communities – but that's not all it does! The re…

Q. Many owners have questions about what happens at the monthly board meetings. Our board refuses to release any meeting minutes to the owners. Also, the board has told me that they do not record in the minutes who voted for what. Can the…