Many an apartment-dweller dreams of waking up, pulling back the drapes or raising the blinds, and gazing out their floor-to-ceiling windows toward the horizon, sunlight flooding the space around them.  For the lucky few that’s not a fantasy…

On Wednesday, November 15th,  hundreds of board members, managers, building owners, and condo, HOA and co-op residents will flock to the Navy Pier Convention Center in Chicago from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the autumn edition of The Coope…

Everyone loves the turning of the seasons, what with leaves changing, snow falling, pools opening and the like. But Mother Nature has little concern for the comfort of humans, so fluctuating temperatures bring the need for residential heati…

Whether because of convenience, the desire for autonomy, or a tight budget, some condo and HOA communities opt not to retain an outside management company or an agent to handle their respective day-to-day administrative and maintenance need…

Q. I live in a five-story condominium with 24 units, 24 “designated” parking spots, and six undesignated spots. “Designated” means that only the 24 people with parking tags can park in any one of those 24 designated spots (but the spots a…

Q. If someone wants to get a board member off the board, how do they go about it, and what percentage of the shareholders do they need?                             —What’s the Procedure? A.   “The question is a good question, and the a…

Supers, building managers, maintenance persons, custodial staff, groundskeeping personnel, porters, doormen, concierges—depending on the size of a community, the staff roster for a condo, co-op, or HOA can be pretty long. The truth is, in t…

Most people go about their days paying little attention to the labor performed by those who make their lives easier. From transit workers to service employees to government officials, how often does one stop to thank the people making every…

Community living – the very basis of co-op, condo and HOA life –is based on the idea of trust. In a community of potentially hundreds or thousands of residents, every resident can’t be involved in the making of every decision. Too many cook…

A condominium, cooperative, or homeowners’ association elects a board for a specific purpose: to navigate the ins and outs of association management on a day-to-day basis. In fact, the board has an inflexible fiduciary duty to act in the be…