Any building in Chicago taller than, say, five stories usually has an elevator—and often, new buildings of even three stories have an elevator. If you live in a high rise co-op or condo building on Lake Shore Drive or elsewhere in Chicagol…
Living in a condo means putting up with certain occasional inconveniences: that curious odor emanating from the neighbor’s unit, the downstairs saxophone player who practices every Tuesday afternoon, or that one resident that insists at ev…
You may love your building. You may even love your neighbors and the members of your board. But there are few people who can say that they love their monthly board meetings or annual shareholder meetings. That’s because many of these meeti…
Finding the right balance of involvement between homeowner associations, co-op boards, condo boards and residents can be like maintaining a healthy relationship with a significant other: you want to be compassionate, responsive and attenti…
There’s nothing worse than being a unit owner in a building and seeing someone breaking a rule and seemingly getting away with it. It's even worse if that person happens to be on the building's board. Some board members believe that …
The Chicagoland Cooperator and Yale Robbins, Inc. welcome you to The Chicagoland Cooperator’s third annual Chicagoland Condo, HOA, & Co-op Expo. The Chicagoland Expo is the largest expo in the state entirely dedicated to connecting c…
My question is if there is damage to my roof and it leaks into my condominium unit and I reported it to the board three times with no repairs made, can I repair it myself and deduct the cost from my common charges? Please advise. —A Matt…
I live in a very small building and our condo board has turned over our building to a manager who is running the condo as if unit owners work for her not vice versa. The board likes not having to do anything. What recourse do unhappy owners…
According to some condominium and homeowners association managers, it’s getting hot out there. “People have become more litigious, more angry and more surly,” according to Angela Falzone, co-founder of Association Advocates, Inc. and…
While natural disasters causing catastrophic property damages are increasing every year, associations also have to be prepared for other unexpected expenses, such as a roof replacement or a new heating and cooling system. These major capit…