Unlike in a co-op, wherein residents own shares in a corporation entitling them to occupy their apartment – and in which the co-op board is pretty much the final authority over how the community is run – condos and HOAs are considered ‘real…
A condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association is only as efficient as the elected board that oversees its day-to-day operations. Considering how difficult it can be to find time for family, leisure, and sleep amid work and assorted …
Attorneys and community association managers can be a godsend for the board of a co-op, condominium or HOA. Most boards consist of volunteers who usually have quite busy external lives themselves, so having an experienced professional on th…
If you live in a condominium, cooperative or HOA, you’re effectively acting as part of a participatory democracy run by an elected group of volunteers. And as with any democracy, those affected by the board’s decisions are encouraged to get…
The board of a condominium, cooperative or homeowner’s association has a fiduciary duty to make decisions in the best interest of the community as a whole. But individual board members may have different ideas as to what those decisions mig…
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…
A democracy fares best when its constituents are proportionally represented. For all intents and purposes, the board of a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners’ association is a democratically-elected entity, and as such, one could argue …
One of the most difficult issues for board members and residents of co-ops, condominiums and HOAs is that of arrearages. The problem poses practical, procedural and ethical issues and can ultimately lead to legal repercussions. Sadly, and…
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…