Olivia Pope, the main character on ABC’s Scandal, is a professional fixer. If you have a problem—any problem—she can fix it. Over the past two seasons plus, she’s rigged elections, covered up murders, employed professional hit men, exposed…
As jugglers of multiple and oftentimes complex tasks, property managers must be adept at mediating between board members and unit owners, as well as resolving all manner of maintenance and legal issues. To this end, property managers don’t…
The condominium’s swimming pool was 30 years old. It needed a renovation. That would trigger a legal requirement that it be in compliance with current regulations—and would cost $1 million. The association’s board of directors, aghast at t…
Faced with a less-than-satisfactory management situation, a condominium or cooperative board may decide not to adapt, but to replace their property manager, or even switch firms completely. According to experts, this practice happens more …
The signs “Post No Bills,” “Active Driveway” and “Alternate Side Parking” are all fairly common and relatively self-explanatory in urban settings. Other equally common signs we see in suburban communities throughout the U.S. related to pet…
Whether you live in a suburb or in the heart of the city, life is expensive. Sometimes it can feel as though everybody from the barista at your favorite coffee shop to the kid who sacks your groceries is trying to nickel-and-dime you half …
When it comes to ensuring that important association documents are private and secure, board members and managers have to follow specific protocols. However, thanks to ignorance or negligence those guidelines aren’t always followed. And pr…
Someone once said, "People who say that small things don't bother them have never tried to sleep in a room with a mosquito." The truth is that there are little irritations—otherwise known as pet peeves—about a job, relationship, or o…
Serving on a condo board has its challenges—mostly of a relatively mundane, everyday sort, like how to pay for new carpet in the clubhouse, or what kind of flowers to put in the new beds out front. Occasionally however, a much more sens…
When summer rolls around many Chicagoans can be found at any one of the 33 beaches along the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. There may not be any waves but the vast blue waters can rival any Florida or California beach. Illinois’s n…