When you live in a multifamily building, however, peace and quiet can be hard to come by. From the guy upstairs who gargles loudly at precisely 6:47 a.m. every morning to the neighbor with the yapping Chihuahua—at some point the soundtrack …
It happens in business, government, and industry every day: employees learn the rules of a new job, and very shortly thereafter, they start taking shortcuts to circumvent them. Rarely is this done with malicious intent. More often, it is si…
It’s a fact of life: with big purchases come big reams of paperwork. For co-op shareholders and condominium unit owners, that can mean hundreds of pages of documents outlining everything from the financial status of their residential commun…
For co-ops, condos, and HOAs, insurance premiums are some of those quiet necessities that tend to fly under the budgetary radar until it is time to examine the bottom line, provoking a search for savings. Without a doubt, insurance e…
In South Africa, it’s called a “sectional title.” In Quebec, it’s a copropriété divise or “divided co-property.” In Italy, they call it “condominio,” derived from Latin. Regardless of location, a condominium, commonly referred to as “condo…
Like a python that has swallowed a deer and now needs to rest while digesting it, the Illinois General Assembly emerged from a 2014 session full of important common-interest community association legislation, and paused in 2015 to digest w…
Change is a part of life; and that’s especially true if you’re talking about living in an urban condo community, where no building ever stays the same for too long. Renovations are done, capital improvements are required and even upgrades …
When you lived alone, designing your space was easy. You went to the paint store, selected your favorite colors, came home and did the deed. But then you got married, and decorating got a little trickier. Every design decision had to get a…
The best association boards in the Windy City—those that accomplish the business of their communities effectively—often seem to have members with similar habits. By the same token, poor boards frequently make similar mistakes. But even goo…
Dealing with service vendors is a daily necessity for any condo development or HOA community; there are always things that need to be repaired, replaced, replenished, serviced, cleaned or renovated. Among the laundry list of vendors that C…