Category: On The Board

In a community association or HOA meeting, without procedural rules and organization, it’s amazing how quickly a room full of adults can devolve into a room full of toddlers—everyone talking over one another and no one listening, insuri…

 Most people assume that as soon as they buy their first home, they will finally  have the freedom to paint their decks purple, to hang fluorescent window  treatments and colorful sconces, or to litter their lawns with political or  yard s…

 It’s time for the big election. And no, we’re not talking about Washington. We’re talking about the one that takes place annually in every co-op, condo  building and homeowners association. It’s the election where unit owners have to appo…

 Many condo owners want to get involved in their community but they soon find out  that being on the board is no picnic. Soon neighbors are pestering them asking  for feuds to be settled, decisions that affect all resident’s lives have to …

 Wires and drywall were all that remained in a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath  Wrigleyville condominium unit that its owner abandoned in 2009. The owner wasn’t paying on his mortgage or his monthly condo association assessments, prompt…

 It's almost a mantra: the more you know, the better off you are—certainly when it comes to doing the job of a condominium or HOA board member.  No matter how enthused and engaged a new board appointee may be, they don't  come to the job k…

 It is one of life’s eternal questions: is it possible to have too much of a good thing? That  question certainly can apply to the matter of long-serving board members, those  individuals who get elected and re-elected term after term. And…

 As an attorney and an apartment dweller, Michelle F. has seen it all when it  comes to living with difficult residents. “I lived next door to twin toddlers whose parents were both attorneys,” says Michelle, who in addition to being a real…

 One of the trickier problems to deal with when you live in a co-op or condo is  dealing with board members who sometimes let the power go to their heads. Even  though they are entrusted with a great deal of responsibility to keep their  a…

 Remember your first day at a new school? Most likely, you didn’t know a soul, had no idea what the students were learning and you probably felt  nervous, intimidated or maybe even afraid. In most cases, this is what it’s like to be a new …