Category: Owner Relations

Owner Relations Neighbor Noise
Neighbor Noise

Noise is an acknowledged part of urban life - particularly apartment living.  Some of it - traffic, garbage collection, people shouting on the street - is external, and is controlled (theoretically, anyway) by zoning laws and noise ordinanc…

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Owner Relations Secondhand Smoke Complaints
Secondhand Smoke Complaints

Q. I live in a condo and my neighbor downstairs from me is constantly smoking. I brought it to the attention of management and nothing has been done. What are my options as an owner: do I bring legal action against the management, or do I t…

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Owner Relations Handling Harassment
Handling Harassment

Whether you live in a super-luxe Park Avenue co-op in New York City, a waterfront condo on Lakeshore Drive, a sprawling HOA in Nevada, or a multifamily community in Miami, one thing is certain: you have neighbors. Hopefully they’re the peop…

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Owner Relations Communicate...and then OVERcommunicate
Communicate...and then OVERcommunicate

A few years ago, I was on the phone with a homeowner. He was irate with how his community’s money was being spent. He was unhappy with the budget increase. It was a call I took regularly from any one of my homeowners (and more often than no…

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Owner Relations Keeping Track of Paperwork
2014 February Keeping Track of Paperwork

While keeping the records of the association is not the most fascinating part of serving on a board, it is in some ways the most important. In fact, the flow of paperwork is the lifeblood of the community. The association’s declarati…

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Owner Relations Board Owner Do’s and Don’ts
2014 February Board Owner Do’s and Don’ts

It only takes a few minutes of a web search to uncover the traits that make a successful person or business owner. For example, Entrepreneur magazine’s Steven Key wrote the article, “5 Qualities of Successful Persons,” which included such …

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Owner Relations Howdy, Neighbor
2014 February Howdy, Neighbor

The word community, like many words in the English language, has more than one interpretation. A community can be identified as a geographical location--a physical infrastructure of streets, parks and buildings, defined by tangible brick a…

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Owner Relations Building a Better Board
2013 February Building a Better Board

 Working in groups can be a challenge. Working in groups when people’s homes—and possibly their life savings—are involved can be a far greater challenge. It’s one faced every day by those brave souls who volunteer to serve on their co-op  …

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Owner Relations Taming Transient Turnmoil
2013 February Taming Transient Turnmoil

As housing markets in many parts of the country—including Chicago—have foundered, many developers have opted to convert portions of communities originally intended to be condominiums into rental properties. When a development with no ow…

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Owner Relations Neighbor to Neighbor
2013 February Neighbor to Neighbor

 Can’t we all just get along? It's a million-dollar question. When someone moves into  a community, they often look for the friendliness and camaraderie that living  in an association brings. But with many personalities often butting heads…

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