One universal truth on which we all can agree is that kids like to play. They love little more than getting together and having a bang-up good time. And in almost any cooperative, condominium or homeowners’ association, there is likely to b…
In the past, developers would throw a few chairs and tables into a large room and call it a common area or a recreation room and leave it at that. Today, however, there's more to designing, maintaining and upgrading a successful common area…
In the past, when it came time to do a remodeling project, no one really ever had much of an idea as to how things would turn out. Architects and designers would come by with blueprints or swatches of color and fabric and ask you to just im…
While nowhere near as prevalent as it was in the 1980s (when it seemed as if one couldn’t find a clean wall in the city), graffiti has never completely disappeared from Chicago...or any metro area, for that matter. In fact, the city’s sanit…
Like any company, a multifamily residential community generates a lot of paperwork in the course of doing business, from employment records to tenant records and more. It can be an enormous amount of stuff to manage, and knowing what to kee…
If you’ve never seen an Alfred Hitchcock film and are looking for an entry point, considering adding The Birds to your Netflix queue. As an added bonus, you’ll not only be watching one of Hitch’s classics, you’ll also gain a true appreciati…
Despite the significant number of small condo and association communities that exist in Illinois, and in the Chicago area in particular, residents of these buildings would not be blamed if they felt a bit neglected with all of the attention…
Living in a building or association means living in a community where residents get to know each other, attend events together and, sometimes even become close friends. In most cases, the people you meet are regular, down-to-earth folks, bu…
Q. With all of today’s technology available, and with video/audio conferencing by Skype or other means more popular today, I'm thinking that more associations would like to hold their meetings via the Internet or telephone conferencing. I…
Q. Who’s responsible for water leak damage? I am a condo owner in good standing and a former board member in my association. Several months ago my hardwood floors were damaged by a leaking radiator. In our bylaws, it explicitly states tha…