The headline of a recent Walpole, Massachusetts newspaper article reads: “Fight between Walpole selectmen cuts meeting short.” The first sentence of the article stated, “Selectmen came to verbal blows on Tuesday night, prompting other boar…
Having a disinterested, apathetic board is a problem in some buildings, though a board that oversteps the boundaries of its power or invades the privacy of residents, also can cause hassles. By educating and informing themselves of the ext…
This country was founded with a heavy dose of independence and a strong “Do-It-Yourself” attitude. The DIY mindset, with roots in Europe and European culture, crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the earliest immigrants and became part of the A…
Read any of the major business publications or websites and you’re bound to find articles on the importance of delegating. It’s one of the most fundamental skills for a successful business owner to have. A simple Internet search finds scor…
Living in a condo means putting up with certain occasional inconveniences: that curious odor emanating from the neighbor’s unit, the downstairs saxophone player who practices every Tuesday afternoon, or that one resident that insists at ev…
You may love your building. You may even love your neighbors and the members of your board. But there are few people who can say that they love their monthly board meetings or annual shareholder meetings. That’s because many of these meeti…
Finding the right balance of involvement between homeowner associations, co-op boards, condo boards and residents can be like maintaining a healthy relationship with a significant other: you want to be compassionate, responsive and attenti…
There’s nothing worse than being a unit owner in a building and seeing someone breaking a rule and seemingly getting away with it. It's even worse if that person happens to be on the building's board. Some board members believe that …
According to some condominium and homeowners association managers, it’s getting hot out there. “People have become more litigious, more angry and more surly,” according to Angela Falzone, co-founder of Association Advocates, Inc. and…
Every year the cycle repeats itself in co-ops and condo communities in Chicago: as temperatures drop and snow begins to swirl, flocks of empty nesters and others fortunate enough to own a second home in a warmer climate pack up and head so…