The building blocks of all homeowner’s associations are the community's respective bylaws, administrative documents and house rules. Equally important are legal documents that define critical information and other action items, such as ter…
Condos and homeowner associations have made headlines over the years for passing all kinds of overreaching and downright silly rules and regulations—everything from forbidding the flying of the American flag to having prohibitions about ha…
The “Dream Team” label is often used to describe a perfect combination of highly-skilled people drawn together for a particular purpose. The 1992 U.S. mens' Olympic basketball team is probably the most famous example, but 'dream teams' hav…
Many if not most boards get along famously. There are boards that have had the same members for decades and run their communities without a hitch. We frequently get calls from readers who are troubled when they find that their board …
The owners of Museum Park Place Condominium in Chicago’s South Loop area are fortunate; their 23-story, 194-unit building overlooks Soldier Field. “We sit on the rooftop terrace, listen to concerts, and watch the Bears play football on the…
When electing board members to serve on behalf of your community, you expect them to be on their best behavior and think of the needs of the building and the people who live there when making their decisions. Regardless of the type of comm…
If someone offered free advice and equipment to help you use less of his product, would you say it’s too good to be true? A lot of people do. That’s a challenge as Chicagoland’s electric and natural-gas utilities try to promote energy-savi…
It's a truism that's been phrased many ways by many wise people: “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” That's the case in any number of situations, but it's especially applicable to the administration…
Of all the stages of co-op life, the initial application and approval process, especially the interview, is certainly the most harrowing. Many people fear that just one wrong word will mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. …
Say you’re in bed, and you hear what sounds like the shower going. It's late, and you're tired, so you pay it no mind. You wake up at 4 a.m. to get a glass of water and find half the rooms in your apartment flooded— you forgot to turn the …