2007 Feb
2007 Feb Vol. 5, No. 2
Focus on...Board/Owner Relations
Dealing with an Unresponsive Board
Requests that go unanswered, records that cannot be found, meetings that happen behind closed doors, an opaque veil of non-communication. Unresponsive boards are the bane of HOA members—they seem to operate behind an iron curtain of inaccessibility, and over time their behavior and policies can lead to both shareholder apathy and eventual resentment. Shortcomings like these can make a board seem like it is not serving the needs of the unit owners, whether the issue is a matter of bad policy or just a difference of opinion. Read More
Dealing with Difficult Residents
As a member of board, you've volunteered your
time to serve your building or homeowner's association with the best
interest of your community in mind. But as every board member knows, even
with the best of intentions, your board may face opposition from your
fellow shareholders or homeowners—some legitimate, some decidedly
less so. So knowing how to work with non-board members and how to handle
conflict within your association are essential elements in building and
maintaining a strong community. Read More
Managing Conflict Among Neighbors
Conflict and disagreement among neighbors is something
we all must face, whatever the living situation. As long as people have
different viewpoints and varied lifestyles, they will argue and bicker and
call each other names. And, add to that the extremely close living quarters
of some New Jersey co-ops or condominiums, and the problems get even worse. Read More
Amending Your Rules and Bylaws
What would it be like if today's society was
governed by laws set forth centuries ago and never updated? While some
fundamental rules about not stealing things or hurting people might not
change much, others would be in dire need of a facelift—giving women
the right to vote and outlawing slavery come to mind, among many others. In
deference to the need for a set of rules that change with the times, even
the U.S. Constitution has been amended. The fact is that most rules need to
be revisited and reexamined periodically to make sure they serve the needs
and expectations of the population they're intended to govern. Read More
HOAs Reach Out to Communities
For most of us, it's hard enough managing our own households and maintaining our duties within our co-op or condo community—we may not think about our neighbors outside the association itself. For many New Jersey co-op and condo residents, however, reaching out to their neighbors in their surrounding towns and cities has become one of the most rewarding aspects of condo life. Read More
Women Homeowners on the Rise
I am a woman who owns a single-family suburban home, but I came about the process of home ownership the traditional way. First, I rented an apartment during college and my early working years. Then I met my then-future husband, we got married and, in 1998, we pooled our financial resources to buy our first home. We followed that path with three beautiful children—like I said, it was the traditional way. Read More
Q&A: Converting the Roof
In order to raise our reserve fund and provide further amenities to our co-op, the board is exploring the possibilities of converting our roof-top into both private and common decked areas. The plan is two-fold: a) sell a portion of the roof directly over the top floor units to the shareholders below to allow them to have a private deck that may be accessed directly from their apartments and b) use the remaining portions of the roof as common decked areas. Read More
Q&A: Does Every Minute Count?
I serve as secretary on my co-op’s board of directors and would like to know if it is common practice for the secretary to write down everything said at a given meeting word-for-word. My board seems to think so, but I feel that paraphrasing is more efficient. Are there any hard-and-fast rules for minute-taking at board meetings? I have also heard that in some cases recording board meetings isn’t in a board’s best interest. Under what circumstances would that be the case? Read More
