The drawbacks of being on a board are legion. For one thing, it's a lot of work. Hours and hours and hours of work, of poring over spreadsheets, of talking to property managers and vendors and residents and tenants when you could be watc…
When Bob Madison, a unit owner on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, tried to contact a board member to talk to them about an ongoing problem he had in the building, he was told "board members don't give out their e-mail addresses." He wa…
Congratulations. You have been chosen to help lead your community on a small governing council that will determine the major policy decisions affecting everyone who lives in your community. From finances to rules enforcement to selection of…
Serving the board of your co-op or condo can offer many benefits, but also bring many challenges. As board members also live among residents they serve, community issues are always present. It can turn into a 24/7 job that interferes wit…
Being a board member in an HOA or community association is a task rooted in civic pride and responsibility not unlike serving on the local school board or town meeting. Some become board members because they want to protect the inve…
Many association board members and shareholders alike come to dread the monthly board meeting or annual shareholders meeting - stories abound of meetings dragging on for hours, with participants feeling that they're trapped in a vortex o…
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 inacces…
Your property management company is the custodian of your development. It is the job of your managing agent to handle your HOA's finances, keep track of contractors and vendors, and pay bills. But what happens if the company you hired to do…
Boards of directors in co-op and condo buildings are generally elected volunteers who live in the community themselves and have a vested interest in preserving its quality of life while protecting the investment that the building or deve…
Since the board of a building or community association is usually comprised of a collective group of unique individuals with their own perspective and opinions, no two boards are ever the same. However, there are certain overall, un…