*Editor's note: In anticipation of Hurricane Irma's possible landfall in Florida later this week, The South Florida Cooperator is featuring a selection of past articles on storm preparation, emergency planning, and post-storm clean-up. Fl…
Q. I live in an HOA that is part of a master association. This master association has operated under 720 (HOA) rules for the 25-plus years I have lived here. We thought we must do a revitalization, so our management company and lawyer at …
No matter what time of year, the addition of natural light into a living space can do more to boost the spirits of its occupants than just about anything else. For a dark kitchen, a gloomy study or a bedroom that lacks that special somethin…
Despite rain being essential to life on Earth, the consensus is that it’s mostly a bummer. And the only thing worse than rain outdoors is when it gets indoors. In a multifamily condo or co-op property especially, where one leak can affect t…
California has its landslides, the Midwest its tornadoes, and along with hurricanes, Florida has...sinkholes. They’re sort of like your own personal earthquake. There are many famous sinkholes, both large and small. The largest in the world…
Constructed as they are out of materials like brick, concrete, or even stone, the exterior walls of an apartment building or row of townhomes might seem nearly indestructible. But despite their hardiness, walls are not immune to assaults fr…
Q. At a regular monthly meeting of a seven-member HOA board, where four members present constitute a quorum, can one of the absent members give her proxy to one of the four attending members to vote on specific issues on the board’s agend…
Q. We had some gutter and minor roof repairs scheduled. The budget is tight for some other reasons and the president stated that her husband was qualified and would do the work for free. He is not licensed or insured and will be working o…
Though many—in fact, most—co-op buildings flatly forbid residents from subletting their apartments to rental tenants, many co-op (and many more condo) buildings have populations of subtenants residing in them. Sometimes a unit owner or shar…
Every year the state of Florida experiences an ebb and flow of full-time and part time residents; as the seasons change, so does the population. Part-time residents from the northern United States and Canada live and work in Florida for an …