If you want to find out about the history of a town, region or country, head to a museum or look it up on the Internet. If you want to find out about your family’s history, look at your photo album, whether it’s in a book or online. And…
The foundation of any properly run co-op or condo building rests on residents paying their monthly maintenance fees on time and in full, with no delays or delinquencies. Unfortunately, because of the lingering effects of the Recession …
A major building rehabilitation for a large condominium community included impact-resistant replacement windows, at a six-figure cost for materials alone. The owners’ association advanced money to the contractor to buy the windows. When…
It’s the same dilemma that single-family households across the U.S. are facing: What bills need to be paid immediately and what bills can wait? And should we stretch ourselves thin, taking more out of our bank accounts to pay for privat…
Unless you have a degree in accounting, your first board meeting could come as a bit of a shock. You probably knew board members oversee the finances of your association but who knew there were so many records to produce and filing dea…
In December 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the United States was in a recession that had started back in December 2007. The official announcement was old news for most Americans. Most financially…
For a crystal-clear picture of how an association is doing, there are few better lenses than the community's budgets and financial reports. From an investment perspective, they show the association board, property managers, the unit ow…
True story: a condominium community’s board of directors spent almost $50,000 in legal fees and court costs to evict a corpulent canine that exceeded the weight limit for residents’ dogs...by three whole pounds. In another comm…
Unless it's a thoughtful gift or a party in their honor, nobody likes surprises. That's especially true when it comes to sudden, serious, or non-negotiable repairs to a condo building or HOA. A community must have enough money saved to …