2016 December
Focus on... Safety & Security

Consider where you live and how your home and lifestyle interacts with the surrounding natural world. Now, think about what that world contains in terms of wildlife. Depending on where you live, this could mean ‘nuisance’ animals as commonp…

Everyone is right to be concerned with the safety of their communities, whether they live in an area highly susceptible to crime or a sleepy Mayberry-esque hamlet. Condominiums, cooperatives, and homeowners’ associations are no exception; i…

Some days it rains, some days it pours – and some days, there’s a category 4 hurricane. And while the latter is relatively rare, it can be a true disaster, and any condominium, co-op or homeowner’s association worth its salt should be prepa…

Secure.  The word has many meanings.  According to Google definitions it can mean “to fix or attach something to something else.  It can mean to protect against threats or make safe.  Or it can mean to feel free from fear or anxiety.”  Perh…

Multifamily residential buildings provide both privacy and community. Privacy, because a recluse in New York City can have almost anything delivered to his door and thus never have to leave the sanctuary of his apartment; and community, bec…

There has been a recent push by federal, state and local legislators to get reverse mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) approved for residential cooperatives. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) h…

Whether you make your home in the heart of a city or in a sprawling suburb, there are certain dangers that have nothing to do with crime rates, economics, or the latest exotic imported disease (see our piece on the Zika epidemic elsewhere i…

While most often the exception and not the rule, fires in high-rise buildings do occur. Whether it’s a scary-but-manageable kitchen fire or a four-alarm blaze involving multiple units or even floors, smoke alarms, sprinkler systems and flam…

Hardly a day goes by without hearing the latest news about the Zika virus.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Zika can be transmitted through bites from an infected Aedes species of mosquito (Ae. aegypti and…

Rule enforcement can often be a point of tension in a condo, co-op or HOA—but when it comes to the potential for sheer acrimony, nothing beats a pet ban. Enacting one can be a heated affair, leading to fights and arguments across the commun…

A condo or homeowners association is the cornerstone of a building community. The condominium or HOA maintains order and continuity by preserving architectural integrity, maintaining the common elements, protecting property values, and ofte…

Despite being known as the Sunshine State, Florida residents know all too well the perils of heavy rains, hail, wind and hurricanes. Both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are vulnerable to hurricanes, and even with savvy, proactive storm prepar…

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 …

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…

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…

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…