Condo Association Management Blog

New condo association board gets elected by cheating and tampering

We had an election of condo board officers this week. The incumbents won by a stupendously large margin, which we know was done by interfering with the locked ballot box that contained mail-in ballots. Our condo association by-laws say that elections are to be done at a meeting or with a proxy, nothing about mail-in ballots. This condo board, however, sent out mail-in ballots to all 1500 units in our 55+ condo association in NY. They ignore the by-laws by having a mail-in ballot instead of a proxy so it is easier for them to cheat. Then they sent people to visit older residents and shut-ins offering to "help them fill out their ballots." 35% of the votes took place on election day, using an official election machine, and 65% mail-in ballots were opened and counted on election day. According to the machine votes, one incumbent and 3 new people were clearly elected. However, when the mail-in ballots were counted, low and behold, an overwhelming number of votes went to the four incumbents. I know they cheated and tampered with the mail-in votes, but it will be hard to prove. Never in the history of this place have there been so many votes. What recourse do we have?

Condo association board imposes and collects on outrageous late fees

We own a NYC condo apartment where the board is sponsor controlled after 8 years. There are two other unit owners on the board, however, they both reside in other states and both of their units are up for sale. The sponsor obviously has no plans to hand control over to the owners and continues to hold more than 50% of the units in the building, renting all except one. He has failed to obtain an OC thus far due to multiple violations in the building. He treats the building as his own sandbox and the condo money as his own.

Here's my immediate problem. While the condo bylaws define a comprehensive late fee schedule, the board (ie the sponsor) saw fit to compose a set of "house rules" that implement a completely different schedule of literally obscene fines which he claims is legally binding and overrides the condo bylaws. The property manager, a well known company, sides with him on this issue, (on all issues as a matter of fact) and makes a habit of marking timely payments late. All attempts to reason with the property management company are initially ignored and finally result in threats and invitations to pursue the issue in court. If I were to be blunt I would say that the sponsor and property management company are a bunch of brazen thieves.

My question is the following: is the property management company at all liable for this? The only thing holding us in the building are more than 50k in late fees that the property management company has generated for the sponsor.

How to help new condo association board members do their job?

Hi, I'm writing an article for the Cooperator magazine, a New York-based magazine intended to educate board members, coop manager and condo residents. The story I'm writing is about how to help new board members in Illinois do their job, and my editor suggested that you would be the person who could help me! I was hoping you could answer the following questions (or at least a few of them) for the article.

• What are some common misconceptions people have about serving on co-op/condo boards–both for better, and for worse?

• What kinds of things does a new board member need to know upon being elected to help run their building or association?

• How can sitting and/or past board members assist new board members in understanding their responsibilities, and bring them up to speed on projects, ongoing challenges, and other building-related issues?

• What about property managers? What's their role in getting new board members oriented and up-to-speed?

• And what about new board members themselves – how can they take initiative to get informed about how their building community works and how they can best carry out their duties?

• Do you have any specific examples about how different building communities handle board orientation – staggered terms, member manuals, work sessions, etc?

Thanks! Danielle

HOA lays out for water damage repairs. How do they get their money back?

Recently, a lower condo that had been vacant for some time, sold. The new owner was in his house when he discovered mold on the wall. He called the HOA who found that one entire wall was soaked. The leak was from the upper unit. The upper unit's owner was contacted and they immediately addressed the leak. They agreed to call their condo association insurance to report the damage. The new homeowner and the upper homeowner called for several bids. The cheapest bid was from the upper unit's contractor and the three ascending bids were taken by the new homeowner. That is where the trouble begins.

The upper owner is out of state so she has her father who lives here locally handle her business regarding the condo. He claimed the other contractors were more expensive because they wanted to do unnecessary work. The new homeowner and the HOA claim mold treatment is needed and so that justifies the increase in price whereas the upper owner's father just wants to replace the sheet rock, paint and texture. Next, the upper owner has decided she does not want to talk to the HOA or the new homeowner and says she had signed a Power of Attorney. When asked to provide this to the HOA, all requests are ignored. Now the new homeowner told the upper owner "thought they had" insurance and now they discover that they do not.

Meanwhile six weeks go by and the new homeowner is looking at paying rent at his old house and a mortgage on August 1st, so he asks the HOA for help. Within 2 days, the HOA steps in makes the complete repairs on the unit so the new homeowner can move in. The upper owner's father is presented with the bill and he says: "I'll see you in court" and walks away. What are we to do? Can we file a mechanics lien on the upper unit for the cost of the repairs? The new homeowner tried to reach the selling realtor, and the pre-buy inspector of the unit to no avail. I appreciate your advice.

How to oppose a condo association special assessment?

Is it proper to change useful lifes of capital assets on the reserves? (1) Condo board impossed a $2M special assessment to "fund" the reserves. (2) Item that needs "funding" now-per reserves study- is windows and doors but original life to replace was 30 years. "Study" changed life to 20 years, thus, they need to be replaced now. (3) Condo board commissioned an  engineering firm to inspect the windows and doors in the building. Its report was that they are an bad shape and need to be replaced now. Many owners say they windows and doors are OK, that this is not an structural problem, and that is not a priority asking that they will be replaced in 2020 instead of 2010. How to oppose this special assessment?

HOA damage and responsibilities of board, owner, and contractor

We are trying to acquire an attorney to be our HOA consultant but having no luck to find someone that is specialized and knows about HOA laws. We have a very difficult unit tenant who claims they are the owners. Property shows their children are the legal owners. There was a recent fire that occured in this unit that damaged their balcony, which no one can have access other than than the people residing in the unit. This unit insists the HOA to paid and repair the damage. The fire department could not pin down the cause of the fire, the photo shows a table with burning incent tools. We called a meeting with the HOA and we voted to share the cost between HOA and the unit tenants/owner. The unit owner's parents now wants to sue us for the entire damage cost.

What is your opinion on this matter? Our HOA bylaws spells out that the HOA responsible for exterior wall and common area, but all balcony decks has been the responsibility of each owner. To avoid confusion, I am going to list the problems:

1. Unit fire occurred within the unit balcony

2. Condo association insurance willing to paid for the damage after deductible.

3. The deductible was raised by this unit owner(parents) when she was a board and changed the agent and our policy without notifying the HOA board.

4. Contractor #1 (approved by HOA) pulled the permit for the initial repair.

5. City inspection found further damage of the balcony due to water damage.

6. unit owner's parent went and inform the insurance adjuster for the damage cost - the insurance was willing to paid the extended damages (no communication to HOA)

7. The unit owner's parents hired another contractor to repair the extend damage and claimed they have pull another permit. (no notification to the HOA)

8.Contractor #1 now no longer assumes liability.

9. The unit owner's parents now sends a letter and request for the full damage cost and will take legal action if we don't comply.

Can changing condo association meeting dates impact board terms?

Recently changes were made to our changing the date of our condo association annual meeting and elections. Our annual meeting used to be in April, now it's any month during the year that the wants to have it. The question is what happens with the terms of the board members. This would allow the board members to stay on the board longer then the time they were elected for per our condo documents. The condo board members that were elected to serve one year in April of last year will now be serving more time on the board if they were to hold the annual meeting and elections in November or December of this year. As you can see they will be serving 7 or 8 months longer then they were elected for by the homeowners per our documents. Is this legal for them to serve longer then they were elected for or by changing the documents change this? Thanks

HOA management won't help townhouse with a dead animal inside the wall

I bought a townhouse in an HOA recently and had some problems with the management office. A few months ago, some animals got into the walls through a hole on the roof. Condo management office sent a company (NOT A ANIMAL CONTROL COMPANY) to seal the hole from outside. Few weeks later, lots of flies and bad smell came out from the walls. This time condo management sent an animal control company and they need to open some holes inside the unit to locate the dead animal. However, the condo management did not support this plan and never respond to us. We have to live with the flies and stinky smells. Now there is still few flies coming out from the walls and bad smell is still there in the closet and bath room. My wife is in pregnancy and is sick with this situation. Without response from the management office, can I turn to a lawyer to help? I am in Boston and appreciate your help. PTKTMYT3MRDD

Bankrupt owner collects rent but does not pay the HOA

One of the owners in our building stopped making payments of HOA fees 18 months ago; about 12 months ago, he rented their unit; and about six months ago he declared bankruptcy. Despite his bankruptcy, the renters pay him, but no fees are paid to us: the HOA pays for their water, security access, elevator access, and garage. Our lawyer says we have no rights until bankruptcy is settled. Is that truly the case?

Should number of association employees be based on condo units?

I am the treasurer of a condominium association in downtown Chicago with 108 units and I am trying to get a better handle on our expenses and ROI. My question is this: (and I know that it will vary) is there a "general" rule that suggests how many full-time maintenance personnel should be "employed" by the condo association or management company given the number of units in a building?

For example, our building has 108 units; we have a full-time building engineer and a full-time janitor. I am not happy with their performance. On the other hand, the building across the street has 88 units, a full-time engineer and a part-time janitor once a week. Their building looks great. Any insight would be most appreciated. Thank you