Condo Association Management Blog

Until you have your election even though it went past the annual date because of poor notification, they are legally still in charge. Once you get a new vboard elected you can revisit the annual budget and call a new meeting and vote to ratify it. Sounds like you have some serious insider good ole boy crap going on here. You may want to research legal remedies through a state agency. It seems like NJ is a terrible place to be a condo owner based on what I read. Good luck and don't get whacked by Guido!!

What do your bylaws/rules and regulations documents say? 
 
What management company are you using? 
 
President/Treasurer? Is he working both positions? 
 
How many people are on the board?  
 
I also live in NJ. Where is your community located?  
 
How old is your condo community? 
 
Victor 
 

Irrespective of the general foolishness of some of your board officers, your unit owners need to remember that a budget is only that, an estimate of the coming year's expenses. If a way to spend less on a budget item is found after the budget was passed, is any sane person in a position of authority going to ignore that potential saving and insist on spending more than is necessary on that item?  
 
That smacks of a fiduciary failing...big time.  
 
I hesitate to make any suggestion of dishonesty, but that has been known, too, I'm afraid.

Call an emergency meeting and oust the present board. Look in your by-laws on what is required to do this. We did this and turned around our sinking assocaiation.

To everyone that responded I thank you very much. To Victor, I live in the Woodlands in Mays Landing. We don't use a property management company, we use an owner of one of the condos. Her two sons work as the maintenance men. Yes the president/treasurer is one person. We have 7 on the board. Our community was built in 78 I believe. We took out a 1.4 million dollar loan to finish the siding and roofing, which by the way still isn't done, then we recast the loan to 1.9 million. This year we notice on the budget the mortgage payments have gone down. That's how we found out they recast the loan in January to extend it another 3 years. We asked why and were told it's to cover the delinquencies. Sure we have plenty of delinquencies but no more than any other community. We have had our fees raised and emergency assessments for the past 5 years. Payroll is over 700K. Our latest assessment is for 120.00 per unit, last year it was 365.00 per unit, the year before it was around 1100.00. Dishonest???? I'll say it, I'm not afraid. Where do you point the finger. Ok I'm rattling on and on, I think sometimes it just feels good to get it all out. John, I agree with you. Why would any sane person not take a look at what this person had to offer. They downright said no! The budget was passed and that's that. Donna, I would love to know how you did it. I hope you respond.

download and read the provisions of your New Jersey Condominium Act. You may well find that your current board's actions vilate your state law. You may also find a procedure you may utilize in impeachiong your board or in forcing the [prsesent board to conform to the law in your state. Remember in case of conflict between state law and bylaws the stae law takes precedence,

If 700 owners pay $300 per month as their HOA fees, this equals $210,000 per month or $2,520,000 annually. For this level of fees, you need to hire a professional accountant to administer your finances and prepare your monthly financial reports.  
 
 
 
I would guess that at least a few owners out of 700 have an accounting background. If I am correct, they could form an audit committee to review bills and contracts on a periodic basis to ensure that everything is "above board." The real challenge in controlling expenses is being able to determine if your association is actually receiving the services for which you are paying. 
 

Hi Judi! I live in Sussex County.  
 
How long has the President/Treas. held that position? 
 
You stated the Payroll is up 16% a year. You stated 3 people manage the place. An owner and 2 sons of the owner are on the payroll? Anyone else on the payroll? 
 
Does that owner who manages the place have another job besides managing the condos?  
 
On an average how many people attend your board meetings? 
 
Have you talked to other owners? What do they say? 
 
Victor 
 

Victor. We have around 13 people on the payroll. The question was asked the other night at the meeting and the pres/treas wasn't sure, 11 or 13. We have 1 property manager who is also an owner here. She is also on the board of the MUA. 2 of her sons are on the payroll. Another board member works the pool in the summer and part time in the office. I've seen the pres/treasurer in the office at night doing janitorial work along with the girl that cleans the office. She is also our pool manager in the summer. It gets complicated huh? There are at least 5 people working in our office, not counting the property manager, 2 of them also own here. The pres/treasurer has been in for 6 years that I'm aware of. His office terminated in December but because of our elections being held incorrectly he's still there. I'm running for the Board and the election isn't until March. Our Board feels that they are not accountable to us. There used to be a higher attendance at the meetings, but this is a Casino town and alot of people work evenings. They've gotten so disgusted with the way this place is run. I do believe though it can be turned around with some good people running it. One person did redo the budget and found some ways to cut corners but they won't listen. This is where we may have a case against them. If someone has a way to save some money for your association, don't you think it would be in the best interest to at least hear her out? She's a former property manager. I'll keep everyone updated on how we're progressing. Thanks again all for the help

Judi your going in the right path. I had the same issue in my condo community but it only had 71 units. I went around and talked to people and showed them what was going on. We won out. 
 
I recommend going door to door with your agenda. inform the owners and gather as many people as you can. Get owners emails so that you can easily update them. Start documenting everything you see the board does. Send out your docs to the owners through email. Just be certain about your facts. Make sure everything you have is factual. 
 
Here is my address victor66 at ptd dot net. I formatted my email address because I don't want spam. I'm sure you properly read it. Feel free to contact me. I might have some more ideas for you. I can also relay my story to you. Its not an easy thing to do but if you win the battle its a great feeling.

Victor, I replied to you

Judi I should have received the email by now but I didn't get the email.  
 
Can look at the email address again?

Victor, did you get my email?

Judi I did not get your email. Send the email to victor666999@yahoo.com