Blog for HOA & Condo Association Owners

Who do I report possible insurance fraud to when it looks like the management company along with some board members may have kept most of the money paid out by the insurance company?

Tags: Condo Association Insurance

From Missouri: We have a fire hydrant on our property. We want to find out who owns it and is responsible for maintenance. The department of public works tells me to call the fire department near the property. The fire department tells me they don't own any fire hydrants - they tell me to call the water company. The water company shows they are responsible for the water meter, they show the fire hydrant on the property, but they don't show who is responsible for it. I want to know if there is someone or place where I can positively determine who owns and is responsible for this fire hydrant. My reason is because the fire hydrant had a leak which we paid to have repaired, but we are also faced with a huge water bill. Does anyone know of a solution.

Tags: Common Area Issues

I live in IL, it's time to fill board positions. We have many issues on our property, the "maintenance supervisor" went around before the mailing went out as to who was running and why they want on the board. I am running, we are trying to get the off site home owners off of the board as they have caused many problems. This man is trying to make sure that one of the off siters stays on the board, he is actually bullying people to vote for her. We emailed the lawyer and he answered in all caps that this is ok? There are 4 of us that want to get on and make some extremely necessary changes. But every year the same thing happens this guy gets whom he wants on the board. I can't believe this is legal. What if anything can we do? We live in a beautiful area upper middle class and our property is being horribly challenged by people who do not know what they are doing. I hope this makes sense!! HELP!

Tags: Board of Directors

Our condo complex is a 300 unit high rise on the beach. It has some 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms and 10% of the 2 bedrooms have been combined into one unit. Fees are on a % of ownership. Recently our association signed a contract for bulk cable tv including the internet. Those combined units are only counted as one unit so there are only 280 units for the contract. What would have cost $100 per month now only cost the association $80 bulk. Based on the % of ownership the monthly cost for 1 bed is $46, 2 bed is $91 and combined 2 bed  $183 per month all for the same service. It is not listed as a line item but just lumped into the monthly fee. This is unfair especially to the combined unit owners. Is there anyway that I can make them bill each contract unit for the contract price for the service?

Tags: Common Area Issues

How often do you get your fire alarm inspected.  We are in New Jersey.  Is it law here?

Tags: Property Damage & Repairs

How prevalent is payment of Christmas bonuses to non-employee (i.e. contracted) property manager?
For those who do pay such bonus, is it budgeted? Are all owners made aware of bonus payments?

Tags: Property Management

Florida condo association question. Our Declarations say that we can apply damages done by an owner to their account. We can apply the amount of the damages to the account. Our declarations do not say specifically that we can lien for those charges. Do our Declarations have to say specifically that in order to collect a value on the account (not a fine) an amount the Association paid for damage an owner caused to the common elements? If not I am hoping that when they fall delinquent on the account that they can be treated as any other amount on the account such as the maintenance charge. Police reports support the damages and the owner was arrested.

Tags: Property Damage & Repairs

To achieve quorum, in the condominium building where I live, at least 35% of the owners must be present at the annual meeting of the condominium association to allow new members to be elected to the board of directors. I have been an owner in this building for four years. I have witnessed over these four years that at every annual meeting of the association that the quorum is not achieved with the result that nobody is officially elected to the board. Then what happens next is that the current president of the association then tells all non-members of the board of directors to leave the room so that the current members of the board can choose new members to be on the board. Thus, none of the current members of the board of directors have been officially elected by the owners. They are all hand-selected by the current president and other current members of the board in private. In this way, the current president and members of the board of directors are an oligarchy. It is government by a few. There is no democracy in the condo association. Is there anything that can be done to stop this oligarchy in my condo association?

Tags: Board of Directors

The Board just voted to hire a management company for our 98 unit complex. There were two companies we were deciding between. One had a lower per unit fee than the other ($11 vs $14). When we had a Q&A time with all co-owners we mentioned dues would NOT be increased the first year as we figured we would save that amount in lower negotiated contract fees with big projects planned for the year. We ended up deciding to go with the higher monthly fee company because their other charges were lower. Now we are wondering if we can raise dues mid year by $7 or are we unable to due to the budget already being voted on at the annual meeting? Would we need to call the increase an assessment? and raise dues at the next annual meeting?

Tags: Fees, Foreclosures, Delinquencies & Collections

My question is regarding the validity of a proxy based on the language in our Association’s Bylaws vs the WI State Statute.
The Statute 703.15 4(d) states the following: Unit Owners May vote by proxy, but, the proxy is effective only for a maximum period of 180 days following its issuance, unless granted to a mortgagee or lessee.

Tags: Condo & HOA Law