The New England Condominium, The Condo, HOA & Co-op Monthly - Articles - Finance

Look Both Ways

no@spam.com ( April Austin) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:51:46 EST

The Roman god Janus had two faces that allowed him to look backward into the past and forward into the future. When thinking about end-of-the-year association finances, boards would do well to take a lesson from Janus and look back at expenses from 2011 and ahead toward obligations in 2012.

Q&A: Can We Deduct Common Charges for Repairs?

no@spam.com (Richard E. Palumbo) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:06:41 EDT

If there is damage to my roof and it leaks into my condominium unit and I reported it to the board three times with no repairs made, can I repair it myself and deduct the cost from my common charges? Please advise ASAP.

Q&A: Proxy Dilemma

no@spam.com (Alan Lipkind, Esq.) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:02:28 EDT

Two weeks prior to our annual condo election, the unit owners receive their proxies in the mail. However, a board member who was up for re-election obtained a proxy from the manager two weeks earlier than all the unit owners. I addressed this issue at the annual meeting. His reply was that he was going on vacation and that he only received one proxy from the manager. However, he was back from vacation before the meeting. Also, he submitted several proxies at the meeting. Should he have had access to a proxy before every other owner as he could have duplicated the proxy and used it to gather other proxies? There is no way to know.

Treasuring the Role

no@spam.com (Michael McDonough) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:54:07 EDT

Of all the members of a condominium’s board, the treasurer is in a unique position to uphold the fiduciary responsibility of the association, similar to that of a chief financial officer in the corporate world.

Ahead of the Line

no@spam.com (Marie N. Auger) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:50:32 EDT

In most states, community associations have no special status when a unit owner stops paying maintenance fees. But one by one, states have been adopting a priority lien, or “super lien” provision into law, to give condominium associations and HOAs the first priority [after municipal/tax liens] to the assets or collateral which the property holds—allowing the association to initiate foreclosure.

Sturbridge, Massachusetts

no@spam.com (Nancye Tuttle) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:48:29 EDT

All roads lead to Sturbridge, Massachusetts—or so it seems. A thriving community with colonial roots, Sturbridge stands at the crossroads of New England. U.S. Route 20 runs through the center of town, and the junction of Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) and Interstate 84, which runs through Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts) is located here.

The Changing of the Guard

no@spam.com (Greg Olear) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:46:15 EDT

Most of the time, a condo association or co-op building and its management company enjoy a mutually beneficial partnership—the management company and the individual agents try their best to serve their clients, and their client communities work with said companies and agents to insure that their associations run smoothly.

Tracking Trouble

no@spam.com (Matthew Worley) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:43:40 EDT

When those signs do appear—the first subtle hints of condo fraud—a forensic audit of your association’s books will likely be in order. But handling such an undertaking effectively, and with minimal expense, requires good decision-making upfront. And preventing a future occurrence means understanding the psychology of fraud—the ways it can occur on a condo property.

You'd Better Shop Around

no@spam.com (Lisa Iannucci) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:40:14 EDT

The day-to-day costs of running a multifamily residential building are significant. There’s the fuel oil, electric, cleaning supplies, equipment maintenance and service calls for repair and upkeep. Then there are the insurance costs, landscaping, trash removal, snow removal, advertising, property taxes, and maintenance fees.

Expecting the Unexpected

no@spam.com (Pat Gale) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:36:48 EDT

Condominium trustees and homeowners who thought New England was immune to such catastrophic events have received wake-up calls in recent years. New Hampshire residents haven’t yet forgotten the floodwaters that rushed through their neighborhoods a few years ago. Pest control companies have been battling armies of irritating bedbugs. And just weeks ago, a band of tornadoes left large swaths of Massachusetts’ communities in ruins.