That Leaky Roof - Who is Responsible for Repairs?
April 2008
I have owned and occupied my three bedroom condominium for the past seven years. About two years ago, my bedroom ceiling began to leak, occasionally, when we experienced a heavy rainfall. I reported the problem to the management office at the time, but they did not take any action. Because the leak was slight and occurred only intermittently, I didn’t press the problem. But recently, the problem has gotten considerably worse. When I asked again for some action to resolve the problem, I was told that because I am the only one affected by the leak (my unit is on the top floor), the association isn’t required to do anything about it. Basically, the management company told me, it’s my problem; if I want to fix it, I can pay for the repair. This seems unreasonable to me.

Employee Screening - What Steps Should I Take?
March 2008
Our community association is hiring a new maintenance worker for our three-person maintenance staff. In addition to verifying that our candidate is a U.S. citizen and not an illegal immigrant and checking this person’s references, which we’ve done, what other preliminary screening should we do?

Condo Management Fees & Contracts
February 2008
Question: I have recently become a trustee in a relatively small (less than 10 units) condominium association. We reviewed our budget with our condominium manager and, based on his advice, we increased our condominium fees. As I analyzed the budget figures, I realized that the second largest line item, after heating oil, is the fee we pay the manager, which represents nearly 21 percent of our entire budget after an increase of 7 percent over last year. My question is, how can I tell whether this fee is reasonable? Is there a standard formula that applies? All of the current trustees are new and none were in office when the current manager was hired, several years ago. Although the former trustees apparently drafted a formal contract at some point, we don’t currently have a written agreement in place. I should also note that we generally agree our manger has done a good job, but at the same time, I would characterize our condominium association as fairly low maintenance. I would appreciate any advice you can offer or strategies you can recommend.

Quorum Call
January 2008
Finding owners willing to serve as board members is an ongoing challenge for many community associations. What happens if the volunteers who agree to serve don’t attend meetings consistently (or at all), leaving the board chronically short of the quorum required to make decisions? Daniel Polvere and Carl Lisman, attorneys in Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively, provide the answer to this month’s question.

Moving Compliant
November 2007
Q: I own two units in a 28-unit condominium that I acquired as investments more than 10 years ago. The building contains a mixture of units occupied by owners and (like mine) rented to tenants. But because owners tend to occupy the largest units, they have the largest percentage interest and thus pretty much dictate condo policies. The current board of directors recently approved a new set of rules governing moves in and out of the building, including the following: Owners must give one week’s notice of any planned move and must be on the premises at all times during the move. Owners will be assessed a fee of $125 plus the cost of any damage resulting from the move. Owners will be fined $500 per hour for any period during which doors are left open and unattended. Owners must submit to the board copies of the moving contract between the tenant and the moving company, and a copy of the mover’s insurance certificate. Moves are permitted only Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., i.e., no moves on weekends. While I can appreciate that some unit owners may find it aggravating to live in a building occupied largely by single tenants, these rules impose obligations that seem unreasonable and quite possibly illegal – their net effect is to virtually prohibit rentals to students. Because owner-occupants can win any vote, I feel my only option is to file suit against the association – much as I hate to contribute to our already much too litigious society.