Condos and homeowner associations have made headlines over the years for passing all kinds of overreaching and downright silly rules and regulations—everything from forbidding the flying of the American flag to having prohibitions about ha…
The “Dream Team” label is often used to describe a perfect combination of highly-skilled people drawn together for a particular purpose. The 1992 U.S. mens' Olympic basketball team is probably the most famous example, but 'dream teams' hav…
Many if not most boards get along famously. There are boards that have had the same members for decades and run their communities without a hitch. “Ninety percent of boards run very, very well,” says James Donnelly, CEO and the presi…
In a dense urban or sprawling suburban environment, people can still feel isolated. While high-rise residential buildings and suburban subdivisions put many people and families in very close proximity to one another, living side-by-side do…
When electing board members to serve on behalf of your community, you expect them to be on their best behavior and to think of the needs of the building and the people who live there when making their decisions. Regardless of the type of c…
The headline of a recent Walpole, Massachusetts newspaper article read: “Fight between Walpole selectmen cuts meeting short.” The first sentence of the article stated, “Selectmen came to verbal blows on Tuesday night, prompting other b…
Say you’re in bed, and you hear what sounds like the shower going. It's late, and you're tired, so you pay it no mind. You wake up at 4 a.m. to get a glass of water and find half the rooms in your apartment flooded— you forgot to turn the …
You can’t underestimate the value of insurance. In a simple analogy, operating a business—or the day-to-day business of a co-op or condo—without adequate insurance coverage is a lot like skydiving without a parachute. Needless to say, it’s…
When is a flood not a flood? That’s a serious question for Central and Western Florida’s residential communities. Even if they have flood insurance and aren’t located directly on the water, damage caused by heavy rains and backed-up sewers…
Norman Reinhard lives in Century Village at Pembroke Pines, an age-restricted active-adult community in southwest Broward County. He’s an unabashed advocate of its lifestyle. Norman and his wife, Maxine, moved to Century Village at P…