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The Crypto Mistake “Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.” - Margaret Thatcher There have been rumblings in Condo World about cryptocurrency, i.e. digital money with no physical presence like coins or bills. A lot of people have made a lot of money by investing ...

A Feral Frenzy “I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pigs like it.” - George Bernard Shaw I have spent the last few columns noting the proposed Legislative changes winding their way through this Legislative session, and I will let you know how it all tu...

The Bad Budget Bill “It's clearly a budget. It's got numbers in it.” - George W. Bush As noted from my last two columns, it has been an interesting Legislative session in Concord for condominiums, starting with the proposal of Senate Bill 324 that would effectively shut down condominiums. But th...

Forced Servitude and the Collapse of Condominiums “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibility, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” - Plato Last time I noted there is legislation pending in the New Hampshire Legislature that would do away with the democracy tha...

The Wrong Law “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.” - Ronald Reagan In the latest sign that the condominium apocalypse is near, legislation is now pending in the New Hampshire Legislature that will replace the d...

A Tax Break for Condominiums? Thanks to a client of mine, I learned about pending legislation in the New Hampshire Legislature this year that rightfully should be very helpful to condominiums. But let me giveth conteext first. Condominium association are private property. It's why ours around t...

The Transition “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.” - Isaac Asimov As we transition to the New Year I thought it might be helpful to give a particular pointer on that moment in time, be it days, weeks or a month, when an association transitions from bein...

The Grinch is Not Always Wrong “Be it ever so heinous, there's no place like home.” - the Grinch I love the holiday season. I love cheesy old Christmas songs, and new ones. I love finding that gift for my wife, our daughter, a family member or a good friend that they weren't expecting. I don't ...

Fannie Mae, Lender Letters and Reserves “A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.” - Bob Hope Fannie Mae is technically known as the Federal National Mortgage Association. It was a government sponsored company, founded in 1938 during the Great Depressio...

Not Walking a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes “Oh, put it behind you, will you, they're only shoes.” - Glinda to Elphaba - Wicked There comes a time in life the you either learn the lesson or you don't. For one condominium association in Florida it's a “don't.” Charlie Burge worked for New York C...

Winter Tips “No winter lasts forever. No spring skips its turn.” - Hal Borland The leaves are turning, the sweaters are coming out, the wood stoves are getting heated, and the snow is coming. In condominium associations that can lead to problems if communication is lacking. So, what follows are ...

The Transition “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.” - Isaac Asimov Much like being a parent who raises a child, only to have the heartbreak of dropping that child off at college, there comes a time when a declarant, after building the units; getting the ...

The Pacaso Puzzle “Everything you can imagine is real.” - Pablo Picasso This has nothing to do with Picasso, the great painter, but it is a bit of a puzzle, like his paintings. Pacaso is the fasted rising company in American history to reach “unicorn” status, i.e. a company valued at more than ...

Legislative Update - 2021 “There is no distinct American criminal class - except Congress.” - Mark Twain I could find no updates to the condominium act this past Legislative year, which ended on June 30. Some bills were introduced; none passed. However, I did find some other nuggets, not related...

The Misplaced Reservation About Reserves “Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” - Warren Buffett I have written in the past about the need for properly funded reserve accounts. But what happens if a board of directors doesn't properly fund the rese...

Mr. Busy and Peter Rabbit If you live or have lived in a condominium association, nothing gets the dander of owners to rise faster than fights over pets. Some love them; some hate them. Everyone has an opinion. And, of course, most pet complaints come as a result of dog ownership. They poop larg...

Waving the Flag If you want a symbolic gesture, don't burn the flag; wash it. - Norman Thomas Now that the July 4th holiday is behind us a bit, I thought it might be safer to wade into the issue of flag flying at condominium associations. Many owners believe they have the right to fly the Amer...

What's in a Family? Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold. Andre Maurois One of the trends in condominium associations is an increase in the number of people living in units. Kids return after college or stay long after high school graduation; like the Brady Bun...

The Compassionate Community True terror is waking up one morning and discovering that your high school class is running the country. - Kurt Vonnegut The graying of America continues. The number of Americans who are over 65 creeps upward. Today that number is about 50 million. It is likely to exp...

Bringing Home the Bacon For years pets in condominiums have been a problem. Too many, too loud, too strange, and too many non-pet owners. But in addition to some inconsiderate owners, one of the primary problem is documents that note only “household pets” are allowed. Sounds so simple, and is ye...

Board Meetings Are Not For All “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings'.” - Dave Barry Regardless of how many units are in your association or how many members are on your board ...

Trials and Tribulations Not having been a philosophy major I've never quite figured out the answer to the question, “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it still create a sound?” I tend to think it does, just one that's not heard. (And who's to say other animals or even trees...

Problem in the Poconos Ahhhh the Poconos of Pennsylvania. The soft rustle of the pine trees on a warm spring night, the smell right after a summer thunderstorm, the soft, powerful, yet soothing sound of a waterfall cascading over timeworn rocks, and the serene lakes stocked with fish and swimmer...

A Better Way To Meet “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.'” -Dave Barry Some of us are old enough to remember when Zoom was simply a kids show on PBS. Now? It's another nou...

Electronic Association Meetings Now and in the Future One of the problems the pandemic has created is how to hold Association meetings, annual or special. A current question in a number of associations is how to hold them when (1) there are state orders against large gatherings, (2) some people ...