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Rentals at the Condo (Part One) “This is to let you know that there is a smell coming from the man next door.” Tenant quote of unknown origin. Tenants live in Condo World. There is a misconception, however, that having tenants at an Association is bad. I would much rather have an Association...

Everyone's Favorite Pet One of the recurring issues in Condo World is what to do about pets. Not everyone has a pet, but those who do have pets have them because they love them. My wife and I once had a dog named Elliot (in case I ever forgot where I lived). As we were about to have our daughter...

Quick Tips in Condo World Not all issues in Condo World need the depth and length of several hundred words to address and explain. As such, here are some shorter issues with Quick Tips to addressing them. Legal Fees. No one likes to pay legal fees. I don't like to pay legal fees when I get the...

HOW TO BUY A CONDOMINIUM – PART 2 In the last column I noted the single biggest mistake condominium buyers make is not exploring the financial health of an association before purchasing a unit in it. As I wrote, the Condominium Act allows owners to acquire certain documents once a Purchase and ...

HOW TO BUY A CONDOMINIUM The purchase of a condominium fits the desires of buyers across every demographic. They include the after-the-kids-have-left downsizing couple; the I-don't-want-to-be-bothered-with-anything person; the we're-too-active-with-our-(kayaks, mountain hiking, rock-climbing, ...

THE ONLY TIME TO MEET The only time unit owners in a condominium association are entitled to appear at a meeting is at an Association meeting. To some this may be harsh, but condominium associations are corporations in a sense. As such, much like Apple or Google or any other corporation, the only...

The Most Important Person at the Condo Association No one grows up wanting to be second best. No one goes to the Olympics to strive for a silver medal; no one dreams of growing up to be Vice-President of the United States. So most people who choose to become an officer at a condo association seek...

Working From Home in a Condo Most condominiums in New Hampshire were created before the invention of this Internet thing. Some were invented long before home computers. Since we still cannot predict the future, there was no seeing the problems the Internet and home computers and cell phones (my ...

How to Run it Right Despite the points made in an earlier column about rogue Boards, the vast majority of time Board members are well-intentioned, hard-working people who only want to see the best for the Association. And that's good because the best way to run an Association well is to get a go...

Quick Tips in Condo World Not all issues in Condo World need the depth and length of several hundred words to address and explain. As such, here are some shorter issues with Quick Tips to addressing them. Despite the advance of technology, as my ten-year-old, technically proficient daughter co...

The Most Important Person in the Association I had the great privilege of being a high school social studies teacher for seven years. I met a lot of really wonderful young men and women. Despite the impression left with their parent(s) from the emotional minefield of the teenage years, many, many...

Your Home is Your Castle … Sort Of One of the common misconceptions in Condo World is that the Unit Owner's Unit is his or her castle. It may be their castle, but the castle is part of a larger kingdom, the condominium association. This fact means there is a higher power that needs to maintain t...

Everything is Not Fine We are called humans, not perfects. So, shocking as this may be, sometimes people do things they shouldn't. They make mistakes. They speed. They park illegally. They bounce a check. None of the sanctions for these types of things usually result in anything more than a fine....

Board Powers are Broad Powers In an earlier column, I explained the occasional problem of a Board whose powers have gone to its collective head and turned into a rogue Board. But that's a bit unfair because the vast majority of Boards are well intentioned, well operated administrative bodies fill...

Spring Cleaning in Condo World Condo Quick Tips Despite PWSD (Post Winter Stress Disorder) and my near constant fear that (1) another snow storm and/or far below normal temperatures will return any day, and (2) the fear/realization that the next snowstorm is only six months away, it appears spri...

Since some of the columns have been published, laws have changed, new cases have arrived, I've grown more experienced, and hopefully a little wiser. As such ,here ar e few thoughts to supplement some of the issues already presented in earlier columns. Rogue Boards. As always, if a Board member ...

Changing the Rules of the Game Condominiums in New Hampshire have been around since the early 1970s. (The earliest I have seen is one from 1972.) People, the world, and even condominiums change. As such, what was a good law or a good policy in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, or even in the early 2000s m...

THE FRIEND AND THE FLOOR PLAN The Floor Plan, as with the Site Plan (see the last Column - Slow Cooked Ribs at the Condominium), must be filed with the Declaration. “There shall also be recorded, simultaneously with the Declaration, Floor Plans of every structure …” RSA 356-B: 20, II. What's a Fl...

While the book below is a work in progress and it goes into depth on the operations of condominium associations in New Hampshire, what follows are quick notes, thoughts, and observations … essentially quick tips. Many residential condo associations limit the number of occupants to “family” mem...

The College of Community Association Lawyers The 39th Annual Community Association Law Seminar January 31 -February 3, 2018
Palm Springs, CA
Draft 12-20-2017 CIRMS Insurance Masters Program – Before & After Florida Condominium Emergency Powers Association emergency powers.— (1) To the extent a...

ARTICLE 1 – THE COMMON PLAN PURPOSES
Home is where life is lived. A home's value is anchored in the belief that “life, lived here, will be an experience worth remembering.” That core belief is shaped by the look and feel of our neighborhood. A look born of thoughtful design and prudent maintena...

The Pig with a Point People love their pets. I understand. Really. My wife and I had a dog. Hew was our first born. A neighbor saw how we treated him, and a few weeks before we got our daughter, he called Elliott over, looked at him and said, “You're about to become a dog.” So, I get it. We woul...

SLOW COOKED RIBS AT THE CONDO The Site Plan is one of the four condominium instruments, along with the Declaration, Bylaws and Floor Plan. The importance of the Site Plan is because Declarations and Bylaws can be long. Very long. The difficulty of finding something in the Declaration or Bylaws is...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Fannie Mae, the commonly used name for the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, the commonly used name for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, are enterprises that were created at the instance of the federal government decades ago but now ope...

Locke, Hobbes, the Common Good and Condominiums Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704), two English Philosophers of the 17th century, disagreed on many things, not the least of which was whether people were naturally good (Locke) or naturally bad (Hobbes). But they did agree on the ...