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The Proper Reserve Study1 “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower Last time I explained why the need for a Reserve Study exists. This time, some ideas of what you should have in one. First, as a reminder, a res...

The Danger of Unplanned Costs “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.” - Waren Buffet Most condominium associations, though certainly not all, have their annual meeting somewhere in the later fall. So, it's around this time boards of directors start looking ...

Case Law Update “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.” - Louis D. Brandeis Here are some recent cases that I thought might be of interest. In Civic Association of Surrey Park v. Riegel, a case out of Delaware from November 30, 2022, Surrey Park fined the Ri...

Full Replacement Value Insurance - an ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table. - Ambrose Bierce Someone told me this is a bit boring. So, I apologize in advance, but it's important. One o...

The Hidden Danger “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein A recent item came to my attention that I thought I might share with you. E-bikes and e-scooters are becoming more and more common. If you haven't yet seen one in your condominium ass...

The Giving Season “For it is in the giving that we receive.” - Francis of Assisi I love Christmas. I really do. Sadly, it seems to be the only time of year when people are allowed to be nice to one another for no reason. You wish someone a Merry Christmas and they actually pause, light up a litt...

The Fairness of it All “Fairness is what justice really is.” - Potter Stewart There's a fairly well known adage in the law that notes, “You can't murder your parents and then ask the court for pity as an orphan.” The New Hampshire Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in line with this adage ...

Snow Contractor Contracts “Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore then long enough.” - Earl Wilson It is inevitable that the leaves will all, the tree limbs become barren, the Halloween candy will have been eaten, Thanksgiving preparations made, leaving nothing l...

A Limit on Liability “Every accident does not give rise to a lawsuit.” - Addison Mizner Well, this is good news. I am involved in a slip and fall case at a condominium association where the boyfriend of an owner allegedly slipped and fell on a porch and injured his ankle. Almost three years afte...

The cost of security risks is rising both personal and fininaically. One good management company recently backed out of helping a condo association it manages with regard to chimney issues. I suspect this is because thy were smart and did not want to get involved in capping chimneys and walling o...

An Eggcellent Idea? “Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid.” - Mark Twain I ran across an article recently that raised a thought I had never had, but which I thought might be of some service. But first, a step backwards before we move for...

Costs and Fees “The only way you can beat the lawyers is to die with nothing.” - Will Rogers Frequently a condominium association runs into a situation where a member of the fellowship of the miserable wants attention. The owner sends multiple emails contesting a fine a board of directors has im...

The Dawn of New Lawns? “A Lawn is Nature under Totalitarian Rule.” - Michael Pollan If asked, most people would venture a guess that the most grown crop in the United States is corn or wheat. But far and way the most grown “crop” in America is grass. In fact, if you lumped the lawns together, a ...

Condos and Credit Agencies “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” - Abraham Lincoln Every once in a while I get an inquiry from a condominium board of directors about reporting a delinquent owner to a credit reporting agency. I understand the urge. Boards frustra...

Legislative Update “You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the errors it would cause if improperly administered.” - Lyndon B. Johnson Last February I wrote a column noting a pending condo...

When a Home is not a Home “There's no place like home.” - Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz, of course. I ran across a case recently that I thought might be of interest. Most residential associations are just that, places where structures are to be used for residential units. But rarely is there a...

So, Your Child/Friend/Niece/Nephew Wants to be a Lawyer? Everyone wants to say they hate lawyers, and yet I've never met a parent who didn't want their kid to be a lawyer.” - Jessi Klein It's high school graduation time, and that means a lot of really nice, hopeful, naive young students think of...

Keeping it Green “A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.” - Michael Pollan When did things get switched around? When a plumber arrives on site, the contractor fixes the problem and leaves a bill. The plumber doesn't expect payment up front. When the pest control person shows up, the contra...

Access to your Money “Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.” - Will Rogers An issue arises occasionally at condominium associations that arose lately at an association I am fortunate enough to represent, and a...

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...

Attorney Corey MacDonald recording in studio with Mike Pomp!

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...