It's Getting Worse

It's getting worse, not better. And I don't mean Covid-19. I mean the interactions with owners.

I get it. These are frustrating, scary, even dangerous, Covid-19 times. Either people know someone sick, worry about getting sick, are out of work, know someone who is, or if working, fear being put out of work or catching the virus. It leads to stress, loneliness, depression, probably a list too long for s single column. But nothing excuses bad behavior. Nothing. Ever.

Unfortunately, somehow over the last few years things have gotten much less civil and in some cases dangerous, at both Board meetings and at Association meetings.

I was recently watching a webinar of condominium lawyers and one noted he had been at one meeting where an owner pulled a knife of a Board member.

Last October in Chicago a former Board President shot and killed 5 condo owners. He was mad because he wasn't paying his condominium fees and the Board had the gall to start a collection action. “He had anger management issues,” one owner said.

Seriously? What could possibly be so important at a condominium that it was worth trying to kill someone or pulling knife on someone, constantly interrupting, raising a voice, and making threats? It's a condo for gosh sakes. It's a roof over a head with heat, working utilities and food.

Yet somehow it now seems okay not to be civil but only to be right (in the person's mind, frequently not in any other's mind). The problem with being right is that it means someone else is wrong. In turn, that means the one who is wrong is now not only told s/he is wrong but stupid, totally wrong, an idiot and more.

People don't ask questions anymore. They accuse. Instead of, for instance, asking why a board of directors increased an association budget by $10.00 per month, and it could be for any number of good reasons such as inflationary costs built into landscaping and snow removal contracts, increases in insurance policies because of industry-wide increases in claims, increased funding for Reserves to avoid Special Assessments, people get angry and castigate board members. Board members then get falsely accused of improperly spending money, all the time forgetting a board, after looking at an inability to pay bills has raised fees on everyone, not just the complaining, dangerous person.

More and more often, I get verbally attacked at condo meetings. Instead of asking the reason behind a suggested change to a declaration or bylaws, I get accused, just this week for example, of acting illegally. (I enjoy practicing condominium law, but not so much that I'm going to do something illegal, lose my license, and be unable to provide for my family, yet that's what the person accused me of doing.) I also get accused oof acting as a totalitarian authority … even though I don't have a vote. Rationality has taken a back seat to the totalitarian view of single owners who, instead of listening, lash out.

So, what to do? Well, until people calm down, when your Association starts having meetings again, keep your eyes and ears open. Don't take chances. If someone starts raising a voice or interrupting, ask the person to stop doing so. If it continues, the moment someone starts raising a voice, call 911, ask for the police and have the person removed. And then let all owners know of the situation and that if there are any further instances of anger by the owner directed against others, to immediately notify the Board. Bar the person from any meetings for at least one year and thereafter, until receipt of a report from an anger management therapist that the person has addressed the issue.

Are these steps extreme? Perhaps. Are they necessary? They never used to be, but now it is clear that people think it is within their right as an “American” to be abusive and threatening … and beyond.

Be better. Please. It's just a condo.