While it takes a mere two to tango, it takes a lot many more than that to operate an association. Boards of Directors, with the help of management companies, attorneys and other contractors, operate the Association collectively volunteering hundreds of hours each year. Yet too often, way too often, other Owners do not accept their responsibility to help run their Association. And that's how associations could be better run.

So here are some of the duties.

• Read and comply with the Declaration, Bylaws and Rules of your association. After you have read your documents, please be humble. Because you can read does not mean you are an attorney, so forgo the embarrassment of explaining to the Board that you have read the documents and thus know exactly what the boundaries of the Unit are, for example. Rather, know what the Dos and Don'ts of your association are. Know what the pet rules are, for example.

• Maintain your Unit and Area. Nothing will upset a neighbor more than you leaving your place a mess. And if your documents are drafted properly, the Board, after warning you, can come and clean your deck and bill you for it. Be an adult. If you want to be a slob, buy a house.

• Treat the Board and Management Company with Respect. Just because you have a bad day, does not give you the right to send a toxic message to management or appear at a Board Meeting and make your bad day their bad day. Yes, management companies get paid to operate the property, but unless you want to overpay a management company so that your association is the only association they will manage, your association is not the only association it manages, and you are certainly not the only Unit Owner whose rights they are protecting. And while the management company is paid, your Board likely is not. And, finally, no matter your issue, no one, manager or Board member, is to be abused. Take a breath, take a step back, and calm yourself before speaking or sending an email.

• Vote. Sheesh. I am constantly amazed at how many Unit Owners do not vote on assessments or for members of the Board of Directors, yet complain. There's really no excuse not to vote. If the Board is doing a good job and one of the members is up for reelection, send in the proxy. Nothing could be easier.

• Pay assessments on time. Every association is a not for profit association. A budget is set, divided by the number of units and then divided by the number of units or assessed according to the percentage of undivided interest you have in the Association. As such, there is no left over money. If you don't pay, it can create real problems about getting contractors paid, electric bills paid. You wouldn't like it if your boss came up to you and indicated you weren't getting paid this month because other vendors haven't paid the bills your boss sent.

• On the other hand, nearly everyone has financial difficulties at some point in life. A person can be laid off, there could be a death in the family, uninsured large medical expenses, any number of legitimate reasons for a daly in payment. But how is the Association supposed to know if you have not taken the one minute to email your issue to the Board or management company?

• Provide current contact information to the board of Directors. Make things

• Get involved.

• Be an adult. Your kids, tenants and guests are, simply put, your respnsibility.

If you and others take these responsibilities seriously, well, not only is your association a more pleasant place to live, but it truly become a community association, one where more people from all walks of life are involved; barriers break down; strangers become acquaintances and perhaps friends; conflicts tend to resolve themselves before they fester and expand; and condominium associations slowly but truly become what every condominium association is supposed to become, a community association, one where people look out for one another and actually care about their neighbors. What a concept.

Special Thanks to CAI, the community Association Institute for the idea for this column and many of the particulars in it.