Although it may sometimes feel as if our pets have the run of the land, humans are still the masters of their own domains. In order to maintain this status quo—especially in a communal environment such as a condominium, cooperative or homeo…
It’s often tough to get co-op, condo, and HOA residents interested in joining their building or association’s board. No one wants to work a second job if they don’t have to—especially one that doesn’t pay—but regardless, there’s important w…
Let’s imagine that your boss invites you to a group dinner to celebrate her recent promotion. At dinner, you have a tasty salad and one glass of the house red, but your colleagues all have multiple cocktails; somebody orders the surf-and-tu…
Whether you serve on the board of a co-op, condo or HOA, chances are you and your fellow community administrators are volunteers. Perhaps you're fortunate enough that you or one of your colleagues has professional legal expertise to bring t…
The legislative season is upon us, and in many states, bills specifically dealing with co-ops, condos and HOAs are wending their way through the legislative process. Even when bills aren't aimed directly at those forms of home ownership, ma…
Living in a building or association means living in a community where residents get to know each other, attend events together and, sometimes even become close friends. In most cases, the people you meet are regular, down-to-earth folks, bu…
Despite the significant number of small condo and association communities that exist in Illinois, and in the Chicago area in particular, residents of these buildings would not be blamed if they felt a bit neglected with all of the attention…
While nowhere near as prevalent as it was in the 1980s (when it seemed as if one couldn’t find a clean wall in the city), graffiti has never completely disappeared from Chicago...or any metro area, for that matter. In fact, the city’s sanit…
All you have to do is turn on the TV these days to know how popular kitchen and bathroom renovations have become. Backsplashes, stainless steel appliances, subway tiles, granite countertops, glass-enclosed showers, soaking tubs—the list of …
A fire breaks out in an apartment building; A broken water pipe floods several floors; A resident collapses with a heart attack on the tennis court; An intruder roams the premises with criminal intent; and the chilly winds whipping in off L…