Q-We have the same problem as many small co-ops and condos in that we are too small to employ a manager and have to take care of the place ourselves. Most of the units are renter-occupied, which leaves only two of us to do it all.
You have outlined the problems with such an arrangement. It seems unfair that the owner/residents should be made responsible for the entire everyday operation while the other owners just collect rents. Do you have a solution?
A-Small condos of 50 units or less always are at risk to the situation you have described, and this should be a consideration to anyone considering buying into one. The cost per unit for maintenance and management will be higher, and there will be fewer folks around to take responsibility for the operations. As far as actually living in the smaller community, I prefer it. But I always have found it to have the drawbacks you are experiencing, plus a few more: (1) There is almost no security, (2) rules enforcement is extremely difficult and (3) investor owners are not as quick to respond to the increasing need for funds to keep the place up as a ”residence” because they tend to see the project as an income-generator in which someone else lives.
I have no magic answer. I just sing the same song: Either run it as best you can, or contract for good management or move to a larger community.
Q-Each new board of directors in our condo fires the existing resident manager and hires a new one of its choice. I have read our association documents and bylaws and find no mention of any procedure for hiring or firing of the manager. What remedy is there for this disastrous situation? Each time the manager changes, there is some staff upheaval and the expected change in direction and loss of continuity. Any help?
A-Starting with your board of directors, make sure that continuity is maintained by setting their terms of office so that no more than one-third of them expires in any given year. In that way you almost will never have a
”new” board of directors.
Next, see to it that your manager is hired by contract. This document should contain not only the terms of employment but also a comprehensive job description and a description of the relationship and restrictions that will exist with the board of directors. Often a board will not turn the operation over to a manager, even though they supposedly employed one. What they really hired was a gopher (go-for), who will have to change to match the makeup of each new board, or, as sometimes happens, simply will be fired.
Most associations operate best when directors establish policy, meet monthly or quarterly, review all contracts, monitor the finances and investments and employ management to do the rest, and let them do it, keeping out of their hair and office as much as possible.
Q-I have moved into a condo with my pet cat. The condo bylaws specifically prohibit having pets in the building, and I have been served with a court order to remove the cat or respond to the complaint within 20 days. I have owned the cat for years before moving in and love her very much. I do not want to give her up.
We believe that our constitutional rights are being interfered with, since she is kept inside my home and does not bother anyone except for the fact that the association has knowledge of her existence.
What are the chances that a court would rule in our favor? What is the trend in the courts and within condo associations regarding the ownership of pets?
A-If the prohibition of pets clearly is covered in your association bylaws and was in effect when you moved in with the cat, and if the management has been evenly and consistently enforcing this bylaw right along and if other residents do not have any pets, your chances of winning seem slim at best. However, if the rule went into effect after you moved in, it is possible the court would rule that tabby could be grandmothered in but that you could not replace her if she died.
