Condo Living Made Easy

In June 2022, a 12-story beachfront condominium in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed, killing nearly 100 people. It is considered one of the deadliest building collapses in US history.

Upon further investigation, it was determined that a combination of factors, including design/construction deficiencies, building deterioration, and insufficient maintenance/repairs, caused the collapse.

In response, The Federal National Mortgage Association (known as FNMA or Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (known as FHLMC or Freddie Mac) created new requirements impacting condo associations.

Fannie Mae maintains a list of “unavailable” properties with issues involving environmental hazards, title issues, structural problems, and/or other issues that would affect the safety, soundness, or marketability of the property. Properties on the unavailable list are ineligible for Fannie Mae financing and lending.

Learn more here.

When drafting an amendment to a declaration or to rules and regulations, board members or management will often say, "We must include this restriction," when that isn't necessarily the case. But then, what restrictions are absolutely necessary?

Check out this list of "must have" rules and restrictions.

Here are 5 quick tips to help board members navigate board meetings:

1. The purpose of a board meeeting is for the board to conduct business. Board meetings do not need to become owner forums - create an agenda and stick to the items of business that require a board vote.
2. Meetings should be scheduled according to what works for the majority of the board. The board is not required to schedule meetings around non-board owners' availability.
3. Try aiming for a daytime hour if you want to have a productive meeting. People are burnt out by the end of the day and this affects their engagement.
4. Conduct your meeting virtually to make it easy for board members to participate. You can use a free Zoom account which has the added bonus of limiting the meeting to 40 minutes.
5. Ratify any emergency decisions made in between meetings at the next board meeeting. Section 18(a)(21) has been added to the IL Condo Act requiring notice to unit owners within 7 business days of an emergency decision made on behalf of the association, but the action must also be recorded at a board meeting.

Being intentional about your meetings can alleviate a lot of stress for the board. 

More than ever managers and board members are receiving emails from unit owners with questions about what is going on within the association, complaints related to violations, maintenance requests, etc.

Oftentimes, statements made in emails are not kind and can be considered an admission. It is even common for an owner to bombard management and the board with emails. So, what can boards and managers do? 

Learn what steps to take in response to the email, here.