The problem is this. Many condominiums are frightfully mismanaged. Nobody wants to serve as a Trustee, and so the people who do serve are either megalomaniacs or people who don’t have much business savvy, but have a lot of time on their hands. Meetings of Trustees are poorly attended. A kind of Peter Principal takes over–the least qualified, either from a business or ethical sense, are in charge. There are very few really responsive Condominium Management Companies. If you are involved with a good one, they find a way to charge for every possible service, which somewhat negates their effectiveness.<\/p>\n
Well, my rant is now officially over. I have gotten this off my chest (41 years of frustration) and now I can go on with my post. If (and this is a big “if”) we find a well-managed Condominium which has regular meetings of Trustees, and keeps good minutes of same, we can do a much better job for our Buyer of a Unit in this Condominium than if these documents were not present,<\/p>\n
When I can locate same, I ALWAYS review at least one year’s minutes to try to uncover any lurking assessments, or shrugging Unit owners. If there is consistent discussion about painting all the Units, or replacing the elevator, I better let my Buyer know that. He or she is almost definitely looking at an upcoming assessment, and it is extremely difficult to exact any help on this from the Seller since it is only in the “preliminary” stages. But, we can at least tell our client that it is coming.<\/p>\n
Ditto, if there are discussions about Unit owners who are not paying their monthly fees. In Massachusetts where I practice law, there is a fool-proof method to get these fees, from the Lender if the Unit Owner will not pay.Most other states provide similar statutory relief. \u00a0If this Condominium has not been diligent in collecting delinquent fees, then it is poorly managed, and your Buyer will pay the price for this somewhere down the road.<\/p>\n
Other information, sometimes of a more positive nature, is also found\u00a0in the minutes. If a lot of people are participating in taking on tasks, that is a good sign. There is a spirit of participation from many, and that usually works the best for Condominiums. If one or two individuals are doing everything, you may have a case of Condominia<\/strong> Tyranus, <\/strong>which generally means that your client will be subject to the whims and fancies of a few \u00a0people who may have nothing else to do, or, worse yet, love being “in charge”. if left to their own devices, these people can literally terrorize the people who live in the Condominium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The problem is this. Many condominiums are frightfully mismanaged. Nobody wants to serve as a Trustee, and so the people who do serve are either megalomaniacs or people who don’t have much business savvy, but have a lot of time on their hands. Meetings of Trustees are poorly attended. A kind of Peter Principal takes … Continue reading Condominium Trustee Meeting Minutes–Important Information Often Neglected<\/span>