HOA Complaints: Who Pays for Patching and Repainting? Q: I love your column and read it weekly. I live in a mid-sized condo building in Chicago. Last year the common roof above my unit leaked and caused ceiling damage to my unit in several large areas, which required drywall repair, patching and repainting. When I [...]
Is this Homeowners Association (HOA) Good or Bad? Q: I am writing to you in response to the article that I read "Homeowner Association (HOA) Resident Offers Potential Solutions to Board Member Shortage." I have to agree with the article. Being on the board is dangerous these days. However, I have to admit that I [...]
Is This Homeowner Association (HOA) Compliant with State Law Q: We live in a high-rise downtown Chicago. Although the building is well maintained, there are issues with transparency and perceived conflicts with state law and our homeowners association (HOA) condo declaration and bylaws. We are wondering if our interpretation is incorrect. Every time we ask, [...]
Beneficial Ownership Information Report: Do I have to file it? Q: I am the secretary of the board of directors of a homeowners association. Our management company is telling us that we have to file the Beneficial Ownership Information report required by the U.S. Treasury Department. We are a not-for-profit entity, and the board are [...]
Is homeowners insurance required for all homes? Can the homeowners association require the owners to buy a separate insurance policy? Q: I read your column in our local Florida newspaper. In my development, all of the homes are attached townhomes. I recently got an email from our community’s management company that said homeowners' insurance was [...]
Homeowner Association (HOA) and Owners Bad Behavior Our recent articles about homeowner associations (HOAs) have stirred many readers to write to us about why people don’t want to volunteer for HOA boards and the difficult situations sitting HOA members face every day. If you're wondering what that might look like, here’s one email we recently [...]
HOA: Changing Homeowner Association Rules Q: I just read your response to the question about the 20-unit homeowners association (HOA) that can't get people to run for the board. I used to manage HOAs and have a few thoughts for your readers. 1. Before they do anything, they need to carefully read their HOA documents [...]
HOA Board: No One Wants To Serve Who will run the homeowners association if no one wants to serve on the HOA board? Q: I belong to a 55+ community of 20 single family homes. We are self-governed by a homeowners association board (HOA) of five members. This past spring, the terms of two of [...]
Fixing Water Issues His neighbor's water freezes on the driveway but he won't fix the downspout and the HOA won't get involved. Q: I live in a townhouse cluster governed by a homeowners association (HOA) and a master community association. I have been having an issue with a neighbor’s downspout. I’ve noticed a large amount [...]
HOA Ignores Condo Owner What can you do when the homeowner association (HOA) ignores mentally unstable and violent owner? Q: I hear Ilyce on the radio often and figured maybe the guru of all things having to do with money and real estate might help me. I am a condo owner in Illinois and have [...]
