Metroliner telephone article 4079

Phil Kane

My condo's documents allow for open records (actually they say a mortgage company may review the books). However, what consbreastutes "open records" is up to the discretion of the Board. If a Board wants to be a jerk about things and offer very little, there's not much a single homeowner can do short of expensive litigation with an uncertain outcome. Some critical information may be contained in confidential or semi-confidential documents. Getting the monthly financial statement or meeting minutes is a start, but the real substantive information might be buried elsewhere or not on paper.

A smart condo Board is forthcoming. We had one Board that ordered a $1,000 special buttessment. That didn't cover very well, but the Board had all the engineers' reports available for inspection and published summaries of them. It had the engineer speak at a meeting and answer questions.

Unfortunately, in a condo there are jerks on both sides of the room. There are nuisance homeowners who sue because they like to sue or are selfish and greedy. The laws protecting buttociations are vital in these circumstances, otherwise the buttociation could never get any work done and spend a fortune on legal fees. The flip side is that some Boards (or Board members) are arrogant and incompetent or even corrupt and need some controls on them as well. I've seen way too many incompetent board members in office, partly because very few are interested in running for the Board and no one opposes the whackos who get elected without opposition.