Condo Media - October 2015 - 18

Homeowner's Corner

Following Through
on Owners' Input

Is Your Condo Board Promoting Homeowner Apathy?
[by Barbara Reilly]

One of the experiences I have most enjoyed in my
attendance at CAI-NE-sponsored workshops is the
sharing (usually over lunch) of concerns with fellow
condominium owners. It was during one of these informal chats that an owner told me he felt that his board
could do a better job with communication. Rather than
just sit back and complain, he volunteered to produce an
association newsletter. Although the board expressed
its enthusiasm over such a prospect, the input they
promised to provide for content was never forthcoming.
To date, there has been no newsletter but not for unwillingness on this owner-volunteer's part. "I feel like I got a
big fat 'thanks but no thanks' from the board," he says. "I
never heard another word from them." I'm guessing that
this gentleman won't be volunteering his time again.
Another owner related something that took
place at her last annual owners' meeting. The board
acknowledged, politely, the owners' unanimouslyendorsed request that they receive the minutes of all
board meetings. That was last October. As of July, not
one set of minutes (including those
from the annual meeting) has been
received by any owner. If this is how

owner input is valued, what is the incentive for owners
to even give input? I have long touted that attendance at
one's annual owners' meeting is a manifest obligation.
After hearing this, however, I find it hard to endorse
such a continued waste of owners' valuable time.
"Directors are meant to direct. Being passive is not
what association directors are elected for. Boards must be
aware of what is going on with the association. Failure to
take actions that are needed may result in harm to your
association and liability to you." (Condominium Common
Sense © 2007 Condominium Law Group, PLLC)
This begs the question of board accountability. Part
of the problem, I think, is that many board members
do not understand the responsibilities of the office
to which they have been elected. Until there is a
mandatory requirement for training, which I don't see
happening any time soon, the problem will persist.
In a perfect world, board members would be well
informed and aware of the importance of following
through on owners' input. The reality is that too often
that doesn't happen and owners don't feel their input
is valued. "Unit owners elect directors to the board,
and those directors make decisions on behalf of the association which sometimes clashes with individual unit
owner opinions. Unit owners do not have the authority
to overturn board decisions. The remedy for unit owners
who are dissatisfied with board decisions is to express
their opinion at the ballot box and elect a majority of the
board who share their views and/or philosophies," notes
Howard Dakoff, a partner in the community associations
practice of the Levenfeld Pearlstein law firm in Chicago.
THE MESSAGE
Boards should do some serious soul-searching before
complaining about owner apathy. That doesn't just happen for no reason. In the above instances, the boards
are actually promoting apathy ... and they are probably
blissfully unaware that they are doing so!
n BARBARA REILLY IS A COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
VOLUNTEER LEADER HAVING SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF
THE CONRAD CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION.

CONDOMEDIA

Condo Media - October 2015

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