Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with association

Too many condo noise rules = no condo for us?

bibbit — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:56:03 -0800

My fiance and I are in the midst of buying a condo. Offer accepted, inspection went great, still collecting all the documents related to the condo association. Yesterday, we got a three page document that is the "noise abatement policy." We are not happy. But should we suck it up and still buy the place? The condo is in a 3 floor, 7 unit building. Built in the 1920's, gut rehabbed less than 10 years ago. According to meeting minutes, there have been issues with noise because not enough soundproofing was used. In the four times we've been in the place, we've never heard anyone in other units, but we were making enough racket ourselves and we never saw anyone either.

The noise abatement policy requires area rugs covering almost the entire floor in all major rooms (bedrooms, living room, dining area, hallway). It requires padding on the washer/dryer. It requires "major activities" such as "house cleaning, minor repairs in the unit, etc." to be done between 9am and 7pm.

This went into effect last year. The owners of the unit we have the offer in on put their place on the market in January. They are not in complete compliance with the rules, though they do have wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedrooms.

The issue is: my fiance likes his music. And his movies. And he's not a night owl, but he'll have music on until 10:30-11pm sometimes. Movies might go later on the weekends. His dream is a gorgeous surround sound system. He considers himself an audiophile. Is this compatible with such a noise policy?

We also have two rather large cats, both of whom like to run around occasionally and one of whom is a bit of a talker at night (loud enough to wake us). I can hear our current upstairs-neighbor-cat all the time when its running about. Are we in trouble with our cats?

There is a unit below us, a unit above us, a unit next to us. How do we find out if this is an association that will complain if they hear a pin drop? How do we determine if we're being unreasonable? How do we know if we're going to get nasty notes and fines if we have 6 people over for dinner and they don't leave until near midnight on a weekend? Any experiences with this?

Is it OK (consequence-free) for my condo association to delay all roof shingle replacements until January?

amtho — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:28:30 -0800

Is it OK (consequence-free) for my condo association to delay all roof shingle replacements until January? We're heading into hurricane / big wet storm season here in North Carolina, and I just found out that our condo association, in order to build up our cash reserves after some heavy spending, has decided that only certain repairs (safety issues, condo sales inspections) will be performed until the next fiscal year begins in January.

I don't care too much about my one shingle falling off, but knowing the extent of the damage that a leaky roof caused to my condo _before_ and not wanting to see that happen to several people through the community -- and thus being, as part of the collective, responsible for those expensive potential repairs -- I'm worried about this as a policy.

I just talked to a board member who seemed to feel that roof shingles weren't that big a deal, and that even under normal circumstances, a single shingle might not be replaced right away. But the roofs here are such that shingles fall off occasionally, and so I'd really like to know what the risks are here.

I realize that there's a "membrane" under the shingles, then the plywood of the roof under that, so obviously water's not going to be dripping in any time soon - but I don't want my or my neighbor's wooden roof framing to rot, I don't want additional damage if a very strong storm does come along, and I'm not sure whether the (perhaps low) risk of these things happening would outweigh the "reward" of merely delaying these repairs for five months.

Does anyone know how worried I should be?

If you think I should be worried, I'd love to have some data-like facty sources to bring to the next board meeting.

Looking for term to describe power of past association to the future.

Dukat — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:47:36 -0800

Is there a psychological term for this? You like/dislike certain names, traits, or appearances in people, then you go on to have positive or negative associations with those traits, favor/disfavor those names/traits/appearances with individuals you don't know, in the future. Wondering if there is a psychological term for this.

For example: a male dates a sweet, wonderful girl named Shannon. She's petite, longish red hair, and he goes on to have a wonderful relationship with Shannon. They break up later, but very amicably, he doesn't see her again but always has positive associations with women named "Shannon," and finds himself more attracted to petite, red-haired women who remind him of Shannon--and this was a preference he didn't have before he dated Shannon.

We'll always remember the kids who picked on us in the schoolyard--I might have an aversion to people named "Meredith," or "Rick," because they remind me of Merediths and Ricks with whom I have had negative experiences, even though the future Merediths or Ricks have absolutely nothing to do with the Merediths and Ricks in my past.

I was wondering how far this can extend--and if it extends past relationships to the consumer world.
Also, is there any evolutionary reason for this mode of thinking? For example, I have had negative experiences with one guy, "John," and when I see men who remind me of John's physical appearance I am practically revolted. It seems unlikely that I could ever date anyone in the future with John's physical appearance, since I have such strong negative associations with it. On the other hand, I have had positive experiences with "Brad," and I've found myself more drawn to men who look and act like Brad since dating him. Is this, ultimately, logical in an evolutionary sense? How?

My condo taxes are overtaxing my brain!

B-squared — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:13:16 -0800

Unfortunately for my condo association and me, I have been designated to do our annual taxes. It's supposed to be really easy. I just fill out form 1120h and pay the tax. Except, according to my calculations (and including the $100 deduction), the government owes us money?! (only $5 of our income is taxable) What am I doing wrong? Why would the government owe us money when we haven't yet paid any tax? I will go to a tax professional, albeit embarrassed and defeated, if necessary.

Fundraising or Cut Back ideas

vermontlife — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:09:15 -0800

Condo Association wants to hit us with a special assessment that is almost $4000 EACH due to the repair of rotten wood trim on the outside of the buildings. Ideas on fundraising or cutting costs? This past summer it was discovered that there was extensive damage to the exterior of our Townhouses due to crappy building construction. We are now all being asked to pay for the repairs, which is going to run each home owner close to $4000.00. Needless to say this is MIND BOGGLINGLY frustrating in these tight financial times. I’d like to find an alternative to having to fork over this money. I seem to remember a similar post to Metafilter, but I can’t find it by searching. In the previous post there were some interesting fundraising ideas to help lower the costs. Below is an email that was just sent out with the Association Board’s response to a number of suggestions. The meeting to discuss this is 11/20. Any ideas?? Please?? I’ll be checking back regularly, so if more info is needed… please ask.

Hello fellow Homeowners.
You are all aware there is a meeting this Thursday night to discuss and vote on a significant new special assessment. Since the information packet was distributed, we have received suggestions and alternative proposals from some homeowners. We would like to inform you of alternatives that have been submitted and offer a few observations. These are presented in the order received.

1.Pay it all now. One homeowner commented we were risking too much to allow the reserves to be low for so long and suggested we ask those that can pay it in full now, to do so. Use a payment plan suggested by the board for those who indicate a hardship which prevents them from paying it up front. This improves the likelihood that money for repairs would be available during the summer construction season and allows the reserves to be replaced more quickly. They express the concern that resale value on their home would be adversely affected by having no money in the reserves.

2 . A second homeowner mailed an anonymous letter to many of the homeowners in the neighborhood. This letter states that many of us are already feeling financial pressure and this will add to it. There is no question about that. The sender indicates that with appropriate personnel looking into the cost of repairs, a substantial savings can be made. What is meant by “appropriate personnel”? Is the sender suggesting they have the needed skill and are volunteering, or are they suggesting we pay someone, at an additional cost, to do that? We ask the sender to please clarify.

3. Bring suit against Effing Jerks Construction Inc. (EJCI). A third homeowner suggests that this amount of serious deterioration is far greater than what would be expected to occur in such a short time (we agree!) and we should consider going back after the developer. The board has actually considered this several times over the past few months and
has not yet come away with this as our recommendation. There are many things to be considered here. We did file suit against the developer one previous time and settled out of court. It is likely that would prevent us from going back against them. If we did move forward on a suit, It would cost money to hire a lawyer to see if we have a case we can win. It would cost money to hire construction experts to provide expert testimony that what we consider bad construction, really is. We run the risk of EJCI saying OK, you win but instead of giving you any money we will come fix it for you. But they have shown on units they have previously attempted to repair that their repair work is no better than the original construction. The expense to pursue legal action against EJCI is significant and comes with no guarantee we would receive anything in return. The Board does not recommend pursuing legal action against EJCI for these reasons.

4. Extend the payments over a longer time. A fourth homeowner suggested we collect a smaller amount of money per month for a longer term doing some construction in 2009 and the rest in 2010. They recommend we leave the reserves low for this longer period and then assess what is needed to replace the reserves with collection of funds in 2011 and 2012. This would make it easier to pay but it would allow another year for rotten wood to worsen and would leave us at risk of not having the reserves if something should happen. Keep in mind that we have depleted the existing reserves and they would remain unfunded while we concentrated on repairs. Existing long term plans would have assumed we were funding reserves during this period.

5. Cut back in other areas. A fifth homeowner suggested we look at ways to cut back in other areas. For example, instead of weekly garbage pickup at each unit, change to less frequent pickup at a central dumpster.

6. Insurance. We spoke with one homeowner who has experience as an insurance adjuster as to the ways this might be considered under an insurance claim. We also spoke to our insurance agent and we found this would not be covered under insurance.

One word for music and memory association?

routergirl — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:20:49 -0800

Is there a single word or phrase to describe the association of songs (or music in general) with memories? I've searched, and couldn't find this question asked before, although I found this one, which sent me off on a long trail of links, and managed to distract me for a good half hour (short attention span, that's me). I'm hoping for one word, or a short phrase, to describe that feeling a person gets, when a song starts, that stems from their memories associated with the song.

Need to know who I'm president of!

epersonae — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:59:07 -0800

I'm looking for a way to organize a list of members of my neighborhood association, preferably something web-based, but that doesn't require the actual members to log in. I'm the (new) president of my neighborhood association, and our membership database is, well, a nightmare. As in: a laundry hamper full of slips of paper at the treasurer's house. Plus I have a small stack of sign-in sheets from our general meetings.

I would really like to get something together to track who's paying dues, who comes to meetings, etc.

I started playing with a spreadsheet last year, but I couldn't figure out a good way to record years of membership and meetings attended, especially over more than a year or two.

I would love to have something web-based that I could just hand off to future board members without worrying about what kind of computer/software they have.

Our current web setup is LAMP, with some flexibility of what we can install/run. I have enough PHP expertise that I can definitely futz around with something close but not quite, but would prefer not to have to do a ton of work or write the whole dang thing myself. Something that interops with WordPress would be nifty but in no way necessary.

Most of my searches thus far have turned up things for managing membership of a web site, which is entirely NOT what I'm looking for.

Hive mind, can you help?

Advice on small condo associations wanted

scottso17 — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:07:47 -0800

I'm looking to buy a condo in Cambridge, MA, where many of the attractive properties are old, multi-family houses, with 2-6 units each. I have some reservations about buying a condo with such a small group of people running the association. These properties all seem to have a condo association consisting of the few owners within the building.

My concerns include:

-- If we can't afford to have a professional company manage the association, who does the managing?

-- One of the homeowners absconding with the association reserves.

-- Being assessed a fee for a large repair (roof repair, siding replacement) if the association reserves don't cover it and I don't have the money to cover the expense.

-- Wanting to make a repair/renovation to a common area and the other homeowners don't agree.

-- Other miscellaneous disagreements, especially considering that I have to live in close proximity to the other board members.

There must be hundreds of these small condo associations in Cambridge, and many more elsewhere, so I assume that people get them to work -- so any success stories would be appreciated, too.

Thank you!

Association/Club benefits/perks?

pallen123 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:21:58 -0800

Looking for ideas for, or companies that provide one-stop shopping for association/club membership benefits/perks. I run a large association of technology entrepreneurs and executives and would like to obtain or negotiate some cool additional benefits for our members. Like the kind you get when you join AAA or Diner's Club... Our members are a pretty accomplished bunch, so I'm not really looking for 5% off book purchases. More like discounts at luxury hotels worldwide; limo services; car rental services; cigars; wine; magazine subscriptions; analyst subscriptions; conferences; etc. Could also include simple, useful Web services, like excellent Webex-type services at no/low cost; others...?

Are there services that aggregate these kinds of group discounts/perks for associations/clubs?

What creative kinds of association benefits would you be interested in receiving as part of your club membership?

Townhome Association

Noodles — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 21:53:45 -0800

I think that my townhome association is skimming money off the top. I live in Texas and I would like to know if there is an agency that I can contact to register my concerns. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Association of Association Members?

tiamat — Mon, 29 May 2006 12:54:05 -0800

Does membership in Professional (non-legislated) Associations make my resume look better? Or am I just paying money to add useless acronyms to it? As opposed to legislated professional associations (doctors, lawyers, etc) I have the option of joining a number of professional organizations that are relevant to my line of (desired) work.

Examples:
IAPP Membership
Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies

Some of these clearly provide useful networking opportunities, but the prices range from $30 to $350, depending on the association.

Should I join some of the associations that are only slightly connected with my research/work interests, or should I try to stick to the one or two that are closest to what I want to do?

_{Note, I'm just talking about membership, not certification in anything. Many of these groups do offer certification for professionals with a few years experience, but I'm not there yet. Stay tuned for a question about whether to get certifications in a few years time.}

How to create a trade association

oissubke — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 16:50:03 -0800

How does one go about creating an trade association? I'm involved with a startup in a very new industry, and after talking with some of our competitors, there has been considerable interest in creating a trade association to help promote and standardize the industry, as well as to provide a forum for open information exchange. (We're not looking to create a cartel -- we genuinely want to find a way to make this industry thrive for everyone, not simply to pick a few key players and promote them over the others.)

I've tried searching Google for information on how to start a trade association, and came up short. Does anyone have any experience in this area?

Thanks!

Associative memories

PercussivePaul — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 19:45:36 -0800

How is it that a song can trigger memories about a time in your life? I lived in San Francisco for a four-month period earlier this year and often listened to a particular radio station where they often played a particular song. Recently I was startled after hearing that song to suddenly be bombarded with memories of my time in the city. They were abstract memories, kind of like a flashback - images, sounds, smells, nothing concrete.

I told a friend of mine that lived with me in SF at the time and he reported the same experience - but not when he deliberately listened the song. He only had the 'flashback' effect once when the song came up unexpectedly in his playlist and he was half-listening to it. Further experimentation on my part confirmed that deliberately listening to the song does not induce a flashback.

I'm sure this is something that many people have experienced but does anyone know how this actually works, i.e. what's happening in our heads? Could you deliberately tie your present experiences to a song through repeated listening? And could you deliberately induce a flashback?

Property owner liability in case of trespassing (Chicago, IL)?

suitcase — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 11:30:10 -0800

Chicago, IL: Can a property owner be held liable if somone is injured while trespassing? A member of my condo association would like to install a basketball hoop above her garage door. It is located in a completely private parking lot, and the only access to it by car or on foot is through our private driveway. If a kid were to walk on to our property and injur themselves while playing ball on it, is it possible our association could face any liability? We don't have any signs explicity stating "No Tresspassing", and the driveway does not have a gate. I live in Chicago.

Home owners association issues.

jerseygirl — Fri, 27 May 2005 17:42:53 -0800

We're having issues getting communication from and outstanding problems resolved with our townhouse homeowners association president. We've lived here about 8 months. The entire time we've been here, trying to get something fixed or have legal documents owed to us actually given to us, has been like pulling teeth. We tried to get the master insurance document to see what was covered so we could insure accordingly and thoroughly and it took months, literally. We've been trying to get our rotten leaking bulkhead replaced and two pieces of rotten wood fixed for the entire 8 months we've been here. We've called and sent a letter regarding issues and while he acknowledges the letter and returns calls nothing is getting done. 8 months later we still have 2 pieces of rotten wood on the outside of our unit and a rotten bulkhead, and now the landscaping company employed by the H.A. is doing a shoddy job around our unit.

Because we got the repairman's number ourselves, we're getting our bulkhead replaced finally. The HA president insists he's been trying to call the guy and never got a return call. We called, got a return call and the repairman was down the next day for the estimate. The rotten wood on the outside of our sliding door is still rotting away. The HA President actually asked if I was planning on replacing the slider, because if I did, it'd be easier and cheaper for him to replace the rotting wood. There's nothing wrong with the slider at all, and no reason for me to pay to replace it to make their job easier, I'm afraid. The other piece of rotten wood is on a window sill and is now starting to fall off the front of our townhouse.

We pay our condo fees each month in a timely manner, so at the very least we feel like we should at least be getting our lawn mowed in a somewhat decent manner (we're not expecting Fenway Park here, just having the lawn mowed evenly) and have these structural issues resolved for what we're paying for. I know this guy doesn't get paid for the president position, and we were totally willing to give him some slack, but he's clearly not making an effort. On top of that, he's a miserable communicator when issues arise that we should be made aware of. We follow the rules per all the set association regulations (which took over a week for our closing attorney to get from the guy), and have always done our best to be considerate neighbors and appreciative of the president's efforts, but we've reached our limits with this guy. This is the first home we've owned, and hopefully, we're going to move on to bigger and better real estate in 2-3 years, but in the meantime how should we proceed to get these issues resolved and better deal with this guy in the future?

Tennis Tournaments

Slimemonster — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 17:49:31 -0800

The United States Tennis Association's website kinda confuses me. Anyone who plays a lot of tennis wanna help me out with something? [more inside] I've been thinking about playing in a few tournaments locally and I've joined the USTA PNW (i'm in Seattle) division and I'm looking to get started. Firstly, I'm confused about what NTRP is as opposed to "Open" tournaments. I know I'm a little old for junior tournaments, but I don't wanna show up at a tournament where everyone else is near-pro. Secondly, why aren't there any tournaments in Seattle? Am I looking in the wrong places? What is it about Vancouver, WA that's more appealing for tournaments than here?

Homeowner's associations, how to deal with them?

littlegirlblue — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:46:18 -0800

Homeowner's associations : anyone had problems with them? If so, what solutions worked? (more inside) To make a very long story short, my husband and I are stuck in a house in a subdivision with a HOA. For the past several years, they have made our lives a living hell. The rules change constantly and they have no problem slapping us with a $600 fine if we don't comply, even if we didn't get a copy of the new rules. If we don't pay the fine, they have the right to a non-judicial foreclosure. I have many more examples of their invasive behavior. We are to the point of selling it as a "quick sale" and getting out, credit be damned. We can't sell it for what we owe on it. Has anyone ever had similar problems, and if so, did anything work?