You are, if you’re on the board of your building. Yes, I’ve taken to task over weaning board members who drink too deeply from the draught of power. But just as problematic are those at the other extreme, who don’t drink deeply enough, and allow their management company to usurp their role. Read more »

I finally figured out how to make a million. Seriously! After all those years serving for nothing as a director on my building’s board, I see a payday ahead. I’m going to market an “AGREE” button. You probably know about that EASY button you can put on your desk or download to solve problems at work. Well this one is geared toward the specific needs of officers and directors of co-ops and condos who want to burnish their image by giving the impression they are busy solving your problems -- when maybe they’re not. Read more »

I’m back! Probably some of you thought I had disappeared or been rubbed out by one of my nemeses – or just had enough. A concerned reader sent me an email asking if I was the victim of a fatwa in my building. No, I told him, violence isn’t usually the way to settle scores in these parts. There are more effective less bloody tools – disinformation campaigns, public humiliation, email combat, to name just a few. Read more »

“Now I know what it feels like to be Salman Rushdie, Ms. X said to me.

She’d never read Satanic Verses, hadn’t written any novel of her own, had never said anything bad, even questionable, about The Prophet, so what was she talking about?

“There’s a fatwa against me,” she responded to my puzzled look.

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And I’m not gonna take it anymore. Seems that’s what lots of apartment owners are saying – and doing –not just taking self help steps at home (see, Self Help Justice), but going to court on their own to right perceived wrongs committed by the board or a pesky neighbor. That’s why we’ll be taking a look from time to time at complaints that drive owners to the brink. Often it’s the little stuff that rankles, the proverbial last straw after a series of protracted disagreements. Read more »