Photo by PoPville flickr user slightlyworn
“Dear PoPville,
Less than a year ago, I bought a condo in a small building. The building is so small, that ALL of us are on the condo board. I’m a rather young homeowner, and a woman, while the other board members are older and male. I think they are used to running things their way without much opposition. Despite dedicating hours of my time to solving issues with THEIR units and tenants, I feel like my concerns are consistently ignored. The first time I questioned why I was being forced to participate in resolving issues with their units, they told me that there was a legal liability in not addressing it as a condo board. Since then, the threat of “legal liability” seems to be constantly held over my head to bully me into agreeing to their demands.
Recently, I demanded that if we continue to make decisions based on protecting ourselves legally, we need to be talking to a lawyer. I pushed back on some of the issues my co-board members brought up, mostly pointing out that we are not legal responsible for doing most of the things they claim. I think my condo board members think I can’t possibly know as much as they do, but I have quite a bit of experience in the DC housing code, tenants rights, and so on. I know my rights and responsibilities and I’m not going to be afraid to express them. Before this point, my demands were acknowledged but not met. Now, my attempts to communicate, on any issue at all, have been met with radio silence. I’m paying my condo fee. I’m at a loss about what to do and how to get a response out of the board.
If need be, I’m willing to pursue legal action, since the threat of legal retaliation seems to be the only thing this group of people understands.”
