J.J. from Middlesex County writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I live in a townhouse complex of 46 units. There are 7 board members who seem to play favorites and pick and choose who they will and will not respond to. There are 2 basements attached to owner units, where the association actually owns half of the basement and the exterior entrance to each. One of these basements is next to mine, and the cement stairs leading down to it have been collapsing for years with only talks of repairs. Now, because of the poor stability of the cement, the metal railing is no longer stable either. It’s come apart and very wobbly. I have a small child as does the renter that lived in the unit this is attached to. I wrote an email with my concerns asking that the railing be addressed. If a child were to lean on that railing they could absolutely fall in and the drop is high enough I fear it could be fatal. As usual I’ve not gotten any acknowledgement at all that my email was even received. What would be my next step in getting them to address something so dangerous?
Mister Condo replies:
J.J., I am sorry that your Board has allowed this common asset to fall into such disrepair that a child fatality could occur if the element fails. I would say that an email isn’t getting the job done. You mentioned 7 Board Members but no Property Manager. If you have a Property Manager, you should bring it to their attention, if not you need to address the Board in another way that they cannot ignore. Pictures and documentation should do the trick, presented in a letter to the Board (not an email). Send a copy to the local Building Inspector as well and cc: the Board that you have done so. You should also consider attending the next Board meeting (that is your right). Address this concern face to face with the Board. In other words, be a squeaky wheel! If they still don’t respond, you have two choices. Run for the Board yourself or elect better leaders that will address the issue. The other choice is to just accept that the Board is a group of self-serving people who aren’t going to address your issues until there is an injury and a lawsuit. That would be truly unfortunate. Good luck!