Condo Caretaker Employed Without Contract

J.G. from Fairfield County writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

We have a board member’s brother who is considered the caretaker / maintenance guy (who has been doing a lousy job here for years). We have complained about it for as long. He is not legally contracted but instead has the approval of the board to do our landscaping, snow removal and unit maintenance (in units) where and when the issues have been determined to be the responsibility of the association. How can we get rid of him and force the board to legally hire a qualified person and not a relative of a high ranking board member?

Mister Condo replies:

J.G., you cannot get rid of the caretaker as he is employed by the Board, with or without contract, legally, illegally or otherwise. What you can (and should) do is get rid of the Board! Any Board that puts its association members at such incredible risk is failing miserably at their primary duty of protecting the association from unwarranted risk. The Board has one primary duty and that is to protect, maintain, and enhance the association and its assets. I can only imagine that this caretaker / maintenance person is not properly licensed or insured and that the association could be found completely liable if he were ever to hurt himself or another person during the performance of his duties on behalf of the association. This is just poor judgment on the part of the Board for allowing this to happen and they should be replaced with Board members that are going to handle the business of the association in a more professional and fiscally prudent matter. But nothing will change if everyone just sits back and lets it continue. It’s time to rally the troops and get some new volunteers to serve as community leaders. Perhaps you’re up to the task yourself, J.G.? Good luck!