THE BATHROOM VENT IS NOT FOR BARBECUING… We manage a condominium association and many years ago we received multiple calls about odd smells and smoke at a building. Upon investigation, we found a resident barbecuing in their bathroom tub.
NO ONE PROMISED YOU NO NOISE IN YOUR
CONDOMINIUM… We kept getting complaints from a resident that she could not sleep in her bedroom due to the noise. The property manager, engineer and board members all made many trips to the unit and could not hear anything. The noise levels were checked with a barely measurable sound detected. After discussions with the association’s attorney and a review of the City sound ordinance, a meeting was arranged with the resident. She was politely told that anything she was hearing was within acceptable sound tolerances and perhaps condominium living was not right for her.
THE SPRINKLER HEAD IS NOT FOR TYING UP YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE…
A few years ago, prior to Christmas we were notified that the fire department was on the way to one of our loft buildings due to the sprinkler systems going off. Arriving at the condominium unit with the open sprinkler- that was by now flooding the units below - the fire department found no evidence of a fire. The unit owner said the sprinkler “just went off on its own.” Looking at the sprinkler head, the building engineer found a small piece of string attached to it. A few feet away was a rather tall Christmas tree lying on its side. The engineer walked over to the tree and at the top, saw a piece of string that matched the string found on the sprinkler head. Even though the owner denied tying the tree to the sprinkler head, the condominium board thought otherwise and fined him.
NO, YOU CAN’T REMOVE THE COLUMN… I received a call from a real estate broker regarding the sale of a condominium in one of our managed downtown Chicago high-rises. She reported that the potential buyer loved the unit, but felt the view would be much better with a few changes. The buyer was ready to make an offer and wanted to make sure she could remove the major obstruction. The broker and subsequently the potential buyer, were quite upset to learn that the building’s structural column could not be removed.
THE TREES ARE SICK…
I once received a call from an owner who just purchased a townhome in an association I manage. This owner was concerned with the landscaping; in particular, with the trees outside her balcony. “What seems to be the problem?” I asked. “Well, I’m very concerned these beautiful trees have some sort of disease, as they didn’t look like this a
couple of months ago when I moved in.” I proceeded to ask the owner what was wrong with the trees to which she replied, “The leaves have a strange yellowish and orange color to them which I’ve never seen before. Perhaps, the landscapers can come out and take a look at them?” I thought hard if I had heard of any tree diseases going around, and then chuckled to myself when I realized what the problem was. I found out the owner was from Arizona and I welcomed her to living in Illinois while explaining we have a season called Fall where the leaves change a beautiful color this time of year and it’s nothing to worry about. Fortunately, I didn’t get a call in the winter about white stuff falling from the sky!
DOESN’T SING WELL WITH OTHERS… One day, an owner in a condominium association called the management office where I worked. She was very, very serious with her request and wanted to make sure I knew it. I asked how I could help her. She asked me to send the maintenance service over and have the birds in the trees outside her unit removed because they weren’t singing nicely. She then asked that the maintenance service return with songbirds to put in the trees. I managed to thank her for her call and hang up the phone, before falling into a fit of laughter and almost falling off my chair!
THE IMAGINARY ADVANTAGE…
One of the common head scratchers I come across in my travels is the notion that somehow board members do NOT have to pay assessments like the other unit owners. I hear complaints occasionally about how easy it is for the board to pass an increase in assessments or a special assessment because it does not affect them personally. Had I known this to be true, I would have purchased a unit on Lake Shore Drive a long time ago!
SOOTHING WATER SOUNDS… OR NOT? I was on the board of a small self-managed condominium association where one Friday night an elderly resident frantically called the board president to complain that she heard rushing water in the unit above her and she didn’t think anyone was home. The board president tracked down the owner of the unit, who was not home at the time, to inform her of this and asked her if she could please get home as soon as she could to see what the problem was. The owner of the unit in question was apparently an hour away and drove through pouring rain in a nervous fit, worried that a pipe had burst in her unit and imagining every sort of water-related disaster. She arrived home to find… absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing was leaking in the unit, not a drop was seen or heard. Until she realized that the woman living below her was just hearing the sounds of the heavy rainstorm against her windows and chimney.
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