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Q: The board of the association I manage has been conducting meetings that aren’t very effective and are unnecessarily long. The president has served on the board for several years and has become frustrated with the situation. How can I help her to streamline meetings and get control over the board members who drag out the agenda?

Facts: Fifty-five units in a Missouri condominium complex went into foreclosure. Delinquent assessments and fines were due on all of the units. A corporation bought the units. It paid the assessments and fees that had accrued after the foreclosure and its purchase, but not before. The association later claimed that it had an assessment lien on all 55 units, because of the pre-purchase outstanding amounts.

Facts: A condominium building’s board of directors voted to install a chairlift in one of the two stairwells to make the building more handicap accessible. A unit owner objected to the installation and voiced her concerns to the board. However, it applied for a building permit from the city’s building commissioner and hired a company to install the chairlift.

Whether you manage a planned community or a condominium building, issues with the board can take up your time and create frustration among owners who just want things to run smoothly. One of those issues could be assembling a board to begin with. In some scenarios, owners may be clamoring to serve on the board. That’s good news: It indicates that members of the community are invested in and want to be involved in the successful operation of the association.

Members sometimes build improvements on common areas or limited common areas without first getting the association’s consent, because they mistakenly believe the area belongs to them. This can lead to an unpleasant dispute between a member and the association, especially when the association tells the member to remove the improvement.

Q: The homeowners association I manage is in a dispute with our prior law firm regarding the payment of legal fees. We haven’t been able to come to a settlement and are currently scheduled to go to trial later this year. If we win, can we recover attorneys’ fees and costs for such a dispute?

Facts: A unit owner slipped and fell on a driveway leading to his condominium complex. He sued the association, seeking damages for injuries he suffered. The driveway, also known as the “east access road,” is located on property owned by a third party. The association has an easement for ingress and egress—that is, the right to use the driveway to come and go—in common with the third party. The third party asked a New York court for a judgment in its favor without a trial.

Facts: The association and its management company were responsible under the association’s governing documents for maintaining the common areas of a condominium building. But the management company failed to waterproof areas of the building, leading to water intrusion and deterioration. The board of directors spent reserve funds for purposes other than the repair, restoration, replacement, or maintenance of the common areas.

Community Associations Institute (CAI) recently presented the 2015 Hero of Associations award to Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) for his tireless efforts in helping constituents living in condominiums, cooperatives, and community associations become eligible for federal disaster relief. Israel began working on disaster relief fairness to help constituents affected by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The day-to-day focus of the association manager, members, and the board might center on their roles in keeping the community running smoothly—abiding by the governing documents, quickly dealing with problems that pop up, and making decisions that affect the community, respectively.