Life in an association is a microcosm of life in the world at large. People of deficient character touch us daily, in the corporate world, in the political realm, in the athletic world, in law enforcement. Why should things be different in the condo association world?
An individual rogue director can create considerable disharmony.
"It takes only one person with malicious intentions to bring chaos and disarray to the lives of other board members," said Bernard Hopkins of the 535 N. Michigan Condominium Association. And that means that other unit owners will suffer too.
As he sees it, such situations do arise because of the difficulty of finding people with good motives to run for the board. "There's no compensation for your time and you frequently find yourself immersed in conflict or fielding endless complaints," he said.
Amanda Maxwell, a property manager with Lieberman Management, recalled just such a situation where one rotten apple created havoc in an association that she managed. "A board member's bad behavior and character caused literal screaming matches between that board member and the owners and the other board members at meetings," she said.
As hard as Maxwell tried, she was not able to control this person's actions and outbursts. The environment became very unproductive leading to delays in projects and increased costs.
Unit owners should abide by the covenants and rules of their associations, but not all do. "Nobody likes to yield to the authority of others in matters involving property they own," said Hopkins.
"This territorial instinct can sometimes bring out the worst in otherwise reasonable people," he said. "Disputing parties in a community association often lose all perspective and the battle becomes personal."
This kind of conflict can reflect character shortcomings in reasonableness, responsibility toward others, humility and showing respect.
We'll wrap up this discussion of character in condos next week.
Free-lance writer David Mack can be reached by e-mail at speed14@urbancom.net.
