We as condo owners have been blindsided. A letter from our management company was placed in our mailboxes saying our condo fees are being increased by $80 and that we need to pay $5000 by Feb 28th to increase reserve fund. All pre authorized checks will be automatically updated automatically (without our permission). That means we have to incorporate $5.960 in our budgets for 2008. We have asked for a general meeting to discuss this issue and have yet to be acknowledge. Is this legal? The only people who have not acknowledged my letter have been the volunteer board and the management board. The other residents are supporting my request for a general meeting 100%.

Hello b:

Sounds like you need a new board. There ARE by-laws. Use 'em.

excon

You need to get all the owners together and get the minutes of all the board meetings. You also need to familiarize yourself with the bylaws of the condo association.

The 5K probably needs a special assessment to be passed in order to be legal. The $80 is trickier, because the law allows HOA fees to be increased up to 10%/year (I believe, the percentage may be different than I am remembering) without any input from the home owners. So that may be legal, depending on what your association dues currently are. That's one of the reasons that I looked for a spot without an HOA when I bought the new house.