Condo Media - May 2013 - 56

GOVERNANCE
your eyes wide open,” Moskowitz advises. “Understand that you are taking
on legal obligations and could be sued
for breaching them.”
“Education is the best defense,”
Goodman agrees. “You don’t just jump
in a car and start to drive — you first
have to understand how it operates and
study the traffic rules.” At a minimum,
Goodman says, trustees should read the
association’s governing documents and
they should review the D&O insurance coverage as well. Like the condominium docs, insurance policies “are

written by lawyers,” he notes, “but
with more fine print and they’re harder
to understand.”

Take your position as a trustee
seriously. “It’s an awesome
responsibility,” Goodman says.
Meskin echoes that point. Trustees may
be unpaid volunteers, he observes, but
that doesn’t diminish the importance
of a job that some trustees dismiss too
lightly as “just my HOA.” It is much
more than that, Meskin insists, noting
that some boards oversee multi-million

Your complete outdoor maintenance company

781-391-6993 • www.randslandscaping.com

Landscaping Services
170 Mystic Avenue, Medford, MA 02155

• Landscape Management
• Irrigation
• Landscape Construction
(walls, driveways)
• Tree & Shrub Care
• Green Applica tions
• Snow Plowing/Shoveling
• Seasonal Sweeping

Construction Services
415 Mystic Avenue, Medford, MA 02155

• Complete Asphalt and Concrete Services
• Seal Coating and Crackﬁll Services
• Parking Lot Striping and Stenciling
• Catch Basin and
Drainage Repair

Condo Media • May 2013

dollar budgets, multiple buildings, and
large staffs. Regardless of the size of
the association’s budget or the complexity of its operation, trustees are
“running a business,” he emphasizes,
and that’s the mindset with which they
should approach their role.

“Do your job,” is Polvere’s blunt
response to trustees wondering how to reduce their liability
risks. That means, among other things:
weighing decisions carefully, recognizing that it is the board, not the manager, that bears the ultimate decisionmaking responsibility, and relying on
professional advice when necessary.
“Many boards bumble around a lot
without asking for advice,” Polvere
says. “Calling on the appropriate
professionals will go a long way toward
protecting you.”

Recognize potential conflicts
of interest and either avoid or
disclose them. Conflicts can sneak
up on you, Moskowitz cautions. “You
take a few steps, and then you take a
few more,” without realizing that you
are edging closer to a danger zone.
“Conflicts often seem innocent — until
they aren’t,” he notes. His advice to
trustees: “Be careful. Always be sure
you are acting in the best interests of
the association.”

Be cautious, be conscientious, and
use common sense. That’s the
consensus advice offered in some
fashion by everyone we consulted. “If
you have to ask if something creates
a liability risk,” Meskin suggests, “it
probably does.”

Make sure the association has
D&O insurance. Serving on a
board without it, Montgomery
cautions, “is the worst mistake” trustees can make. CM
Nena Groskind is president of eContentplus, providing editorial content for
websites, print and electronic newsletters,
and magazines.

Condo Media - May 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - May 2013