Condo Media - November 2019 - 32

Violence IS RARE IN Condominiums

"We better figure out
what our response is going to be."

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Communicate with an angry
owner. "Try to identify the source
of the problem," Moskowitz
suggests. "Sometimes people
just need a chance to vent. If you
give them an alternative way to
express their frustration, you can
take some of the energy out of the
situation." He thinks one reason
violence is comparatively rare in
condominium communities, even
though emotions can sometimes
run high, is because "boards and
management companies are doing a
better job today of communicating
with owners, and that has helped to
keep frustration levels down."
CAI is focusing on communication
in a related context. "We hear all
the time about the difficulty of
having reasoned discussions about
difficult topics because people
are yelling and screaming at each
other," Bauman says. In response,
the institute is developing a "civility
code" communities can adopt,
establishing ground rules for how
boards, managers and owners talk to
each other. "Civil conversations are
essential for the health, safety and
sustainability of common interest
communities," Bauman says.
Involve the board. If a manager
is being harassed, is threatened
or feels threatened, Kaplan
advises her management company
clients to notify the board or the
CONDOMEDIA November 2019

association's attorney and work
with them to resolve the issue.
Augustus Rubbo, principal in
CCR Management, Inc., in
Philadelphia, says he has had
"several fairly serious incidents"
involving nasty emails and threats
directed at managers. "If we
can't resolve [the problem] by
working with the board," he says,
"we terminate the association
as a client."

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Richard Brooks, a partner at
Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks,
agrees, but he also prefers not to
make police presence a regular
fixture at association meetings.
"That doesn't really enhance the
sense of community we are trying
to create."
Brooks can recall only once in
the past 30 years when he's seen a
need to call police during an annual
meeting. A resident "who appeared
drunk" began to argue with a board
member. "The resident wasn't
screaming," Brooks says, but he
approached the table at which the
board member was sitting "and
pulled the chair out from under
him." Brooks says he started to
make the 911 sign to the audience,
"but realized that everyone in the
room was already on their phone,
calling the police." The story didn't
end there. As the police escorted
the angry resident from the room,
he had a heart attack. "Had anyone
in the room grabbed him," Brooks
observes, "the association would
have been sued."

Be "situationally" aware.
This falls squarely in the common sense category. Managers
shouldn't walk alone to a parking
lot late at night or meet alone
with residents with whom they
have had uncomfortable encounters. The general advice-"be
situationally aware"-applies
regardless of whether the manager
has been threatened, directly
or indirectly. "You do what is
reasonable under the circumstances, irrespective of what is
happening at the association,"
Moskowitz says.
Hire a police detail. Association
attorneys say they will have an
off-duty police officer attend an
annual meeting or a special meeting
if a particularly controversial issue
is on the agenda. "The police presence alone will usually keep things
calm," Moskowitz notes.

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Consider a restraining order.
This is an extreme measure, but
may be necessary if an owner who
is harassing or threatening the
manager or board members doesn't
respond to outreach efforts, informal and formal "cease and desist"
demands, fines, and other measures.
Condo Media - November 2019

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