Managerial Ethics, Week 1
Dr. Lynn Moore
September 2, 2012
Condominium Owners versus Condominium Employees 2
A condominium, or condo, is in the form of housing where a specified part of a piece of real estate (usually an apartment) is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights associated with the individual ownership and controlled by the association of owners that jointly represent ownership of the whole piece. The difference between a condominium and an apartment complex is purely legal: there is no way to know a condominium from an apartment simply by looking at or visiting the building. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership? The same building developed as a condominium (and sold in individual units to different owners) could actually be built someplace else as an apartment building (the developers would retain ownership and rent individual units to different tenants). Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual home units and common areas along with the land upon which they sit. Individual home ownership within a condominium is construed as ownership of only the air space confining the boundaries of the home. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium’s creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group–-it may not have ownership itself. The board members are elected by the residents and are called the Home Owners Association (HOA). The HOA accesses unit owners for the costs of maintaining the common areas. As a member of the board, it is my duty and obligation to maintain the common areas to the satisfaction of the owners and at a price that is efficient for all involved. We have had XYZ
