Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Condominiums topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Condo owners press committee for updates to 183A amid surprise assessments and fee hikes
Summary
Owners and advocates urged the Joint Committee on Housing to update Massachusetts General Law chapter 183A to increase transparency, limit surprise assessments and restore owner protections; testimony highlighted seniors and 55+ communities facing steep fee rises and reduced services.
A panel convened to discuss Senate Bill 980 — legislation to expand condominium owners’ rights and modernize Chapter 183A — told the Joint Committee on Housing that the law has not kept pace with the growth of condo living and that many owners, especially seniors, lack recourse for surprise assessments and unclear finances.
Maureen McEnroe, who said the bill would amend and enhance General Law 183A (the condominium statute), told the committee the state had roughly 11,000 associations and that owners paid “$2,400,000,000.0 in fees” annually (testimony cited 2021 data). She listed common complaints: lack of transparency in financial reporting, surprise assessments, boards changing bylaws without owner votes and insufficient fiduciary awareness among board members.
Mark Dantella, a resident of a 55‑plus community in Boylston, and Karen Perry Daley, who described a case where a $2,000 special assessment became $147,766 without owner consent, said seniors were particularly vulnerable to large assessments and to boards or management that do not respond to requests for clarification.
Ruba Sen, a disabled senior and condo owner, urged equal voting rights for unit owners and said “litigation is the last resort” and should be codified as such. Testimony invoked the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) as an example other New England states have used to modernize condo law.
No formal action was taken; committee chairs asked for written testimony and indicated they would accept further materials. The panel asked the committee to prioritize S‑980 to improve financial transparency, owner training and procedural protections for associations.
