How Mismanagement Has Left Us With Failing Plumbing, Crumbling Infrastructure, and Outrageous Policies

For nearly a decade, the same board has controlled the direction of our home. The result? A building plagued by infrastructure failures, a hostile management culture, financial mismanagement, and a complete lack of transparency.

We are living with the consequences of their poor decisions every day. This board has consistently prioritized aesthetic projects over essential infrastructure, nickel-and-dimed residents while failing to communicate basic project updates, and enacted rules that make our home feel more like a prison than a community.

Plummeting Property Values: A Crisis of Leadership

🏚 Your Condo Is Worth Less—And That Won’t Change Anytime Soon 🏚

• Blacklisted by Fannie & Freddie: 3600 N LSD is officially on the no-lend list due to maintenance failures and financial instability. This means banks won’t issue loans for buyers, leaving owners stuck with no real market for selling.

• Endless Construction, No End in Sight: The riser project, mismanaged from the start, is dragging on for years. Would you buy a condo in a building with gutted kitchens and unpredictable water shutoffs? Neither will anyone else.

• Assessments Are Up, But Your Value Isn’t: The board took out a $20 million emergency loan, but owners still don’t know where the money is going. Increased assessments make condos harder to sell, while critical repairs continue at a snail’s pace.

• High COI & Poor Reputation: Vendors don’t want to work here, and contractors avoid our building due to management’s hostile environment. This only drives up costs and slows down essential projects, further harming property values.

📉 Bottom Line: The board’s inaction and mismanagement are actively devaluing your home. Even if you aren’t selling today, your investment is shrinking. And it may take years—if not longer—to recover.

This is why we need leadership that will get us off the blacklist, prioritize infrastructure over wasteful spending, and rebuild our property’s reputation.

Ignoring Infrastructure While Wasting Our Money Elsewhere

It doesn’t take an engineer to understand that essential infrastructure, like old plumbing, should be replaced before refreshing decade-old carpeting. Yet this board has consistently focused on cosmetic projects while allowing critical infrastructure to deteriorate.

• Plumbing and Boiler Neglect: The board ignored decades-old plumbing and boiler systems that were long past their lifespan. Instead of proactive replacements, they let failures pile up until emergency repairs became unavoidable.

• Fire Safety Failures: The fire panel installed in 2009 was already outdated when it was put in. The board waited until replacement parts were impossible to find before taking action, putting residents at risk and forcing costly last-minute fixes.

• Blacklisted by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac: As mentioned above, the board’s failures have left us blacklisted by Fannie & Freddie, locking residents into properties they may not be able to sell for years.

• $20 Million Loan with No Transparency: The board has already saddled us with a $20 million loan, yet they refuse to provide full transparency on where those funds are actually going.

• Neglected Patio, Once an Award-Winning Space: While the board obsessed over carpeting, wallpaper, and furniture, they completely neglected our outdoor patio. Once a highlight of the building, it has now fallen into disrepair—dead landscaping, a failed irrigation system, and a full-blown rat infestation.

Meanwhile, What Did They Prioritize Instead?

✔ A hallway refresh—new carpeting, wallpaper, and lighting—while plumbing issues were ignored.

✔ Lobby furniture instead of addressing failing infrastructure.

✔ An excessive 40-camera surveillance system, with no clear governance or resident access to footage.

The Garage Saga: A Case Study in Mismanagement and Reversal

The board’s handling of the garage has been yet another example of poor decision-making, lack of transparency, and failure to prioritize resident needs.

The Failed Attempt to Eliminate the 3rd Shift Garage Attendant

As part of the recently passed budget, the board attempted to eliminate the overnight garage attendant (12 AM – 5 AM)—a decision made without proper community discussion or a clear alternative for residents.

• Self-parkers would have had no staff support if an issue arose while entering or exiting the garage.

• Valet users would have been stranded overnight, unable to retrieve their vehicles until morning.

• Security risks would have increased, as the garage would have had zero oversight during the most vulnerable hours.

But residents fought back.

🚨 Overwhelming pushback from the community forced the board to reverse its decision.

📢 The board was forced to resend the budget and go through the approval process again.

This was a major victory for residents who stood up and demanded transparency, fairness, and security in their building.

Garage Fees That Still Benefit the Board

While the board was forced to reinstate the overnight garage attendant, they still refused to make fair adjustments to self-parking fees.

• Self-parking remains $10 cheaper than valet, despite being in significantly higher demand.

• The board “promised” to revisit this policy, but considering most board members are self-parkers, the current pricing structure conveniently benefits them.

Many residents believe that with higher demand and greater convenience should come a higher cost, yet this board continues to favor a pricing model that protects their own interests.

A Pattern of Manipulation and Self-Serving Decisions

The garage fiasco is just another example of how this board operates:

🚨 Restrictive policies pushed through without community input.

💰 Financial decisions that benefit board members over residents.

🔍 A lack of transparency until public pressure forces them to act.

A Once-Award-Winning Patio, Now a Rat-Infested Wasteland

This board was handed a beautiful, award-winning patio—a crown jewel of our community. Their only job? Maintain it. Instead, they let it rot.

• Trees and shrubs died from neglect.

• The irrigation system failed, forcing staff to manually water.

• A fungus spread through the planters, killing off greenery while the board ignored it.

• And now? A full-blown rat infestation.

Residents only found out about the infestation after seeing dead rats in shared spaces. Not once has the board proactively communicated a solution. They just let the problem fester.

A Building That Feels Like a Prison

Instead of fostering a thriving residential community, the board has turned our building into a heavily policed, overregulated environment:

• 40 security cameras monitor residents, requiring costly upkeep while basic maintenance goes ignored.

• Pet owners face unfair laundry restrictions, with arbitrary rules that do nothing but divide neighbors.

• Garage staffing was cut overnight, with no data or community input—residents found out after the decision was already made.

• Unreasonable fines and fees nickel-and-dime residents, while we struggle to get a straight answer on where our money is actually going.

• ESA Owners Face Potentially Illegal Restrictions: Under Illinois and federal law, individuals with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations for Emotional Support Animals (ESAs). Yet, our board has attempted to restrict ESA owners from using common elevators, community areas, and even the front entrance—policies that likely violate the Fair Housing Act and Illinois Human Rights Act. These rules are not only unfair but could open the association up to legal challenges if not corrected.

A Management Team That No One Wants to Work With

What happens when leadership creates a toxic environment? No one wants to work here.

• Vendors refuse to take contracts with our building because our management company is too difficult to work with.

• Management ignores emails for weeks, making even the simplest tasks a nightmare.

• Office hours were cut, making it even harder to get anything done.

• The board refuses to address complaints about management’s customer service, leaving residents stuck with a hostile and unhelpful team.

And let’s not forget: major financial and maintenance decisions are happening behind closed doors.

• Residents receive notices about noise and odors from projects, but no real updates on budgets or timelines.

• The fire door replacement project (over $1 million) has zero transparency on which doors are even being replaced.

• The riser replacement is underway, but communication has been reactive rather than proactive, leaving residents with unanswered questions for months.

What Comes Next?

This board has had years to do the right thing, and they have failed. We don’t need another year of excuses, backroom deals, and crumbling infrastructure. We need leadership that values:

✔ Financial Transparency – No more hidden fees and mystery debt.

✔ Infrastructure First – Plumbing, boilers, and safety should always come before aesthetics.

✔ Fairness & Accountability – A board that serves all homeowners, not just themselves.

✔ Communication & Openness – Open meetings, clear project timelines, and an engaged community.

Time to Take Back Our Building

Our home values, financial security, and quality of life are all on the line. While community pressure has forced some reversals, we can’t wait years for property values to recover. The only way forward is new leadership. The next board must lead with transparency, fairness, and proactive problem-solving—not just damage control after public outcry.

If elected, I will advocate for:

✔ Real transparency in budgeting, so homeowners aren’t left in the dark about major financial decisions.

✔ An infrastructure-first approach, ensuring critical building systems take priority over cosmetic projects.

✔ Policies that serve all residents, not just a select few.

The past year has proven that change is possible when residents stand together. Now, it’s time to elect leadership that gets it right the first time.

This May, let’s take back our building.