Not Welcome!

Last night my wife and I decided to again take our apartment building up on an offer that was made to us shortly after moving in… we decided to attend a board meeting. We had attended a meeting sometime during our first few months after being encouraged to do so by board members and management but haven’t been to one since. While we are not shareholders, the meetings have always been promoted as open to all residents but we really had no real motivation to attend until this month. Having handed in our request to terminate out lease last week and no hearing anything back as of yet we were hoping to at least get an answer.

Before heading down to the basement, we went up and finally visited with a couple of residents that we are very fond of. Regardless of the issues that we have had with the building, there are many great people that still live there as well as many that work there too. What we were able to confirm is that we were not the only people that have had issues and do not agree with how things are being managed. And this was coming from a former President of the board.

After catching up for about 20 minutes we all piled on the elevator with someone else heading to the meeting. We walked into the room and quietly shuffled into the back row not saying a word to anyone. We were there to listen not to cause a ruckus (other residents had already planned on doing so making there no need for us to say anything). My wife and I had just settled in and were chatting about other things that we needed to get done when the current president made her way to the back of the room.

It didn’t come as a surprise that we were asked to leave. After all, I didn’t bow and kiss her ring when we walked in the door. The new rule (declaration might be a better word) is that the meetings are only for shareholders… a complete change from our last experience nearly three years ago. Again, we were not there to make a scene so we got up, let our friends know what was going on, and made our way back to the apartment without any answers or even an acknowledgement of our formal request.

For now, we have to keep waiting until we receive notification. However, given the length of time that has passed, I am starting to plan on taking alternative action with regard to our lease. Nothing drastic, just putting all of the hard facts on the table and allowing them to speak for themselves. I guess we will just have to keep preparing and see what happens from here.