This is FU

It appears that Chapel Hill East Condominium Trust’s (CHE) current Board of Trustees (hereinafter referred to as CBOT) plan to continue plundering and deceiving the majority of its residential owners! In July 2022, the CBOT declared that all owners make 13 monthly condo fee payments (in lieu of the typical 12 monthly payments) in 2022. By doing so, the majority of CHE’s residential owners continue to subsidize the owners of eight new first floor residential units built in 2020.

Yet, this declaration contradicts the CBOT’s prior directive regarding CHE’s 2022 condo fee payments. On December 13, 2021, the CBOT held CHE’s 2021 Annual Homeowners Meeting via ZOOM. After the board members introduced themselves, Nick Lyrist, CHE Treasurer, informed CHE owners that condo fees would not be increasing in fiscal year This statement is affirmed in the minutes for CHE’s 2021 Annual Homeowners Meeting. (See Exhibit 1)

To put this condo fee increase in historical context, on December 10, 2021, Mr. Frank Wood posted an article in Framingham Unfiltered entitled “Chapel Hill Condos or should we say ‘Cover-Up Condos.’” [Retrieved from https://funfiltered.com/2021/12/10/chapel-hill-condos-or-should-we-say-cover-up-condos/]

Chapel Hill Condos or should we say ‘Cover-Up Condos’

Mr. Wood articulated that CHE’s previous 2018 Board of Trustees (hereinafter referred to as PBOT) helped pull off one of the most reprehensible and unjust business deals leaving 96%, (or 180/188) of its residential unit owners reeling in perpetuity. The PBOT facilitated the deal in question by steering CHE’s residential owners into allowing five commercial units on the first floor to be converted into ultimately eight residential units.

Table 1 illustrates the inequity that the PBOT condemned the majority of CHE’s residential owners to via this conversion. Just look at the lack of parity in condo fees between the New first floor residential owners (hereinafter referred to as “New owners”) and the 180 Original residential owners (hereinafter referred to as “Old owners”). For the record, the PBOT and the CBOT assess monthly condo fees to all unit owners based upon their respective beneficial interest (BI) factor.

According to Table 1, a New owner pays a monthly condo fee based on their respective BI plus an estimated monthly HVAC cost via its MLS listing. In contrast to this, an Old owner’s monthly condo fee is based solely on an Old owner’s BI which already factors in HVAC, and, all other utilities. Consequently, a “New” 1st Floor Unit with 2 Bedrooms & 2 Bathrooms with a total floor area of 919 square feet costs approximately $203.81 monthly condo fee, while, an “Old” 4th Floor Unit with only 1 Bedroom & 1 Bathroom with a total floor area of 915 square feet costs $480.54 per month. The monthly condo fee difference is a staggering $276.73.

It is of paramount importance to know that this disparity is not the fault of “New owners”. The responsibility for this disparity sits squarely on the PBOT!

Now, let’s fast forward to July 2022. On July 7, 2022, the CBOT launched another arrow from its quiver of inequity into the wallets of CHE’s “Old owners”.

In order to fund several capital improvements, the CBOT voted to require all owners pay an additional monthly condo fee in October 2022. To reiterate, all owners will need to pay two monthly condo fees on October 1, 2022. Although this additional payment may not be popular among CHE owners, sometimes it is necessary and prudential to keep the property in good standing. However, it is unfathomable that CHE’s “Old owners” must continue to subsidize “New
owners” for these capital improvements.

Once again, I refer you to Table 1 to demonstrate the unfairness to CHE “Old owners”. The aforementioned “New” 1st Floor Unit with 2 Bedrooms & 2 Bathrooms with a total floor area of 919 square feet costs $153.81 monthly condo fee (or $307.62 for two monthly condo fees in October 2022), while, the “Old” 4th Floor Unit with only 1 Bedroom & 1 Bathroom with a total floor area of 915 square feet costs $480.54 per month (or $961.08 for two monthly condo fees in
October 2022). The October 2022 monthly condo fee difference is now a whopping $653.46.

The CBOT’s temerity to insult the intelligence of CHE’s “Old owners” is quite extraordinary! The CBOT want CHE owners to believe that their condo fees for 2022 are not increasing. The CBOT contends that condo fees for 2022 remain unchanged from 2021: because the amount of the monthly payment is not changing even though there will now be 13 payments instead of 12 payments for the year.

Yet, the CBOT’s audacity does not stop there. As mentioned earlier, “Old owners” will reel in perpetuity. Already, the CBOT informed all CHE owners that additional information on other supplemental fees will follow later this fall!

In closing, it is time to hold all those responsible for the alleged plunder and deceit accountable for their actions! What say you?