Anger Management There is no doubt that at one time or another you will feel frustrated because of something that occurs or keeps re-occurring in your condominium. But how you deal with those frustrations may make a difference in how they are resolved.
Your angry what should you do? Breathe deeply and count to ten? Walk out of the room and find something to put your fist through? Put on your aerobic gear and go for a ten mile run?
And what do you end up doing? Does it depend upon the circumstances? Is it with your parents, spouse, partner or child? Are you angry with a co-worker or boss? Angry with a friend or date gone wrong?
Now letīs enter your condominium building.
Ingrid is terribly angry about her common expenses going up by 40% and doesnīt know how she will afford it being on a fixed income. Henry has a home office and those repairs to the garage are taking way too long, he canīt concentrate during the day because of the noise. Noraīs guests can never find a parking spot in visitor parking because owners keep parking there for their personal use. Ahmed canīt stand the condominium rules which require him to carry his dog in the common areas and thinks that the rules are ridiculous.
Ingrid, Henry, Nora and Ahmed attend the annual general meeting to voice their concerns. How the meeting goes will all depend upon the approach of management, the board and more importantly the owners.
There is no doubt that at one time or another you will feel frustrated because of something that occurs or keeps re-occurring in your condominium. But how you deal with those frustrations may make a difference in how they are resolved.
The first thing to realize is that often anger is based on feelings that there is some injustice or inequity that has happened to you personally.
The natural response is to vent, lash out and tell the world all about your issues.
In a condominium, the forum for this venting usually occurs at the annual general meeting where the owners who have bottled up all these emotions, now release them all at once.
The outcome is mayhem and people losing respect for one another. There are those that vent and those at the receiving end. Each of these, the venters and the receivers need to develop mechanisms for controlling and dealing with anger.
I believe in a sensible approach, one that is not an attack but rather a productive way of resolving an issue. It is a matter of not waiting until the annual general meeting to voice your concerns.
If you have a complaint, notify management, keep records and follow up. This will get you much further than standing up at an annual meeting and blaming individual board members or management for certain issues.
Donīt shout, donīt point fingers, hold your breathe and count to ten.
Denise Lash is a Condominium lawyer 200 Bay St, Heenan Blaikie LLP 416 360 3566