Page 5 - CooperatorNews New York June 2022

COOPERATORNEWS.COM COOPERATORNEWS — JUNE 2022 5 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Legal Q A& New York’s Property Management Leader Let’s Talk | 212.634.5410 Download our Fire Safety Guide and watch our Webinar today The best defense against tragedy is PREPAREDNESS Windy Windows Q I live in a co-op in the Riverdale owners who were interested in replace- section of the Bronx. Th e win- dows in the entire co-op are in ment was there and verbalized that they bad need of replacement. We live right off the river and it can be extremely windy placement piecemeal every year. and cold. I inquired with management if window replacement might be on their lease, and do the owners have a recourse? list of upcoming projects, as many proj- ects are being done. Other owners have also complained about their windows. Management pursued talks with a private window company and connected them with owners who were interested in replacement. Th e individual owners building’s proprietary lease,” says Mark would sign contracts and bear the costs of Axinn, chair of the Cooperative and Con- their replacement. When I previously spoke with manage- ment about whose responsibility it would leases specify that the lessor-apartment be to replace the windows, management’s corporation is responsible for window reply to me was that it is in my propri- etary lease—but in reading the lease, it be the responsibility of the shareholder- appears to be management’s responsibil- ity. When I approached management with this information, their reply was to me, “I ny for the co-op acknowledged its obliga- never told you it was not our responsibil- ity; these are owners who want their win- dows replaced now.” I attended a meeting between those ment and the window company. Manage- would consider doing this window re- Is this appropriate per the proprietary —Draft Dodger A “As the questioner notes, responsibility for repairs is usually contained in the dominium Practice Group for New York law fi rm Phillips Nizer. “Most proprietary repairs, although sashes and frames may lessee. “In this case, the management compa- tion, but is not addressing it in a timely manner. Th e questioner should write to the corporation putting it on formal no- tice that the windows in his unit are de- fective and need replacing before this winter, as the weather conditions along the Hudson aff ect the habitability of the some condominiums have been incorpo- apartment. “Additionally, as the property manager inquiring about the president of a con- is an agent for the board of directors, the dominium association or a cooperative questioner may want to raise the issue apartment corporation, so I will provide with a board member directly if the prop- erty manager continues to be obstreper- ous. Th is can be done informally in per- son or by email, or formally by a petition berg Atlas, LLP. signed by at least 25% of the shareholders requesting a special meeting to discuss minium or cooperative, no board mem- the issue and to direct the agent to per- form the window replacements promptly.” A Poisonous President Q What can be done when the union, a decrease in the morale of the staff , president of the condo corpora- tion verbally harasses the build- ing’s superintendent? —Seeking to Stop the Abuse A “Since condominiums are not corporations (although the boards of managers of rated), it is not clear if the letter writer is an answer for both scenarios,” says attor- ney Jeff rey Reich of the New York City fi rm of Schwartz Sladkus Reich Green- “Whether the building is a condo- ber (let alone the president of the board) should harass or verbally abuse a member of the building staff . Such behavior could result in a lawsuit against the building, a grievance being fi led with the employee’s or the loss of a valued employee. Any dis- ciplinary action that a board determines the need for with respect to a building employee should be carried out by the managing agent, who is paid to supervise the building staff . Additionally, such dis- continued on page 18