Page 33 - NY Cooperator October Expo 2019

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — OCTOBER 2019 33 TANE WATERMAN & WURTZEL, P.C. CO-OP/CONDO ATTORNEYS There When You Need Us Principals: David A. Tane • Stewart E. Wurtzel • Andrew D. Stern • Leonard M. Khandros Associates: Moshe C. Bobker • Jacob R. Fleitman • Ruta Behrend • Adam Lazaros Of Counsel: Marcie Waterman Murray Lawrence McGaughey • Provide legal counsel to Cooperatives, Condominiums and Individuals Represent our clients’ interests in all litigation in Federal, State and City Courts Transfer Agent Services Landlord – Tenant Purchase, Refinance and Lease Transactions Residential and Commercial Sales Corporate and Business Law 120 Broadway • Suite 948 • New York, NY 10271-0040 Phone: (212) 766-4000 • Email: Swurtzel@tww.nyc www.tww.nyc TaneWaterman_NYCP_October19:TaneWaterman 9/12/2019 2:06 PM Page 1 60 Cutter Mill Road, Suite 303 Great Neck, NY 11021 Phone: (516) 466-3100 www.MajesticPropertyMGT.com Specializing in: • Quality Management Services • In-House Expertise in Cooperative/Condo: › Budgeting/Financial Planning, Taxes, Insurance • Cooperative/Condo Sales • “24/7” Emergency Answering Service • General Contracting and Supervision of Capital Improvement Projects M ajestic PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CORP. A Leader in Property Management for 30 Years ior of children, responsibility ultimately lies with the parents. “While an associa- tion can restrict or prohibit play in com- mon areas such as hallways, lobbies, stair- wells, or elevators, age restriction most likely would not be permissible given housing laws,” notes Chatt. “It should be noted that some states – including Il- linois – do permit communities to elect to restrict ownership to a certain age (Il- linois sets that age at 55). In that instance, children would not be permitted to reside in a unit – and as a guest, their access to certain areas can be restricted or regulat- ed more closely. That said, just as an as- sociation may restrict common areas for ingress and egress, or prohibit storage of bicycles or shoes, it may also prohibit play activities in those areas as well.” Einhorn urges boards to avoid ap- proaching rules with an assumption that a child left unsupervised will cause mis- chief. “That is NOT a valid basis for re- quiring supervision in common areas,” he says. “If supervision in common areas – or for certain amenities – is going to be re- quired, then the reason should be rooted in safety. Fair housing laws protect the rights of families to enjoy the same rights to amenities as adults, and they should not be subject to oppressive or unnecessary constraints.” “This begs the question of which ac- tions are or are not overly oppressive for a board to take,” Einhorn continues. “For starters, any rule or regulation that targets children specifically should be closely ex- amined. A rule should not prohibit chil- dren from playing, or prohibit their toys in the common areas. The rule should be more neutral and rationally based – which does not mean \\\[catering to\\\] neighbors who simply don’t want to hear children playing. If recreational activity is unsafe in a specific area, then prohibit recreational activity for ALL individuals in that area, instead of banning children or requiring children to be supervised.” And, as Chatt points out, this can ex- tend to quiet hours, which can be broadly applied to everyone in the community for specific periods during the day, and can be a good starting point at offering neighbors the tranquility for which they are looking. Ultimately, the accommodation of fam- ilies with young children and the concerns of child-free residents aren’t mutually ex- clusive; it’s all about neighbors respecting each other, and community administra- tors respecting the law and enforcing rules fairly and reasonably. And that’s good pol- icy, whether you’re 4 or 84. n Mike Odenthal is a staff writer/reporter with The Cooperator. CO-OPS... continued from page 15 you must turn over the documents within 30 days – and sometimes they’ll specify who is responsible for the cost of doing so. “In a hypothetical situation in which documents were not backed up and were then lost, depending on the contours of the management agreement, this could constitute negligence or a breach of con- tract. We do see cases in which managers didn’t keep records to the extent they were supposed to, and that absolutely can lead to breach of contract or negligence. At that point, you can go to court to force them to turn over information, but if they had never kept it in the first place, you have to recreate it. The condo documents will be recorded at the registry, so you have to go and pull those offline. You’ll know what bank was used, so you’ll be able to regain some financial records. But you’ll have a lot of things still missing: general ledgers for unit owners, vendor informa- tion... There are many pieces you’d have to put together, which would be really tough for a new management company, and even worse for an association attempting to self-manage.” (Avoiding) Anger (via) Management While keeping all this important pa- perwork and documentation straight and appropriately accessible may sound daunt- ing to an inexperienced board, it should be business as usual for an effective man- ager. In fact, many management compa- nies now use an array of mobile apps and services to help streamline record-keeping in a way that allows boards to access infor- mation with a few simple clicks. Robert Arnone, managing principal with RCA Management in New York City and Bayonne, New Jersey discusses how his firm navigates the digital landscape: “Nothing really gets discarded now that everything – any document we receive – is electronic,” he says. “Let’s say that a build- ing is buying supplies. Our maintenance staff will take a photo of every invoice – even if it’s only a $2 screw – and that in- voice will get sent to us. “The boards of our associations all have access to an online portal where all of their documents – financials, vendor contracts, legal documents, government documents, insurance contracts, pend- ing applications, newsletters, tax returns, meeting minutes, you name it – are stored. As soon as we upload the relevant docu- ment to the portal, the board will get an email telling them it’s available. “Should a board decide to leave us for another management company, or to self- manage for whatever reason, we can just download the documents to a thumb drive and send that to the new company. But you hope that never happens, but there’s always a chance that someone will come MAINTAINING... continued from page 17 continued on page 34