Page 35 - NY Cooperator October Expo 2019

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — OCTOBER 2019 35 It’s one of the most important things we do!!! There were many factors in our developing a Green Management Program to conserve energy and save money; most of all, we wanted to create a healthier environment for our children. Ira Meister, President | 375 Pearl Street - 14th Floor | New York, NY 10038 T: 212.699.8900 F: 212.699.8939 imeister@matthewadam.com | matthewadam.com We invest in Future their attorney taking their deposition did not ask for an explanation. To the extent that unit owners wish to provide additional infor- mation, they should first seek the advice of their counsel. The association’s counsel can then determine whether the deposition or some other forum is the appropriate time to elicit that information from the unit owner. Another question unit owners often have is whether they need to obtain their own attorney to represent them in the de- position. This will of course depend on the association’s retainer agreement with its counsel. That said, oftentimes the associa- tion’s counsel will represent the unit own- ers during their deposition. If that is not the case, each unit owner would be well advised to obtain their own attorney to represent them in the deposition so that the attorney can protect that unit owner’s interests and object to questions as appropriate. In terms of the actual questions they will be asked, it is difficult to say exactly, as each litigation and each attorney is differ- ent. Furthermore, discovery in litigation is often relatively broad, and not necessarily limited to one or two possible topics. For example, opposing counsel may question the witness on things that seem irrelevant, like that person’s educational background or occupation. They may also be inter- ested in the unit owner’s observations of construction defects in her unit and in the common elements, or information relayed from management or the board to the unit owners. Unit owners should not let these types of questions worry them; they should simply answer the questions truthfully, or if they don't know the answer, simply state that they do not know or cannot recall – provided that is the truthful response! It is important to remember that a deposition is not a test of memory. A unit owner should be aware that if reviewing a certain docu- ment would refresh their recollection and enhance their ability to answer a question, they can state that in answer to an attorney’s question. Given what is potentially at stake, it is important for each unit owner to be ad- equately prepared – not only by you as the management team, but by the association’s counsel as well. n Martin Cabalar is an associate at Becker & Poliakoff, LLP and a member of the firm’s community association and construction law and litigation practice groups. He represents condominium and homeowner associations, cooperatives and other residential homeowners as general counsel and in complex commercial litigation. Sarah Klein is an associate at Becker & Po- liakoff, LLP and a member of the firm’s busi- ness litigation and construction law and litiga- tion practice groups. She focuses her practice on complex commercial and construction litiga- tion and securities arbitration. WHY AM I BEING... continued from page 32 ceeding may be instituted.” Tax certiorari is the process by which courts review a real property’s tax assessment. Tax as- sessments are determined by the Asses- sors’ Office, a division of the Department of Finance. Communications Given the lack of a direct line to the DOF, communications, both with the public and their representatives, as well as between agencies, seems to be some- thing of a challenge for the Department. As reported in our article of October 2018, HDFC Co-op Real Estate Tax Fore- closures: A Slow Moving Crisis in the Making (https://cooperator.com/article/ hdfc-co-op-real-estate-tax-foreclosures/ full#cut), Glory Anne Hussey Kerstein of the HDFC Steering and Anti-Foreclosure Committee says that failures of commu- nications between the Departments of Finance and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) led to many tax bills and potential default notifications being sent to incorrect addresses. These two city agencies did not share a database, nor did they notify each other of changes in residents' basic contact information. This lack of communication and coordination resulted in many HDFC properties going into default for nonpayment of real estate taxes and water and sewer charges. Weisberg relays another, similar situa- tion. “Many years ago, we and our client were shocked to learn that, although all their real estate taxes had been paid, they had not been credited to our client and, as a result, the City had sold the tax lien for nonpayment of taxes – and our client no longer had title to its property. It took a while to find someone at the Depart- ment of Finance who would look into this, but after several months, a little liti- gation, and incurring legal fees, the tax payment was credited properly, and the property restored to our client.” Benjamin Franklin once said that, “In this world, nothing can be said to be cer- tain except death and taxes” – and that’s certainly true if you own property in New York City. Over the past years, in an ef- fort to streamline City bureaucracy and to increase efficiency, the City of New York has shifted much of its contact with the public and their representatives on- line. While that may eliminate long lines at offices and long waits on the phone, make sure your bills and payments are on time and received correctly, because one thing is for sure: if you owe the City of New York money, the Department of Finance will collect it. n A J Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter with The Cooperator, and a published nov- elist. NYC DEPT OF... continued from page 25 See us at Booth 328