The board of a condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association has a fiduciary duty to make decisions in the best interest of the community as a whole. But individual board members may have different ideas as to what those decisions mig…
Most co-op, condo, and HOA board members are not legal professionals - they're volunteers who participate in the governance of their community out of a sense of duty and the desire to have a say in maintaining the value of their and their n…
Late last year, a conflict developed between a board and some residents at the Windsor Oak co-op in Queens over shelters protecting a colony of feral cats that lived behind the property. As the New York Post reported, a contingent o…
Changing management companies can be a very good thing - but it can be needlessly complicated if the incoming firm doesn't have all the information, documents, and records it needs in order to hit the ground running. Making sure the outgoin…
If you're fortunate enough to serve on a cohesive, friendly board in a building or association with a strong sense of community and few issues, it can be very tempting to 'go with the flow' and handle board business in an informal, case-by-…
Twice a year, The Cooperator Expo New York brings together not only more than 300 vendors and service providers, but also an impressive array of professionals to share their expertise in a well-curated roster of educational seminars…
Every co-op, condo, and HOA has rules and regulations that residents and their guests must abide by. For the most part, they’re usually pretty straightforward: no smoking in common areas, limits on pets, no hockey-playing in the hallways. T…
Whether you live in a condo, co-op, or HOA, board elections are a complicated process, especially when it comes to voting and counting ballots. Yet electing (or re-electing) a board is probably one of the most important exercises the reside…
The power of a co-op board to approve or reject sales, as well as co-op applicants, is pretty much unlimited -- as long as the decision is made within the limits of applicable law. Boards require extensive information and documentation -- k…
Living in a co-op or condo community is a social arrangement as well as a business and residential one. You are part of a community, and that community should feel ‘organic.’ It is also perhaps the purest form of representative democracy.…