Since my column in June of this year, there have been some significant cooperative and condominium cases that have been given little publicity. The most interesting case, may be the West Gate House case which brings the infamous Jennifer R…
Most of the time, "communication" and "openness" are watchwords for boards and management. Clear, transparent communication between boards, managing agents, and shareholder/owners should be right up there with "location, location, location"…
Of all the members of a co-op building's board, the treasurer is in a unique position to uphold the fiduciary responsibility of the corporation, similar to that of a chief financial officer in the corporate world. Basically, "the tre…
Serving on a co-op board or condo association certainly has its advantages. Not only does the position give shareholders a chance to have more say in how their community is run, it helps add to their knowledge and understanding of what goe…
Even though subletting is often frowned upon by boards and sometimes forbidden outright, that doesn't stop shareholders all over the city from renting out their co-ops. Shareholders may sublet as a means of making money on an apartment tha…
With any sort of multifamily housing arrangement comes the possibility of a certain amount of conflict between the various involved parties: shareholders, board members, management, and sponsors. In theory, a key role of a board of directo…
Lots of people talk about the stress and uncertainty of the approval process in New York City's co-op and condo buildings; all that scrutiny, all that paperwork! But the endless reams of forms and files take another toll as well - on the e…
You may not realize it, but your building may be hemorrhaging money. Not in the form of disastrous lawsuits or maintenance crises like a collapsed roof or exploded boiler, but in a steady trickle coming from your method of ordering supplie…
One of the most popular attractions at The Cooperator's 17th Annual Co-op & Condo Expo this past March was the roster of seminars that ran throughout the day at the New York Hilton, drawing standing-room-only crowds to panel discussion…
In this and in future columns, I will be examining decisions of interest to co-ops and condo boards and suggesting what valuable lessons can be learned from these legal decisions. Recently, there were several interesting court decisi…