Category: Q&A

I manage a small Mitchell-Lama co-op. Our local grocery store, which has served  as an important resource for our senior residents who can’t go too far, is closing down. We were wondering what we would have to do to set  up a little store i…

Some shareholders of our cooperative wish to record board meetings as the  minutes do not always accurately reflect what was said during open sessions of  board meetings. One of 12 board members objected to the taping of a recent  session a…

Q I am living in a condo whereby I am enduring loud noise by two rude neighbors. I had to hire my own private lawyer. The condo board has their own lawyer and their lawyer responded to my lawyer. I recently received a bill from the cond…

Q How do we start a reserve fund? Where does the money come from? What can we or can’t we use the money for? Must we get approval from shareholders/owners in order to spend the reserve fund? —Building Board Member A “…

Q How many years can a person serve on a board? Is there a way to limit the number of years someone may serve? —Curious Board Member A “In the majority of residential cooperative and condominium buildings there…

Q In years past, unit owners were given copies of the minutes of the annual meeting. A new management company was engaged and this practice stopped. Now, when I have requested the minutes of the annual meeting, I have been told that …

Q I live in a condominium and we just had our annual election. Each year, new people run for the board, but the existing board members solicit proxies in order to remain on the board. As a result, five “old-timers” seem to make all the …

Q I am a shareholder at a 49-unit co-op in Manhattan. For the past five years we’ve had a vacant unit on the third floor as a result of excessive noise emanating from the apartment above. The past and present boards have not initiated an…

Q I have a question about raising the maintenance fees on a condo. Is there any set limit or percentage? Case in point—our maintenance fee has been the same for 17 years. Now the board of managers has raised it 40 percent. I was payi…

Q Our condo has prohibited the use of doormats. They say they are a hazard. Is this legal? How can we fight this nit-picking rule? —Annoyed in Brooklyn A “As with so many issues that arise between unit owners an…