2006 Oct
Focus on... Board Operations

Talk about tense situations. There’s the sweaty-palm inducing job interview or the anxiety-riddled prospect of getting down on one knee to propose. And who can forget those tense moments scratching out an answer on the SAT test, knowing …

Fall is here and with it comes the season for watching football. Football seems to dominate American culture. There are pro games four days a week, pre-season, post-season and Pro Bowl games, college, indoor, fantasy football, and of cou…

It’s not a thankless job, necessarily—every once in a while residents will express their gratitude, if the elevator ride is sufficiently awkward—but it is a moneyless one. It’s also a hefty part-time job at best, and can at times take up…

Attracting new members to join your board of directors may be a daunting task. As current board members, you know that occasionally you need new members to keep the business of your co-op running smoothly—but people are often reluctant t…

Whether you’re part of a giant co-op the size of Co-op City, a 21-story building with over 15,000 residential units, or a small 25-unit condo in Staten Island, whether your building is self-managed or uses a management company, your boar…

In many ways, a co-op or condo building is a lot like a tiny democratic nation. Like an independent state, a building elects its leaders, and those leaders have certain responsibilities to the people who elected them. Each “citizen” of the …

One visit to Great Neck and it’s not hard to figure out why it’s become such a desirable neighborhood to live in. The first Nassau County town you reach driving east out of New York City, Great Neck offers scenic waterfront views, proxim…

Some call it the Garden City. Others call it the heart and soul of Queens. About 4,500 people call it home, but one thing’s for sure—just about everyone who has seen Forest Hills calls it beautiful. Sandwiched between Rego Park an…

Manhattan’s Upper West Side is a repository of striking architecture—it seems like every block features a different, breathtaking example of residential construction. One of these is the Park Royal, located on 73rd Street between Columbu…

Your roof terrace leaked and the neighbor below you sued for damages. Do you have any recourse? The heating system in your apartment failed to work and the managing agent sent you the bill for its repair. Do you have to pay? The a…

Whether you’re part of a giant co-op the size of Co-op City, a 21-story building with over 15,000 residential units, or a small 25-unit condo in Staten Island, whether your building is self-managed or uses a management company, your b…

Q Our co-op owners were just notified that the board has decided to appropriate the New York state School Tax Relief (STAR) tax abatement due to us for 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 as an assessment to do work on the building. Is this legal? …

Q When an applicant applies to buy into a co-op and pays the high application fee, yet is denied by the board, shouldn’t they be given a reason why they were rejected? I feel strongly that the board is wrong in turning someone away with…

Q I have an accepted offer on a condo in Manhattan, and I have a letter of commitment from my lender. Before proceeding to submit my application to the board, I was instructed by the managing agency that submission of tax returns, payr…

Q I live in a large co-op on the Upper East Side which consists of 300 units. Six residents on the second floor, including myself, have terraces. Over the years large quantities of various items have come out of the windows above us and…

Q Do we, as a co-op collecting maintenance, need to comply with a shareholder’s written request, pursuant to RPL: Article 7 Section 235-e for written receipts for maintenance paid by personal check? Does this section even apply to maint…

Q Several others and I are shareholders in a co-op on the East Side of Manhattan. Our board and management company are putting through Local Law 11 repairs. This is not a problem. However, they have refused for any of the shareholders t…