2007 Oct
Focus on... Board Operations

Being on a board of a condo or co-op is no picnic. There are tons of decisions to be made, disputes to settle, finances to keep track of and a chance of being sued for a slip-up. So why do so many people decide to serve on a board—some for …

If you live in a co-op, as opposed to a condo, in New York State, chances are that your co-op has been organized under the designation of the Business Corporation Law, or BCL. But what is the BCL? The BCL, which has been in force for m…

The board of directors runs on volunteers. They put in hours of unpaid time and effort into making sure your condo or coop runs efficiently and effectively. And then they make a mistake and wham! There is a lawsuit and suddenly they are bei…

When dozens and sometimes hundreds of personalities live together in one space, conflict inevitably will ensue. When passionate individuals serve on boards and are responsible for the overall well-being of the co-op or condo which they s…

Most individuals have a healthy sense of ethics, choosing to run their personal lives and business affairs aboveboard. Unfortunately, a few bad apples are inevitable. Co-op and condo board members and managers are in positions of autho…

Picture this: a co-op resident has a problem with his neighbor who plays loud music into the wee hours. He contacts his board of directors to see what he can do about this issue, but no one calls him back. Thinking maybe he just fell thr…

Whenever a co-op or condo resident has a burning question about policy, rules, or procedure in their association community, chances are the answer doesn't lie in some obscure legal document or under lock and key somewhere in the depths o…

Everyone likes to think that they are safe all the time, but often people take for granted that everything in their condo or co-op is up to snuff and they forget about simple things like changing batteries in smoke detectors or securing …

While we were toiling away at our respective law schools and then studying endlessly for the bar examination, we never expected to be confronted with the wide range of issues that our cooperative and condominium board clients have approa…

It's not exactly the United Federation of Planets of Star Trek lore, but The Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives and Condominiums (FNYHC) is an invaluable resource for members of the global housing cooperative and condominium com…

As Jules Verne may have quipped: "the future is now." Everywhere you look technological advancements keep getting integrated into our daily life. From VoIP to MySpace to YouTube to a host of killer apps, an insatiable need for bandw…

Carrying on The Cooperator's popular series of "roundtable" discussions for professionals in various disciplines of the city's residential real estate industry, a group of representatives from the worlds of co-op and condo law, finance a…

For more than 60 years, the Greenbrook Sanctuary has served as an unparalleled refuge of natural beauty and wonder for city dwellers and suburbanites in search of a landscape without cars, without noise and without the flat grayness of c…

It's easy enough to find a property manager —just flip open the Yellow Pages and you'll see dozens. That doesn't mean it's easy to choose one, however. Your managing agent is a fundamental member of your association's operating team, and…

Coney Island: Two words that, for many, evoke memories of summers at the beach in Brooklyn, eating Nathan's Famous hot dogs, enjoying rides and boardwalk games. The rides and beach at Coney Island have long attracted visitors to the area…

Q The board of managers of our upstate condo issued a ruling that any unit owner who is behind in payment of common charges cannot vote at the annual meeting. Our bylaws only say that each unit owner is entitled to one vote. No menti…

Q I am a new member to the board of directors for my condo association. We are currently working on the upcoming year’s budget. Could you please provide me some insight into the following question: is it customary the condo association …

Q Are shareholders in co-ops entitled to know the names, addresses, phone numbers or other contact information for their fellow shareholders? —Inquiring Shareholder A “The simple answer to the question here is, yes. S…

Q I’m a board member of co-op building. We have one member of the board who is a real estate broker. He brought one issue to our attention. Our co-op is an owner of a very small piece of land that is adjacent to another building near o…

Q We are having a few issues with our co-op board and the management company. Since the new management company has been ‘in power’ (about three years) the maintenance payments have been raised more than 20 percent in two increases. The …