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It's almost a mantra: the more you know, the better off you are—certainly when it comes to doing the job of a cooperative, condominium or HOA board member. No matter how enthused and engaged a new board appointee may be, they don't come…
When the bank took back a Harlem condominium, the rest of the building's residents were stuck with years of unpaid arrears by the former resident. “There was a tremendous amount of arrears from about three or four years already accruing…
Many co-op and condo owners want to get involved in their community but they soon find out that being on the board is no picnic. Soon neighbors are pestering them asking for feuds to be settled, decisions that affect all resident’s liv…
Being elected to the board of directors of a co-op or condo comes with a great deal of power, and with that power also comes a great deal of responsibility. Whether they serve a co-op or condo community, board members, in their position …
When it comes to running board elections in a condo or co-op community, the biggest concern among those involved is making sure the elections are fair and balanced and nobody has a reason to cry foul. Elections can be heated as it is, …
Curb appeal provides that first impression, the attention-grabbing feature that all condominium and co-op properties strive for. In New York City, curb appeal usually starts with colorful flowers or planters out front that may reflect t…
In your own household, you have money coming in and money going out. You have things you want to save up for—say, a new cool high-def, flat screen television or the latest iPad. Yet you owe your car company and your creditors. To keep i…
With the price of gasoline rising, daily traffic snarls, a desire to live a healthier life and the responsibility to lessen the effect of one's carbon footprint, there are many reasons to own a bike. Buying the bike is just the beginni…
Keeping the trash chutes and collection rooms of multifamily buildings clean, sanitary and stench-free is a big job, and an important one. Poorly-maintained chutes are not just gross—they're breeding grounds for pests, bacteria, and oth…
Legendary funny man Benny Goodman once said, “I don’t want to tell you how much insurance I carry with the Prudential, but all I can say is: when I go, they go too!” The comedian hits on all-important issue: how much insurance is too muc…
The age-old adage from Benjamin Franklin perhaps says it best: nothing is certain but death and taxes. And without some assistance on the legislative front, taxes are likely to increase significantly for New York City co-op an…
As the last few years have demonstrated, winter can be an unpredictable time in New York City. Some years, temperatures remain fairly mild and we barely get any snow, while other years are bitterly cold, with howling winds and epic sno…
Media room, game room, common room, party room—regardless of what you call them, the purpose of these shared spaces in co-ops and condos is to give residents a place to gather; to hold an in-house meeting, throw a graduation party or sc…
As we city dwellers go about our busy lives, we often forget about the plain facts of life here on this spinning globe: gravity creates an unceasing tension in the materials we assemble into buildings and other structures. Whether or n…
What could be nicer than being safely home on a winter’s day, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate while snow falls outside your window? That is until you hear the drip, drip, drip more often associated with a rain event and find that the pr…
The difference between a residential building that is successful and one that is troubled can be the level of communication between the building’s shareholders and its board members. Although not commonly discussed, this is perhaps one o…
Superintendents are a lot more than a repair person or someone to call at 3:00 a.m. if you suddenly find yourself without heat in the middle of a blustery February night. Superintendents or resident managers are responsible fo…
In a recent case that will be of interest to anyone who has ever wanted to bang on the wall between his or her apartment and the one next door and shout at the neighbors to keep it down, the New York Supreme Court found insufficient ev…
Q My 47-unit Brooklyn cooperative is carrying $1.7 million of debt, all of it already spent, in an interest-only mortgage, and contemplating taking on more debt. By what measure or measures does a cooperative determine how much debt is …