2014 July
Focus on... Budget & Finance

2014 July Reviewing Your Budget By Anne Childers

Preparing the annual budget is by no means an easy task. Those charged with preparing cooperative, condominium or HOA budgets will soon begin reviewing costs, gathering data and projecting expenses for the coming year. Communities, busines…

2014 July Cutting Costs – Without Cutting Corners By Danielle Braff

As the 2012 federal legislative fiasco over the debt ceiling—as well as any number of other spending bills proposed since then—demonstrated, balancing a budget can be like pulling teeth. Balancing a condo or HOA community's budget can some…

2014 July Surviving a Financial Firestorm By Elizabeth Lent

One of the biggest problems that can cause the downfall of any co-op or condo is a lack of funds, or more specifically, not enough money to keep operations running smoothly and to make the necessary repairs to keep everything up to par. …

2014 July Upstairs, Downstairs By Greg Olear

Because of resident turnover, the city’s practice of requiring real estate developers to devote a certain percentage of units in new buildings to market- or below-market rate in order to fortify the city's stock of more affordable housing,…

2014 July Keeping Cool By Keith Loria

After the devastating winter the New York metro area just experienced, summer couldn’t come soon enough for many of Gotham’s co-op and condo residents. But don’t be surprised when people start forgetting about the cold and start complainin…

2014 July Preventing & Dealing with Construction Defects By Jonathan Barnes

Many people believe in the ethos of 'reduce, reuse, and recycle'—they buy vintage clothing, pre-owned cars, or refurbished electronic equipment. But most of us also like brand new things, including homes. And with markets across the countr…

2014 July Mayor and City Council Ink Budget Deal By Liam Cusack

Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and fellow council members reached agreement June 19, 2014 on an on-time and balanced city budget for Fiscal Year 2015—marking one of the earliest budget handshakes …

2014 July Q&A: Investor on the Board By Jeffrey M. Schwartz

Q “We live in a condominium development of 130 units. One investor own 48 of these units. He’s taken two seats on the board since 1986. No one votes for him, I suspect he always votes for himself and gets on the board. Can this be possibl…

2014 July Q&A: Filling a Board Seat By Gemma M. Giantomasi

My association's documents say that the board must consist of five total members. This past election, only four people ran and got elected. Does the new board then have to appoint another member? If they choose not to for some reason—can an…