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Law & Legislation
Local Law 11
You can't walk down a Manhattan street these days without passing under one or more sidewalk sheds erected to protect pedestrian and vehicular traffic from pieces of building exterior that might fall. Local Law 10 of 1980 and the recently-enacted Local Law 11 of 1998 apply to buildings that are six or more stories and were put in place to address the dangers associated with deteriorating building facades. Understanding these laws can be tricky, and complying with them - especially with Local Law 11 - can be both costly and time-consuming. Read More
Cover Story: Legislative Agenda '99
If you think you can't make a difference, think again. One very important benefit of membership in local and national organizations for co-op and condo residents is that they get your voices heard by city, state and federal law makers. The Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives (FNYHC) and the Council of New York Cooperatives (CNYC) in New York City and the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC) are in frequent contact with legislators lobbying for the issues that matter to you. Read More
Can't We All Just Get Along?
Sometimes our neighbors can be our best friends. They’re the people we turn to for emergency babysitting help, or for a cup of sugar, or for that friendly chat in the elevator. Sometimes, though, the people we live in close proximity to can be the ones we have the most friction with. And when conflict erupts between residents, it’s often up to the building’s board members or management to set things straight and smooth things over. Read More
It's a Dog's Life
Daisy Okas works for the American Kennel Club and obviously loves dogs, so when she was looking for an apartment for herself and Olive, her six-year-old beagle, there was no negotiation—she had to live in a pet-friendly building. Read More
Unusual Insurance Claims
The world of insurance, although not necessarily simple, is usually cut and dry, not the stuff of excitement. While condos and co-ops have insurance for the common areas like roofs, stairways, lobbies and often the apartments as well, the practice of individual unit owners buying homeowners' insurance is more and more common. Read More
What's On Deck in Albany and City Hall
As the legislative session in Albany winds down for the year and the New York City Council continues to address legislation, as always, there are several measures in play with serious implications for the condo and co-op community. Read More
Compairing Apples to Oranges?
Co-op apartment buildings were originally formed in New York City to allow building residents to buy into and have a say in how their building was administered, as well as who their neighbors were, and what those neighbors were allowed to do within the building. This is in contrast to condos, which are real property. As such, their owners are typically not subject to the intense scrutiny and regulation co-op shareholders can be. Read More
Dealing with the Realities of the Recession
Consider the (fictional) couple, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They love their co-op apartment, and have lived in their comfortable and convenient New York City neighborhood for the last seven years, moving in when Mr. Smith took a job as editor of a prestigious magazine. He was making a great salary, and Mrs. Smith was enjoying her new career as an elementary school teacher. When the economy took a hit last year, Mr. Smith’s magazine took a major hit— advertisers bailed and the magazine folded. Mr. Smith has had a hard time finding a job ever since, and Mrs. Smith’s salary isn’t enough to make ends meet. The couple has been struggling— and they’ve missed several maintenance payments. Read More
What Happens When a Board Goes to Far?
Co-op and condo owners often complain that their board doesn’t do enough, or that the board members aren’t involved as much as they would like in the administration and maintenance of their building. While a disinterested or apathetic board is certainly a problem, going to the other extreme can be just as bad…or maybe even worse. Read More
Checking Credentials, Covering Bases
Those who handle the management of any kind of residential building deal with contractors and contracts regularly—but they aren’t the only ones who should know about the process. It’s not necessarily an arcane topic—whether the project is a major roof repair or complete window replacement, the construction process is usually pretty much the same. But what if mistakes are made in the construction process, either by the managing agent, a consultant or someone else in charge of these matters? Who’s responsible? Whose insurance coverage comes into play? What recourse exists for building communities having problems with their contractors? Read More
Complying for Safety
In addition to their boards and managing agents, co-op and condo communities depend on the many workers who take care of building maintenance and residents’ needs. Building staff, maintenance workers, the super, and other employees are all essential to maintaining a well-run building. At the same time, these workers have the right to do their jobs in a safe environment, in a building that abides by local, state and federal laws. With that in mind, boards and managing agents must stay abreast of all relevant rules and regulations to ensure a safe working environment for their staff members. Read More
Obtaining the Home Promised in the Marketing Materials
At the height of the housing boom, some builders attempted to recapture profits lost in the price they paid for their properties by cutting costs spent on labor and materials, and many others could not find good contractors or obtain low prices for building materials. At the same time, finding competent and affordable contractors and workers became extremely difficult as New York bustled with a building boom that included building two major league baseball stadiums, rebuilding Ground Zero, and planning to build the Freedom Tower, the largest building in the world, in addition to thousands of condominium and rental units, all at the same time. Read More
From Albany to City Hall
The current sessions in both Albany and in the New York City Council are now well under way, and housing-related bills are very much a part of the mix. Some of the bills have been around for years in one form or another, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less relevant—or less controversial. Read More
Layoffs, Service Cuts, Sales Tax Hike on Horizon
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has unveiled a $59.4 billion budget plan for Fiscal Year 2010 that reduces the city’s workforce by about 13,000 jobs and counts on givebacks by organized labor to reduce a projected $4.8 billion budget gap. Read More
Conflict Resolution Saves Money...and Community
With a worldwide fiscal crisis in full swing and many New Yorkers more stressed than usual over lost jobs, pay cuts, and dwindling assets, the last thing any co-op or condo community needs is the additional expense and acrimony of a lawsuit—especially when both can often be avoided. Read More
Protection from Lawsuits
The best rule of thumb for boards is to act as ethically as possible. That way, shareholders will never have a problem with the decisions the board makes, right? Wrong. Read More
Continuing Education for Building Staff
Rodney Dangerfield made a career out of getting no respect, but in the world of condominiums and co-ops, building superintendents may be able to empathize with the comedian. While managing agents and board members seem to get all the accolades when something goes right, supers are usually the ones who maintain the physical structure of the building. They oversee all kinds of repairs and construction projects, as well as helping out individual shareholders with a vast array of minor (and not-so-minor) problems. Read More
Double the Trouble
As attorneys who represent a large number of cooperative and condominium buildings, we’re seeing more and more often that, instead of attracting community-oriented individuals, New York City condominium and cooperative buildings often attract residents who are ill-suited for communal living. Here’s one story about two problematic condominium unit owners who cried “wolf” in their building one too many times. Read More
Buildings Must Comply or Risk Penalties
New York City’s skyline is distinguished by thousands of rooftop water tanks. While they make for interesting architectural conversation pieces, the 5,000 to 10,000-gallon tanks actually serve a vital purpose. Since the New York City street water pressure isn’t sufficient to supply water to apartments above the sixth floor, water is pumped up to roof tanks for safe keeping until gravity delivers it where it’s needed—for cooking, bathing, or putting out potentially deadly fires. With all that riding on them, it’s imperative that the tanks are kept safe and well-maintained. Read More
Cooperative Ordered to Purchase Apartment
A Bergen County, New Jersey jury in November rendered a
$1.3 million dollar verdict against a cooperative corporation and its
management company for failing to remediate a longstanding water problem
that led to mold growth and exposure for a Fort Lee couple. Read More
Testing Now Required for Backflow Prevention Devices
On July 1, 2008 the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) put into effect a new plumbing code. It is the first major revision of the code since 1968 and it puts a new focus on backflow prevention—the reverse flow of contaminated water into a building’s water supply. The new law requires that every point-of-use backflow preventer installed must be tested by a licensed Backflow Prevention Device Tester before it is put into use. It must then be tested annually, and each test must be filed with the Department of Buildings. This is a major step forward in the protection of New York City’s drinking water from contamination by end users. Read More
Cable Choices for Co-ops and Condos
Two months ago, Sam Levy felt like he was spending more time on the phone with Time Warner than with his girlfriend Nikki. Levy, who lives in western Brooklyn, a region served exclusively by Time Warner, was having trouble with his cable service and Internet connection, and, working full time, he could not wait around his apartment for the cable repairman between the hours of noon and 5 p.m. Read More
Confessions of a Co-op/Condo Attorney
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 approached us with over the years. Read More
Barking Up the Wrong Tree
The City Council is at it again with another attempt to create havoc for our
co-ops. Intro 13, sponsored by Councilman Tony Avella is artfully crafted to conceal its
true objective: Prohibit the right of co-ops and condos to control pet ownership in their
buildings. When will council members realize that co-ops and condos are governed by boards
of directors that are freely and fairly elected by those living in their
communities and are empowered to set policies and house rules in order to
create a meaningful quality of life for the hundreds if not thousands who live
there? I know because I am the President of Glen Oaks Village, New York’s largest garden apartment co-op with 10,000 residents. Deciding whether to allow pets or not is fraught with many considerations and is
best left to those living in their co-ops. Read More
Cutting Down on Attorney Costs
Condo and co-op boards are always looking for ways to save money and one area where some cost-cutting opportunities might be found is in your legal bills. Your building's attorney likely performs many different types of services, works different hours every month and charges a significant hourly rate. With so many factors at play, attorneys who represent HOA boards have suggestions as to where those opportunities for savings exist. Read More
Confessions of a Co-op/Condo Attorney
While previous columns focused on numerous outrageous situations that have faced us during our more than 25 years of collective service to our cooperative and condominium clients, one case sticks out in our minds. Incredibly, one case morphed from a simple proprietary lease default action into five federal court lawsuits and an adjudication of contempt of court. As will be seen, while courts tend to bend over backwards to accommodate pro se litigants (those who choose to represent themselves instead of retaining counsel), this pro se litigant took things way too far.
Read MoreRequires More Frequent Elevator Inspections
New building codes went into effect on July 1, 2008 that have completely revamped the inspection and testing procedures for elevators, escalators and other vertical transportation equipment in buildings. The new and more stringent elevator/escalator code brings with it more—and more costly—requirements for building owners and managers in the form of more frequently mandated contractor tests and the requirement of third-party witnessing. Read More
New York City's Fiscal Plan
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed a $59.1 billion budget plan for Fiscal Year 2009 and presented an updated four-year financial plan for New York City. The mayor’s budget plan maintains the city’s financial footing in the near term by reining in expenditures across the city, with city-funded spending only expected to grow by 0.1 percent. Read More
A Look at the Attorney General's Office
Most New Yorkers are familiar with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, but how many people have heard the name Kenneth Demario before? If you’re someone concerned with co-ops, condos or any real estate issues in the city, Demario is someone you need to know. Read More
Out with the Old, In with the New
As presidential candidates on the national scale rally around the idea of "it's time for a change," so too is the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), rolling out its first major set of changes to the city's building code in 40 years. The new Construction Codes will ensure that, among other things, qualified technicians perform building inspections. Read More
What Happens When an Owner Dies
In this world, nothing is a certainty but death and taxes. So how does a co-op or condo owner prepare for the certainty of death, as it relates to ownership interest and protect the asset for inheritance and possession purposes? Likewise, how does a board of directors exert control over who ultimately owns—as well as resides in—the apartment when a shareholder or deeded owner dies? One might think that it’s simply a matter of looking at a will to determine both ownership and possessory interests, but nothing in the world of New York real estate is ever simple. The type of ownership interest and, in the case of a co-op, the terms of the proprietary lease are crucial pieces that must be unraveled in the inheritance and occupancy puzzle that follows the death of a shareholder. Read More
Good Records Vital Regardless of Building Size
On March 31st, 2008, the Supreme Court of New York County rendered a decision illustrating the importance for cooperatives and condominiums of documenting board and owner action properly. As cooperatives and condominiums age, the proper keeping of records has become an issue for many of them. It is an issue that should not be overlooked. Read More
Greening and Improving New York City
For the past year or so, PlaNYC 2030, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s sustainability initiative (“sustainability” being a new buzz word for “environmentally friendly” or “contributing to a better quality of life”) has taken center stage at City Hall. Read More
Sex, Lies and Videotape?
As lawyers for many of Manhattan's cooperative and condominium boards, we often advise clients on issues that go far beyond proprietary leases and bylaws. Boards are frequently faced with situations ranging from fiery domestic disputes to embezzlement. Thus, we find ourselves providing legal advice on—as we call it—the "Law of the Jungle." A few memorable examples involve marital discord, criminal investigations, drugs and even firearms. Read More
Limitation of Liability Clauses
Everyone knows that building construction and renovation work can be difficult and dangerous and that lawsuits are not unusual. While most lawsuits involve the contractor on the project, there can certainly be lawsuits against the design professionals working on the project for an error or an omission in the design or in the provision of their services. There may be a claim that the work was not adequately or properly observed and that this resulted in problems with the work that the co-op or condominium was not aware of. Having insurance to cover such risks is essential, but that is not the end of the story. There are many instances where there may not be any insurance coverage for a variety of reasons—someone "forgot" to buy it; it was cancelled and nothing was done about it; the carrier received late notice of the claim and is declining coverage or the policy does not cover the hazard or type of work involved in the lawsuit. There also may be instances where there is insurance in place, but there is no defense of the claim offered by the carrier. Thus, while having insurance is important, there will still be certain claims that may need to be "defended" by the design firm or individual owner of that firm. Read More
