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Q&A: Structural vs. Non-Structural Changes
The original condo declaration, bylaws, amendments and house rules allow for renovations without board approval to interior units if they do not affect common area are not structural in nature. I installed a wall partition (does not affect a bearing wall) in the dining room, which has created an additional room. The condo attorney is arguing that when you change the “character” of a unit this is considered structural. In addition the board is upset that the original floor plan has been altered. I am an investor in this complex. I do not intend to have overcrowding in the unit—the unit does have greater rent ability/potential for profit. I obtained all proper permits from the town for wall partition. The condo attorney has since sent a cease and desist letter to the town to not issue such permits and certificate of compliance anymore. I intend to fight this issue by asking the court for a permanent injunction. Am I being reasonable? Is the condo attorney right that structure equals character? Read More
Q&A: Presidential Voting of Rental Shares
My building has a rental apartment that was bought from a previous shareholder. Apparently, an amended document was not filed with the state attorney’s office, so there are still shares attached to this apartment. These shares were voted by the chair of the co-op board in the last board election. Is this legal or appropriate? Read More
Q&A: Keeping the Kids Quiet
I’m a president of a new condo and have no experience running one prior to this. There is an apartment in the condo that consistently has children dropped off. After some inquiry it turns out to be the children of relatives, around 4 or 5 children in total, ranging from 3 to 11 year olds, supervised by two grandparents. However, the combination of so many children causes a lot of noise in the adjoining units. Those units now complain that during the day (weekdays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends all day) there are children running, jumping, screaming, and banging walls. Read More
Q&A: Secondhand Smoke
The tenant below me smokes nonstop. Her windows are always fully open and the smoke travels directly into my apartment above. My apartment smells like an ashtray and of course leaves us vulnerable to second-hand smoke. Even with our windows closed and air-conditioning running, it still smells awful. Do I have any legal recourse? Read More
Q&A: Shared Living Arrangements
I have lived in a co-op for the past three years. I am planning on having my boyfriend move in with me in a few months. Are there any rules or regulations that will prevent that from happening within my co-op? Read More
Q&A: The Majority Rules?
Our board has unilaterally determined that a “majority” of residents want an exercise room. And the board, in spite of this, continues to spend our money to pursue the project despite our requests to “cease and desist” and hold a general meeting to discuss the issue and answer a complex range of unanswered questions. Read More
Q&A: Reviewing Reverse Mortgages
Does a co-op board have any involvement in an individual building shareholder securing a reverse mortgage? Read More
Q&A: Superintendent on Board of Directions
Can we have a superintendent on the board of directors although he is not a shareholder? Is this a conflict of interest? What are the pros and cons of an employee being on the board? Read More
Q&A: Who Pays the Assessment?
There is a question in my building as to whether or not a new homeowner is
responsible for paying an assessment that was extended by the HOA board before
the transaction was completed. The previous homeowner paid the two-year
assessment at the closing. After which, the board extended the assessment to
the new homeowner. Read More
Q&A: Withholding Taxes for Employee Gifts
Our condo gives out gifts (in monetary form) to the employees of the building. The gifts go through the president of the board first. The president has created a separate bank account for employee gifts. Is this breaking any laws? Should the president be withholding taxes from these gifts, which are pretty substantial? Read More
Q&A: Running a Business in a Co-op
I am a shareholder in a Westchester County 73-unit cooperative, two of which are commercial units generating approximately two percent of the co-op’s income. The president of our five-member board of directors has been president for over eighteen years. Several years ago he became a realtor and since that time has been a very active agent in both our community and in our co-op. This past year he purchased one of the two commercial spaces to open a real estate office that will be paying only the regular shareholder rate as its maintenance. Read More
Q&A: Proxy Solicitation
The president of our 75-unit co-op instructed the management company and the superintendent to knock on each shareholder's door and ask for their proxy. The president was up for re-election and wanted to secure his position. The co-op incorporation documents and bylaws are silent on the matter. The co-op attorney said anyone can go out and request proxies from shareholders. Is it proper to have the management company and superintendent get proxies and have them voted as instructed by the president of the co-op? Read More
Q&A: Rotten Support Beams
I own an apartment in a building that was constructed in 1889. The floors in the apartment slope as the building has settled over the years. Recently, the bathroom floor has cracked and is showing signs of sinking. I’m afraid the support beams are rotting out underneath. I want to do repair/reconstruction work on the apartment and wonder if I am responsible for whatever work must be done on the support beams, assuming they are damaged and need to be replaced/repaired. Read More
Q&A: Opting Out
I live in a Mitchell Lama co-op which is starting the process of privatization. We have a very large mortgage that has many years to go until it is paid off. We also have a large reserve fund for various contingencies. Read More
Q&A: Possibility of Proxy Duplication
Two weeks prior to our annual condo election, the unit owners receive their proxies in the mail. However, a board member, who was up for re-election, obtained a proxy from the managing agent two weeks earlier than all the unit owners. I addressed this issue at the annual meeting. His reply was that he was going on vacation and that he only received one proxy from the manager. However, he was back from vacation before the meeting. Also, he submitted several proxies at the meeting. Should he have had access to a proxy before every other owner as he could have duplicated the proxy and used it to gather other proxies? There is no way to know. Read More
Q&A: Can the Board Set a Minimum Sales Price?
I recently received a memo from the board of directors of my co-op in Queens Village, stating that the building will not allow cooperators to sell their apartments below a sales price that they determine. Is this legal? Read More
Q&A: Submitting Candidate Filing Forms
I have a question regarding running for the board of directors, particularly the election rules. Can shareholders submit a candidate filing form after the filing deadline? The form was posted and the date has passed. Can the board accept submissions without notifying the homeowners of the change? —Cooperative Candidate Read More
Q&A: Fair Election
One of our board members has been president for many years. She runs the building on a unilateral basis, giving out very little information about the business of the condo. Unit owners have little influence because the she is elected by the board, not by unit owners. When it comes to elections, she controls them. Our accounting firm runs the election. After the ballots are cast, the president (who is also one of the candidates) takes all of the ballots and mails them to the accounting firm. Is that fair? The accounting firm counts the votes, and I’m sure they do it in an honorable way, but what if the president has already manipulated the ballots? We want to get a fair count? Who should we go to deal with this? Read More
Q&A: Where's the Heat?
The co-op my mother lives in, in Queens, has a unique way of saving on heating expenses. First, from October to May, maintenance fees are raised for the fuel used during those months. Secondly, the heat is shut off completely at night. The heat goes on at 6:00 a.m., to warm the apartments, and then at 10:00 a.m. completely shuts off until 5:00 p.m. It then stays on until 10:00 p.m. and after that shuts off all night until 6:00 a.m. the following morning. Read More
Q&A: Dealing with a Noisy Neighbor
I have a neighbor whose door is just across from mine and whenever she enters her apartment, she closes her door with a very loud bang. Sometimes, I am asleep and I wake up and can’t go back to sleep. This has been going on for years and years. I talked to her about it, begged, cried, and shouted but to no avail. Sometimes she remembers and no sound, but 90 percent of the time the noise persists. What can I do short of writing to the board? This is a condo building and both of us are renters.
Read MoreQ&A: Irresponsible Board President
The board of our HDFC co-op is not fulfilling the needs of the building or maintaining its upkeep. The building structure is deteriorating, and the intercom system has not been working for over a year. Since the death of our last board president (who was allegedly stealing money), a new president has taken over, and conditions have gotten even worse. The new president refuses to fix up the building or hire a super or managing agent. The building’s appearance is now dreadful, and residents with small children are concerned for their safety after syringe needles have been found in the hallways. What can we as residents do to turn things around and take back our building? Read More
Q&A: Buying Into Building with Low Reserves
My offer on a co-op was accepted and the co-op sent some of the financials to my attorney. I’m told that the building’s financials are “OK,” not terrific and not terrible. My attorney said that the reserves are $140,000 or approximately $2,000 per person (I’m assuming per unit) but he would have expected $250,000 to $300,000 in reserves. The apartment is located in a nice section of the Bronx (Riverdale), but I am clueless as to what the average cash reserve should be, if it depends on where the co-op is located, if building amenities impact reserve, etc. I cannot afford to buy a co-op that I will have difficulty to resell, due to the co-op’s financials, even though I plan to live there for many years. Is there any specific information that you can provide to help me determine whether this would be a sound investment? Is there a place where I could discover neighborhood average reserves? Read More
Q&A: Guest Parking Violations
The co-op I live in has its own parking. Even stockholders must purchase a parking pass if they wish to use the lot. In order to make it convenient for my son to visit me, I bought him an annual pass to the parking lot. My son is an adult, not a resident, and not a stockholder. He received several parking tickets and now the co-op wants me to pay them. Can the co-op hold me responsible for the actions of my son? Read More
Q&A: Management Company Negligent
Our management company just changed hands. The building records were shipped to the co-op, placed in a room across from the laundry and the rumor is that only the superintendent has the key. The other night when the new manager came, he left the door unlocked and the records were exposed to anyone who had access to that room. Since this new manager does not see the importance of housing our records at his location, I am afraid of identity theft and want my folder removed from that room. Do I have the right as a board member and shareholder to remove it? Read More
Q&A: Charging Shareholders for Washing Machine Usage
In a previous issue of The Cooperator, attorney C. Jaye Berger discusses the matter of allocation of costs by shares for services such as electricity and water, as opposed to person adjusted usage. I do not take issue with her comments, but would like to raise a related issue, one in which the discrepancy is not random, but based on board policy. Read More
Q&A: One Man, One Vote?
I am a rent-stabilized tenant in a non-eviction plan Queens co-op. (It was converted in 1986.) A shareholder gave me a ballot proxy so that I could attend the annual meeting of the co-op. Am I allowed to ask questions at this meeting as are the shareholders? Read More
Q&A: Board Ethics
Can the president of the co-op board be in business with the managing agent company’s owner without divulging it to the shareholders or other board members? The board members were recently notified that the owner is one of the board of directors and principal owners of a new bank that the co-op has refinanced through. Our board president who is dealing with the company owner is also an investor in this bank. I think the relationship between the management company’s president/owner has compromised the board president’s fiduciary responsibilities to the shareholders. I do not believe the board president has pursued problems allegedly related to the managing company’s poor performance since he wants to be on the good side of the very wealthy and connected owner. As of this time, the shareholders have not been informed of the board president’s business dealings with the owner of the management company. Read More
Q&A: Roaches and Mice, Oh My!
Do you have any information on what to do about a neighbor who admittedly has roaches and occasionally mice? Doesn’t management have the right to go into an apartment for sanitary reasons? What about the health and cleanliness of the rest of the apartments on the floor? Read More
Q&A: Shareholders' Right to Choose Management Company
Do co-op shareholders have any rights when it comes to the selection of a management company for their building? And if they can’t directly choose which company will manage their co-op, can they attend the interviews with the potential new companies and ask questions to determine if they want their building managed by one company over another? Read More
Q&A: Foreigners in Flats
We live in a medium-sized co-op in Chelsea with seven apartments per floor. It is clear to me that a woman who lives on our floor is using one or two of her bedrooms as a bed and breakfast (B&B). She must advertise on something like European Craigslist because there are always foreigners coming in for a long weekend or a week at a time. I have mentioned this to the board of directors, but they are not planning to do anything because there are people who have girlfriends and boyfriends living with them long term. The board is not sure where to draw the line on guests (the policy is no more than a month), and they cannot be sure this woman is charging people to stay with her. I feel this is more of a safety issue. My daughter is always running out into the hallway when she hears people, but it’s never people we know going into this apartment. It makes me very uncomfortable. You’d like to think that an owner knows their visitors. I also think the building staff might be complicit although I cannot be certain of this. Anytime I’ve complained to the super or asked a doorman, who is visiting the apartment, I’m always told it’s a relative. Please give me some advice that I could take to the board. I have no problem with legitimate visitors, but I do have an issue with new people coming almost every weekend. Read More
Q&A: Public Financing for Wheelchair Ramps
I am on the board of a cooperative that is over forty-years-old. We wish to replace steps in the lobby with ramps to accommodate wheelchairs. We want to know if we can receive any public financing since we are helping the disabled. Read More
Q&A: Commotion in the Common Areas
I live in a co-op where some fellow owners and their children are very disruptive in the common areas and are damaging the building and my personal belongings. What are our rights? Some owners think that because we are all connected that our property is open space. What recourse do I have? Read More
