2009 July
Focus on... Budget & Finance

Finance Low Reserves and Defaults Challenge Boards
2009 July Low Reserves and Defaults Challenge Boards

Even in the best of economic times, preparing a co-op or condo’s annual budget can be a tiresome task, fraught with uncertainty, estimations and shifting numbers. Factor in one of the most harrowing economic downturns in a century, with…

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Finance Shoring Up What Lies Beneath
2009 July Shoring Up What Lies Beneath

Not so very long ago, pretty much any individual or corporate entity could get a loan quickly and easily, with only some cursory paperwork separating borrower from lender. The so-called subprime mortgage crisis put a stop to all that, a…

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Finance Struggling to Strike a Balance
2009 July Struggling to Strike a Balance

When you walk down many large commercial thoroughfares in New York, whether it’s Fifth or Madison Aevnue in Manhattan, Kings Highway in Brooklyn or Main Street in Flushing, you’re sure to notice many more empty stores than usual—living p…

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Finance Sidestepping Bank Foreclosures and Defaults
2009 July Sidestepping Bank Foreclosures and Defaults

Unemployment is up and apartment sales are down. That’s the trend of headline news lately. But, so far, New York City co-ops and condominiums seem to be weathering the storm in reasonably good shape. According to those close to the situ…

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Finance Feds Seek to Boost Homeowners and Buyers
2009 July Feds Seek to Boost Homeowners and Buyers

Fresh from hoisting up the banking and automobile sectors, a newly muscular Uncle Sam is now turning his attention to putting the skids on the real estate meltdown. The Obama Administration earlier this year rolled out two maj…

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Finance Keeping it Healthy in Today's Tough Economy
2009 July Keeping it Healthy in Today's Tough Economy

In today’s harsh economic times, maintaining a healthy reserve fund is more important than ever. A co-op or condo’s reserve fund can be used to cover any number of emergency expenses from sudden repairs to legal costs. In addition, a re…

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Finance Energy Audit Legislation Aimed at Co-ops & Condos
2009 July Energy Audit Legislation Aimed at Co-ops & Condos

 Proposed legislation by the New York City Council to require energy audits,  while a nice idea, is extremely cost-prohibitive especially in today’s economy. The bottom line is that the spending proposed in this bill (Intro  967) will be t…

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Finance New Rules for Co-ops and Condos
2009 July New Rules for Co-ops and Condos

 In the last two years, Fannie Mae has amended it’s guidelines for selling and serving mortgages on condominiums, cooperatives,  and planned unit developments three times. Why should service providers,  cooperative corporations and communi…

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Q&A Q&A: Entitled to Tabulated Election Results?
2009 July Q&A: Entitled to Tabulated Election Results?

Q Do the shareholders in a New York City co-op have the right to obtain the tabulated results of a board of director’s election, rather than simply the names of the shareholders that won? If you are a shareholder who is running for th…

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Q&A Q&A: When Unit Owners Fail to Pay
2009 July Q&A: When Unit Owners Fail to Pay

Q Our 200-unit condo association has seven delinquencies. Six of these cases have  been delinquent for over a year. Liens are in place, and all are in the hands  of our attorney for collection. Most are mortgaged past fair market value…

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Q&A Q&A: Minuteless in Manhattan
2009 July Q&A: Minuteless in Manhattan

Q “I am newly elected to the board of a small (32-unit), self-managed condominium, where traditionally there has been little transparency between the board of trustees and the unit owners. I have asked the board president several tim…

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