Most of us don’t like to spend a lot of time contemplating our so-called “final wishes”—we’d much rather leave planning our wills and executing our estates for another day. Uncomfortable as the subject is for many people however, it’s …
When it comes to something as valuable as the place we call home, almost any dispute has the potential to turn into a legal crisis—and that goes double for New Yorkers. For tenants and landlords, these issues usually arise over problem…
While most residential buildings in the city are either purely rental or purely co-op/condo, there are many co-op and condo buildings that are home to rental tenants. This usually is the result of the building converting from rental to…
Q I’m currently the vice president for our co-op, a 334-unit community on Long Island. We’re having difficulties with two of our board members. One has been on the board for five years, and has been very destructive. For example, this b…
The nine villages and several unincorporated communities that make up the city of Great Neck are steeped in history. F. Scott Fitzgerald chose Great Neck as the setting for his famous novel, The Great Gatsby, and even though the area …
Every co-op and condo building in the city is different, and every board is a unique blend of personalities. Two buildings located next door to each other may take very different approaches to identical daily challenges, and while cert…
In its last meeting of 2005, the New York City Council enacted legislation to make the city a quieter, cleaner and more environmentally-friendly place to live. Perhaps one of the major initiatives sought by the mayor’s office was revis…
Several interesting court decisions regarding co-ops and condos were made during the latter part of 2005. The decisions received some commentary, but perhaps not the attention that they deserve. In a condo case, the Appellate Court tha…
Q For many seniors living in co-ops and condos, the viability of placing their owned units into revocable or irrevocable trusts has become an area of interest. The major problem with this is that boards and managing agents are re…
Recently, the Appellate Division, First Department—the state’s second highest court located in Manhattan—announced a decision with far-reaching implications for the state’s condominium owners. In the case Pekelnaya v. Allyn, the court …