The "mortar" that cements together the building blocks for community is communication between homeowners and the leadership team. The following types of communication are extremely important: (a) member surveys—both written and via focus…
Although many co-ops and condos in New York City might not like it, shareholders and unit owners often rent out their apartments to subletters. Board control over subletting can vary—from stringent in most co-ops, to giving the board the fi…
Fifty years ago, residents new to a neighborhood might be greeted by a Welcome Wagon hostess in an A-line skirt and perfect matte lipstick bearing a basket full of goodies from local merchants. She'd give the homeowners the lowdown on wh…
Whether it's demanding residents or unreasonable board members, maintenance headaches or a barely-under-control work schedule, a property manager is in a unique—and uniquely stressful—position. No one knows this better than the property …
Lady Bird Johnson once said, "While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because our neighbors are so many." The first lady of the United States (196…
On a classic episode of the TV show The Simpsons, the town read its founding charter only to discover that the mayor of Springfield was supposed to get two pigs every year. While there are probably no co-op or condo documents in eff…
For decades, co-op boards and managers have had to walk a delicate line between generating revenue and obeying the law when it came to renting out space in their buildings to commercial tenants. As of December 20, 2007, that has cha…
Most shareholders would agree that attending their annual meeting is an activity low on their priority list, right after flossing their teeth and organizing their sock drawers. Some feel the meetings are boring, while others feel they do…
Serving on the board of directors for your building brings on a range of emotions: pride that you were selected to represent the best interests of your fellow shareholders; unease at the thought of the additional time commitment of meetings…
Getting elected to a building's board can be a big job in and of itself—but the truth is that winning a seat is only the beginning. After making the decision to campaign for a seat, and then winning it, new board members can find themselves…