“New York is so hectic,” says Arellano, 53, who earned a bachelor’s degree from John Jay College, a law degree from Brooklyn Law School and a master’s degree in accounting from Baruch College after her discharge from the Army. “When I walked into my apartment the first time I went straight to the balcony and […]
Blink& There Will Be a New Law (NY)
While co-op and condo boards grapple with real-world challenges in their buildings, state legislators have been busy introducing measures purporting to solve problems plaguing this housing sector. Read the entire article……………………………….
Lonely Leaders of Co-ops & Condos (NY)
Being the president of the co-op or condo board can not only feel like a thankless position, but in many ways like a one man show. The president has the final signature, and while the entire board may technically be responsible for certain aspects of the running of the board, the final responsibility (or ‘fault’ […]
Hold a Safety and Security Review for Your Association (NY)
Is your Association simply a business enterprise . . . or is it a community? Of course, it’s both. So along with news of important financial decisions, your Co-op, Condo, or HOA Board would do well to share ideas that will enhance the community’s sense of well-being. Read the entire article……………………………….
Co-op and Condo Boards Must Walk a Tightrope Over “Private Work” (NY)
The pandemic confronted co-op and condo boards with issues that they had never faced before, from running virtual meetings to enforcing public health mandates. But the pandemic also presented familiar problems in a new light. Take the problem of private work. “Private work” or “side work” is loosely defined as jobs that building staff employees […]
Co-op Board Learns the High Cost of Being Unreasonable (NY)
Co-op boards can reject the sale of an apartment for any or no reason, as long as that rejection is not based on illegal discrimination. There is an exception: when a surviving spouse receives an apartment after the death of his or her spouse. Read the entire article……………………………….
U.S. Appeals Court Sides With Co-op Boards in Major Discrimination Case (NY)
In a case that has massive implications for co-op boards and landlords, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that boards and landlords cannot be held liable under the Fair Housing Act for failing to intervene in race-based harassment between residents. Read the article…………………………………….
Umbrella Insurance Policies Have Sprung a Leak (NY)
Co-op and condo boards seeking protection from excess liability – such as a serious injury to a worker during a facade project – are finding that the umbrella policies of yesteryear, with their high coverage limits and relatively low premiums, are a thing of the past. In today’s so-called “hard” insurance market, the math has […]
Top 4 Tips to Run a Board Meeting in Less Than 60 Minutes
One of the disincentives that keeps qualified people from joining their building’s board is the demand on board member’s time. Work in between meeting can generally be done at your discretion, but the meetings themselves are at a set time and day, and can often be long, contentious, drawn out and just plain borrrr-iiiing. […]
All Aboard! The Right Way to Bring on New Board Members
Co-op and condo boards are always on the lookout for new blood, but once a fresh recruit joins the team, they don’t always roll out the welcome mat. But having a system to induct new members and identify their strengths – after all, not everyone has clear-cut or obvious skills – can really pay off […]
Upstairs v. Downstairs: Was the Access Lawsuit Worth It? (NY)
When co-op and condo boards set out to perform mandated maintenance to their building exteriors, they frequently need to gain access to neighboring properties to perform the work. It’s customary for both parties to negotiate an access, or licensing, agreement. Usually the negotiations are cordial, but sometimes they break down in acrimony. Read the article………………………………….
Co-ops and Condos Get Ready for an Electric Future (NY)
Like it or not, New York City co-ops and condos are about to get pressed into service as foot soldiers in the war on climate change. The city’s Climate Mobilization Act, one of the most ambitious on the planet, will require co-op and condo boards to reduce their buildings’ carbon emissions to specified levels beginning […]
Delaying Elections Can Backfire for Co-op and Condo Boards (NY)
It’s perfectly understandable that some co-ops and condos have postponed their annual meetings and board elections. Amid the upheavals caused by the pandemic – including working from home alongside equally frazzled family members – distracted board directors may not realize that a year has already flown by. Or they may simply want to adhere to […]
The Five Stages of a Co-op’s Elevator Grief (NY)
On one of many sleepless pandemic nights, I re-watched the 1979 musical “All That Jazz,” Bob Fosse’s take on his life and projected death. For the first time, I found myself focusing not on the dancing but on the scaffold that frames the story: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s “Five Stages of Grief” – Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression […]
Case Notes: The High Cost of Defamation at a Bronx Condo (NY)
Defamation can harm co-op and condo budgets as much as it harms reputations. What is defamation? If someone damages the reputation of another person by verbal statements (called slander) or in writing (called libel), the offending party is guilty of defamation, and the injured party can bring an action and demand compensation. Read the article……………………………….
Co-ops and Condos Can Get Electric Car-Charging Stations for Free (NY)
Electrification – it’s a word that should be in the vocabulary of every co-op and condo board member. It describes the coming shift away from fossil fuels to the electrical powering of just about everything, from building heating and cooling systems to public transit networks to private motor vehicles. In order to combat climate change, […]
Should Boards of Cooperatives and Condominiums Implement a Vaccination Policy?
Boards of cooperatives (coops) and condominiums (condos) should start thinking about whether to implement a vaccination policy for their buildings now that vaccines are becoming more available. Boards not only have a fiduciary duty to protect the health and safety of their residents and occupants, but also a responsibility to provide a safe workplace for […]
2019 NY Rent Law Impacts Condo & Co-op Sector: Subletters Take Note! (NY)
When the State of New York passed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) in June 2019, legislators may not have envisioned that the law would have repercussions for co-op and condo owners – but in fact it did just that. That’s because from a legal point of view, co-ops are very much like […]
How to Deliver Bad News in a Way That Builds Trust (NY)
If you serve on your co-op or condo board, it’s inevitable that one day you’ll have to deliver bad news to your shareholders or unit-owners. Maybe an expensive and highly visible capital project has fallen seriously behind schedule. Maybe you have to increase common charges way more than expected. Or maybe mandated work on your […]
What Happens in the Boardroom Should Stay in the Boardroom (NY)
Breaching confidentiality is a serious offense for any co-op or condo board member – one that can have dire consequences. This is illustrated by the costly legal war that pitted Elaine Platt against her fellow co-op board members at Windsor Towers and its management company, Tudor Realty. The most important decision was when the New […]
Is Your Co-op or Condo Really so Different? (NY)
As co-op and condo board consultants, we speak with board members on a regular basis. And if we had a nickel for every time we hear – “But you don’t understand, our building is different!”, we would have had a lot of nickels. So we felt that it would be appropriate to share all those […]
Condo Board Access to Units can be Difficult (NY)
Condo Boards sometimes have to access the inside of units. There are a variety of reasons including repairs to common elements, access to shut off valves, inspections relating to repairs in other parts of the condominium building, or a myriad of other valid, legitimate reasons. The trouble is that governing documents like the condominium’s Declaration […]
Community Association as Democracy: Transition of Power Without a Condo Coup (NY)
When purchasing a residence in a condominium, homeowners association or a co-op, you by default agree to reside in a community association. You live in relatively close proximity to your neighbors and equally share the right to utilize common areas, whether it’s a lobby, pool, gym, parking lot and/or clubhouse. Monthly association dues fund shared […]
Boards Can Require Employees to Get Vaccinated. Should They? (NY)
The latest guidance. As COVID-19 vaccines start to become available to the general public, can employers now order mandatory vaccinations of their employees? The answer is not simple. Cooperatives and condominiums should be aware of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance issued last month on this topic. Whether an employer chooses to enact a […]
Co-op Board Learns That Emails Can Bite Back (NY)
The brawl begins. Back in 2017, the actors Justin Theroux and his then-wife Jennifer Aniston got approval from their Greenwich Village co-op board to combine their apartment with the newly acquired apartment next door, then embark on a $1 million renovation of the expanded space. But the downstairs neighbors, Norman and Barbara Rescinow, complained about […]
Residential Cooperatives May Now Get Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans (NY)
The most recent federal Coronavirus stimulus law, finally signed on December 27, 2020, extends the PPP loan program to residential cooperatives. PPP loans are loans made by banks that are 100% guaranteed by the United States Small Business Administration, with up to 100% of the loan being eligible for forgiveness if the borrower spends an […]
Self-Management in Stressful Times: Some Communities Go it Alone—Others Outsource (NY)
While many condominium associations and co-op corporations hire professional property managers or management firms to handle the routine (and not-so-routine) tasks involved in running a multifamily building or HOA, a significant number take the opposite route, eschewing formal management and running their properties themselves. While most of these self-managed communities tend to be on the […]
Q&A: Handling a Harassing President (NY)
Q. What can be done when the president of the condo corporation verbally harasses the building’s superintendent? Read the Q&A……………………………
Boards need to make sure their Policy Changes Pass Legal Muster (NY)
Community associations are quasi governments which can make their own rules provided that they don’t run afoul the law. Whenever changing rules, coop, condo, HOA and other community association boards must make sure that their good intention rule changes aren’t going to get them into trouble. With a litigious owner (especially one who is an […]
Nonjudicial Foreclosures – Weapon in Cooperative Board’s Arsenal (NY)
Because of the unique form of ownership in cooperative housing corporations, boards have a weapon in its arsenal to enforce shareholder obligations – the nonjudicial foreclosure sale. In cooperatives, owners are shareholders in the cooperative corporation and lessees under a property lease with the cooperative. Because of this ownership structure, proprietary leases contain provisions allowing […]
Condo Common Charge Lien Foreclosure is Sometimes Necessary – Don’t Stop at That (NY)
Common charge lien collection sometimes takes a long time and even more so during a pandemic. But, in the end condo boards may have to pull the trigger on foreclosure. Deals can be negotiated during the process while the heat is turned up on delinquent owners, or a new owner who can pay their share […]
Arbitration – Boards and Owners See it through Different Lenses (NY)
Many bylaws include an arbitration provision. Something like, any dispute between the Unit Owners and the Condominium shall be submitted to binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association and that the decision in any arbitration shall be binding upon all of the parties thereto and may be entered in any […]
Tick Tock, Tick Tock, 4 Month Statute of Limitations is a Powerful Board Defense (NY)
Most lawsuits challenging the propriety of decisions by cooperative and condominium boards are subject to a four-month statute of limitations. So if a complainant doesn’t start a lawsuit within four months of the board decision, they are time barred. Thus, boards have a solid statute of limitations defense unless a plaintiff acts really quickly. If […]
Federal Court Decision makes it hard for Coop Boards to stay out of Neighbor Disputes (NY)
Right before the pandemic started and we weren’t compelled to quarantine and stay closer to our neighbors for longer period of time, a Federal Court made a decision that makes it’s harder for cooperative boards to stay out of neighbor-neighbor disputes without risk of liability. Read the article……………………………………
When Neighbors Tangle, Co-op Boards Can’t Look Away (NY)
A recent court case serves as a warning that co-op boards cannot sit back when there’s a dispute between shareholders. In the case Donahue Francis v. Kings Park Manor Inc., Corrine Downing and Raymond Endres, the facts are disturbing yet hardly rare. Kings Park Manor is a rental apartment complex on Long Island where Donahue […]
State Law Nullifies Co-op Board’s Rule to Regulate Overnight Guests (NY)
When thousands of New Yorkers left the city for second homes to ride out the coronavirus pandemic, a Manhattan co-op board, concerned that shareholders were letting visitors stay in their vacant apartments, enacted a new rule: shareholders must now request authorization for any overnight guest. Did this co-op board overreach? Read the article…………………………………….
The Long Arm of the Business Judgment Rule at a Queens Condo (NY)
The Village Mall at Hillcrest Condominium, a pair of 15-story towers built in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, in the 1970s, bills itself as a place “Where Neighbors Become Friends.” But a recent court case shows that it’s also a place where friends can become enemies – thanks to the ironclad protections and long life of […]
Examining Safety in Multifamily Properties – How Communities Respond to Today’s Threats (NY)
A lot can be said about 2020, but this was certainly a year that forced people around the world to reexamine our processes and protocols around health, safety, and security—not just personally, but collectively, especially in our homes and communities as we face a series of threats novel to this generation. Not only is there […]
No Rest for Weary Co-op and Condo Boards This Holiday Season (NY)
The year 2020 has been a gauntlet, so it’s only fitting that for co-op and condo boards, the approaching holiday season presents itself not as a time of peace and celebration but instead as yet another series of trials to overcome. With the coronavirus spreading uncontrolled throughout the country and with hospitals nationwide becoming overwhelmed, […]
This Case Went to the Dogs, Then to Court (NY)
They might be man’s best friend, but what happens when dogs attack the residents of a condominium community? In Board of Managers of Fishkill Woods Condominium v. Gottlieb, the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division considered that issue, but also the important issues of whether the condominium board had the right to impose fines, and whether […]
Court puts condo investors on the hook for shoddy construction (NY)
New York City condo investors may increasingly find themselves having to dig into their wallets to pay for any construction defects, according to a new court ruling. The Appellate Division of state court upheld a ruling last week that a condominium board does not have to prove a fiduciary or confidential relationship between itself and […]
Living by the Rules: Making—and Enforcing—House Rules (NY)
It’s a common bit for comedians and TV sitcoms: making fun of the ‘condo police’—those neighbors who take it upon themselves to enforce the rules set up by your condominium association or co-op corporation to regulate community living. They are sticklers for detail: Is your mailbox at the right height? Do you have contraband plantings […]
Different Tools for Enforcing the Rules in Co-ops and Condos (NY)
We have all seen clips on social media and news outlets of people ostentatiously refusing to wear a mask in public spaces, including the South Lawn at the White House. What happens when one of these so-called “anti-maskers” lives in your co-op or condominium? Although the vast majority of co-op and condo residents have dutifully […]
An Emotional Support Animal – a Boxer – Lands Condo Board in Court (NY)
In an action sure to send shivers through co-op and condo boards across New York, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has charged a Long Island condominium complex and its management company with discriminating against a disabled resident who claims the complex blocked her from keeping her two dogs as emotional support […]
A Question of Privacy: NY Law is Unclear When it Comes to Co-op/Condo Residents’ Info, Attorneys Say (NY)
In a recent piece for the New York Law Journal, attorneys from Manhattan-based law firm Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer delve into the issue of privacy as it pertains to the personal information of shareholders and unit owners – and the rights of co-op and condo boards to access that information. Read the article………………………………
The Business Judgment Rule Rides to a Condo Board’s Rescue (NY)
The board of managers at a Brooklyn condominium has learned, first-hand, about the thickness of the armor provided by the Business Judgment Rule. State Supreme Court Justice Kathryn E. Freed has dismissed a lawsuit against the board at the Bridgeview Tower Condominium, at 189 Bridge St., saying the suit was “procedurally defective” and the board […]
Anatomy of a Condo Loan – One Building’s Case Study (NY)
As we’ve reported in previous articles, special assessments are not the only tool condo associations and HOAs have to finance common area improvements and major repairs when needed; there are also loans available in the marketplace to help communities pay for big-ticket projects. Read the article……………………………….
Who Pays for Repairs? Check the Condo Bylaws (NY)
A drain on a condominium’s roof – a common element – leaked water into the penthouse apartment, destroying newly installed designer cabinets. Does this mean that the condo board – and therefore all unit-owners – are responsible for replacing those expensive cabinets? Perhaps. Read the article…………………………….
Association Boards Governing Political Signs (NY/CT)
With politics and world events heating up, people have a lot to say and want to publish it out loud. If they live in a coop, condo, HOA or other community association, however, can a board restrict their free speech? John wants to put a “Black Lives Matter” sign on the lawn of his HOA […]