August 24, 2010 — Our condo association was close to going belly up. I didn't know it at the time, and no one else, including the condo board, seemed to know it either.

I didn't think there would be problems when I bought into our 166-unit condominium, built in 1951. It was supposed to be my home away from home, a one-bedroom apartment that my wife and I could spend time in when we weren't at our house in Pleasant Valley, N.Y. We moved in soon after my retirement from IBM where I spent 36 years doing almost everything from fixing computers to becoming a senior manager. I hadn't thought about the board or the management company when I started living there. But then construction work on the front of the building seemed like it was going on forever, and the condo had received multiple shutoff notices from Con Ed. That made me feel like someone was not paying the bills. Read More »

August 10, 2010 —The cost of water used to be such a small portion of a co-op or a condo apartment building's annual budget that it was filed under "miscellaneous items." No more. On May 21, the city announced that water rates will rise by 12.9 percent in the coming fiscal year, which began July 1. It was the fourth straight year of double-digit increases, and for co-op boards and condo board, it means water is now almost twice as expensive as it was a decade ago.

"Now it's equal to the cost of fuel to heat and cool a building," says Jeffrey Weber, president of Weber-Farhat Realty, which manages 40 co-ops and condos in the city. "Now it's about ten percent of most budgets." Now, knowing that, what can you about it? Read More »

August 3, 2010 — Richard Silver got word early this year that a co-op in The Bronx was having a problem with its water tank. The tank wasn't leaking water. It was leaking money — because New York City had rewritten the rules governing rooftop tanks that contain drinking water, and an unsuspecting co-op board and property manager had gotten blindsided. It could happen to your co-op or condo, too, if your board or your managing agent isn't aware of the small change that could cost you big bucks. Read More »

July 16, 2010 — Any good co-op board member or condo association director already knows all the timeless lessons: Go over your monthly financials. Keep your operating account and capital reserves separate. Be aware how unflattering most of us look in mug shots.

But there are timely lessons as well, torn from today's headlines — or at least from the community-news section of the paper. And Joe West has seen those headlines and those sections for 35 years, working for and with community associations and producing educational videos to help board members run them properly. Here's his 2010 take: six critical lessons we all should glean from current events — co-op / condo division… Read More »

J uly 7, 2010 — Something had to give. With complaints rising from trade groups, co-op and condo boards and individuals concerned about the short time period allotted to get workers and companies certified, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has, with little fanfare, announced that its April 22 deadline for enforcing stricter lead-paint requirements has been delayed until October 1, 2010.

One major concern was that areas affected by natural disaster would not be certified before the earlier deadline and as a result face fines of up to $37,500 per incident. Read More »

June 27, 2010 — A reader writes: "I'm on the board of an eight-story, 64-unit cooperative in The Bronx that has been experiencing problems with the elevator. It moves haltingly and stops abruptly at the called floor, often a few inches short of the hallway floor. In addition, the doors tend to stick and don't always open all the way. The elevator is approximately 50 years old and breaks down frequently, so we know it's time for an upgrade. But it would be a huge inconvenience for residents on the higher floors — some of whom are elderly — if our only elevator were out of service for an extended period of time. What repairs will the upgrade entail, and is there a way to keep from completely shutting down the elevator?" Read More »

June 21, 2010 —When it comes to going green in your building, most co-op and condo boards and management companies immediately think of energy-guzzlers like lights and boilers. But there's another. unlikely source of untapped energy savings in many condo and co-op buildings: your elevators. New technology called a "regenerative elevator drive" can recapture some of the energy typically wasted in day-to-day operations. Read More »

April 23, 2010 — Pencil this in: A new federal regulation regarding lead paint has just taken affect for every building built before 1978 — and unlike an earlier law, includes apartments and not just common areas. Starting yesterday, any hired professional – from outside contractor to your co-op or condo's super — must have a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lead-paint-removal training and certification for any painting, window/door replacement or anything else that disturbs more than six square feet of paint in an apartment.

What does this mean for co-op and condo boards, and your managing agents? Happily, not too much trouble. It comes down to some small but critical changes in your alterations agreement, and sending your super to an eight-hour class that costs under $500. Read More »

Last updated 12:03 p.m. , April 21, 2010 — The Realty Advisory Board for Labor Relations (RAB) and union negotiators struck a last-minute agreement shortly after midnight, early April 21, in a deal that averts a strike by doorman and other building workers.

The four-year contract includes a wage increase that the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums calls "less than 2 percent per year (wages and benefits come to 2.33 percent)" in a press release, and calls "slightly less than 3 percent" on the CNYC website.

Gregory Carlson, executive director of the Federation Of New York Housing Cooperatives & Condominiums (FNYHC) and an adviser to the RAB, specified, "It's approximately 2 percent a year: It's 1.72 percent the first year, then 1. 92 percent the second, and 2.72 percent in each of the last two years." Read More »

April 16, 2010 — Before April 7, building owners, including cooperative corporations and condominium associations had to be proactive to get graffiti removed for free and passive if you wanted to keep your graffiti murals — sometimes done by artists whose work now sells for thousands at galleries.

But as of April 7, the opposite is true: Co-op and condo boards can remain passive and get graffiti removed for free — though not necessarily in the manner you'd like — but must be proactive to keep their commissioned or legacy artwork. Read More »