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For board members and property managers of co-ops and condos in New York City, there are legal and financial questions regarding new and old laws, accounting rules, auditing, and so much more. Here’s what you need to know to manage your finances and speak knowledgeably with your accountant and attorney.
A Look Back: The Fortunes of a Flatiron Co-op from HABITAT's First Years
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May 15, 2012 — In 1982, Habitat published articles covering three new co-op projects that had hit the market. One of them, advertised as "one of Midtown’s last and best loft conversions," was a co-op in the Flatiron District. How has it fared, 30 years on, from that very different world to now? Read More »
When Suing a Co-op Board, Should You Sue Individual Members? Here's When
Nov. 29, 2011 — Do individual board members of a co-op or condo face personal liability in deciding not to approve a shareholder or unit-owner's proposed apartment alteration? Not generally — but there are certain circumstances. Read More »
Why Residents Won't Run for the Board — And Why That's So Dangerous
April 27, 2012 — What happens when not enough people volunteer to serve on a co-op board or condo board? Is your building doomed? An attorney and community-association authority gets down to the root causes, and why it's critical that boards address these issues in order to keep your co-op or condo from stagnating — and to keep it in your hands. Read More »
Condo Apartment in Foreclosure Limbo. Get the Unhelpful Bank on Your Side.
Nov. 25, 2011 — A condo apartment in foreclosure proceedings sits vacant while a bank twiddles its thumbs. Your building is losing money, but the bank doesn't care — unless your board explains why it's in the bank's interest to get a "rent receiver." Read More »
You've Paid for a Roof Deck. Co-op Says Tough Luck, Roof's Bad. Now What?
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Dec. 29, 2011 — Must a co-op board upgrade a roof for shareholders entitled to use part of it as a deck, but found they could not because the roof, structurally, wasn't built for that? Or do the shareholders just have to suck it up because the proprietary lease shouldn't have promised rooftop use in the first place? Read More »
The Sit-Down-and-Talk Way to Get Your Sponsor to Make Repairs
May 17, 2012 — You're in a newly built condominium, and the sponsor has left you with the gift that keeps on giving: building defects. But instead of suing, you can do what one Queens condo board did: Try the talking cure first. Read More »
Green Financing for Capital Improvements: Difficult But Not Impossible
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May 15, 2012 — Despite rising interest in green technology and the savings it can provide, lenders will probably be reluctant to make loans when the money to repay the loan is expected to come from energy cost savings. Why? Lack of reliable data about actual savings, unreliability of audit predictions and the need for unconventional underwriting requirements. But that doesn't mean you won't be able to finance insulation for the new roof or lighting improvements, or a high-efficiency boiler. Read More »
Rent-Regulated Apartment Dilemma: When Co-op Boards MUST Act
Oct. 28, 2011 — Usually, when there's a problem with one of the co-op's rent-regulated apartments, the board of 61 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn leans on the landlord — the building's conversion sponsor — to take responsibility. But sometimes the situation has a way of forcing the board to get involved. Read More »
When a Shareholder Is About to Default, Should the Co-op Buy the Apartment?
Dec. 27, 2011 — A reader asks: One of our shareholders wants our co-op to purchase his shares, saying he can no longer pay maintenance and has been unable to sell his apartment. Is there any reason our co-op board should not do this? Read More »
Openly Defiant Rule-Breaker Says, "Go to Hell!" Board Says, "Go to Court!"
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Nov. 23, 2011 — A New York condo owner makes an unapproved alteration that's not only against the rules but affects the building's structural integrity — and then tells the board what's done is done and they can't do anything about it. Read More »
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Cleaning your boiler is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. The question is, who? And how often? Carla Romita of Castle Oil can tell you.
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