Nov. 21, 2008 — To the left is a dramatization. This product is actually not a bird that fires lighting from his wings. ("Lightning Wing" — now there's a superhero name!) No, this product, whose box we picture on the jump page, is actually that strip you see: a 1/4-inch high, sunlight-stabilized PVC track that you place along a roof or other surface and which emits a mild shock that theoretically doesn't harm pigeons, seagulls and other large birds, but merely provides a bit of behavior modification. And we're sure it doesn't barbecue sparrows. Well, pretty sure. Read More »

Nov. 21, 2008 — The small Manhattan co-op's commercial tenant is chronically late with the monthly rent. Although the lease states that the rent is due before the first of each month, the money typically comes in on the 20th or 21st. The lease between the cooperative and the subtenant does not provide for a late fee — it was a sweetheart deal negotiated with the sponsor — so how does the co-op put some teeth in its demands? Read More »

Nov. 19, 2008 — Co-op shareholders have phoned me during the current credit crisis, anxious over whether their buildings might be affected by it. Most of these callers fall into two groups: those in buildings with underlying mortgages about to mature, who fear they'll be unable to get a new loan, and those in buildings with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans, who fear the government will call their loans — in both cases forcing boards to levy huge assessments to pay off their existing underlying mortgages. Read More »

Nov. 17, 2008 — In 1988, I arrived home one unassuming Friday evening to find an envelope by my apartment door containing what was later identified as "the black book." My 75-unit rent-stabilized building was converting into a co-op. I had no idea how dramatically my life was about to change and how active and involved I would soon become in my property. Read More »

Nov. 17, 2008; read a new buyers' article every Monday — A co-op officer who makes illegal, defamatory comments about you as a prospective purchaser may be setting himself or herself up for a defamation lawsuit. But otherwise, there's nothing you can do about such falsehoods if you don't pass the admissions process. The existence of defamatory comments, in other words, isn't a passport for admission. Read More »