March 10, 2010 — Co-op board members and condo association directors tend to encounter the same few shareholder/unit-owner issues over and over: The same misunderstandings and complaints crop up in each new generation of buyers. "I see them in all kinds of developments and among all kinds of owners," says attorney Janet Oulousian Aronson, a specialist in community-association law and a member of the New England chapter of the Community Associations Institute. And though it can sometimes feel hopeless, sometimes all it takes is explaining to residents, in a nice way, the basic facts of co-op and condo life.

But what do you say? How should you phrase it? Keeping emotion out of your conversations with co-op / condo owners, while not sounding uncaring and like you're just spouting talking points, isn't always easy, especially with your more contentious residents. That's why Aronson's five tips for what to say and how to say it can come in handy. A soft answer turneth away wrath — and Ruth and Ralph and most any other resident with one of these typical areas of complaint. Read More »

March 8, 2010 — A word from your sponsor can be a good thing. But here's a word to the wise: Some sponsors that double as co-op or condo property managers can drive a building into the ground when — ironically — the board is asleep at the wheel. It's easy to feel as if there's nothing you can do when the sponsor insists on running the co-op or condo like it's his or her rental property. But you really can escape their clutches ... just like the board of the Ferry Point Park Condominium. (Click on image to enlarge.) Read More »

March 3, 2010 — We all want to be the best board members we can be. Heaven knows, we work hard, devote a lot of time, and rarely reap the appreciation we deserve. But sometimes ... well, sometimes we may not be quite as pulled-together as we think we are. So you may ask yourself, "Self, how do I know if I'm a good board member?" And the answer is: You take our handy and totally unscientific co-op and condo board quiz! Just answer our 10 questions, then check out how you did. Our promise: Unless you're a perfect 10, you WILL know things you didn't know before!

QUESTION 1: A shareholder says her neighbor's cigarette smoke is drifting into her apartment. You... Read More »

March 1, 2010 — The traditional tool used to protect condo buildings from sellers who try to dump their apartments at artificially low prices — and thus drag down the value of every apartment in the building — is the so-called "right of first refusal." That allows the condo board to match a seller's asking price and buy the apartment, then turn around and re-sell it at a higher price. But this tool is rarely put into practice. First, it's difficult for condos to take out bank loans and second, few have enough cash on hand to snatch an apartment off the market during the 15- to 30-day window spelled out in most bylaws.

Co-op boards, on the other hand, can borrow money and dip into lines of credit. So, several co-op boards have acquired the right of first refusal as a way to protect their investments — after amending the corporate documents, a move that usually requires the approval of a supermajority of 67 or 75 percent of shareholders. Read More »

A monthly column by HABITAT's editorial director.

Feb. 22, 2009 — Mr. Haney lives on. Not the actual Mr. Haney — actor Pat Butram, who played the unusual salesman on TV's Green Acres from 1965-71, and who died some years ago — but a close facsimile who may seem all too familiar to co-op and condo board members.

Mr. Haney, as fans of the absurd series will recall, was a smooth-talking entrepreneur who always seemed to turn up at the farm of series protagonist Oliver Wendall Douglas (Eddie Albert) when Mr. Douglas needed something. It didn't matter that Mr. Haney had sold the naive Oliver useless things in the past: He could talk the city slicker, who wanted to be a farmer, into shelling out hard-earned cash for something that would purportedly save time and money but actually did neither. Read More »

Feb. 15, 2010 — Shortly before Christmas 2009, Matthew Stoll, the treasurer of a Rockland County condo board, pleaded guilty to stealing $130,345 from the Sussex Condominium III Association. Three weeks earlier, Mark Modano, owner of the Mark Modano management company, was arrested and charged with stealing more than $1.3 million from the operating accounts of six clients in New York City. Co-op/condo fraud is back, and these new cases remind co-op and condo boards to be diligent not only when dealing with property managers but also with your other professionals, with contractors and even with fellow board members. Read More »

Feb. 24, 2009 — It's usually April 15 that strikes terror, or at least a resigned annoyance, in people's hearts. But this year, for co-op and condo boards at least, April 20 looms larger. Because this year is when the 2006 union agreement for your building's porters and doorpersons expires. And leaving aside, for the moment, important issues of raises and benefits — it's safe to say everyone wants their building staff to make a decent wage and have a good working environment and reasonable health and retirement plans — boards have to consider the practical effects of a strike when it comes to things like garbage pickup and residents' security. Read More »

Feb. 17, 2010 — With the apparent resurgence of co-op / condo fraud in New York City, Habitat has presented two recent features on how boards can protect themselves: the jauntily titled "Co-op / Condo Fraud Is Back, Baby! Here's How to Spot It — And Stop It and "Co-op / Condo Bank Accounts Victims of Low-Tech Scam."

But before you can recover from fraud, before you can even prepare for fraud, board members need to open their eyes and understand what creates fraud in people with whom we work personally — people we know and are friendly with and who know us. How can people we know and trust betray us? The answer is, they don't necessarily mean to. Not at first. It's a gradual process. Donna DiMaggio Berger, an attorney and a veteran blogger on issues related to co-ops, condos and homeowners associations, explains step by step how what seems unthinkable can come to pass. Read More »

Feb. 8, 2010 — Thinking of refinancing your co-op's underlying mortgage to take advantage of lower interest rates? This may be a good idea — but only if you can avoid The Deadly Dozen Mistakes that create horror stories for co-op boards. Over the last 20 years, as a mortgage broker, I've conducted or participated in a myriad of seminars about underlying mortgages and other co-op finance topics, and I while no one can guarantee that avoiding these mistakes will get you the best deal, it will keep the horror at bay. Read More »

Feb. 10, 2010 — You've taken all the usual precautions with the bank account that your co-op or condo uses for its operating expenses. Checks for over a certain amount require two signatures, you get a monthly financial report from your management company, your treasurer and your accountant reconcile your monthly bank statements, and your checks are duly watermarked to prevent forgery.

And still some intrepid thieves can steal money from your account — using, essentially, a photocopy. Sometimes when we put our trust in high-tech theft prevention, some lowdown lowlife goes low-tech. Here's what can happen, and how you can protect yourself. Read More »