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TOPICS

 

Accounting Fraud

Co-op / Condo Bank Accounts Victims of Low-Tech Scam

Co-op / Condo Fraud Is Back, Baby! Here's How to Spot It — And Stop It

Fighting Accounting Fraud: A Real-Estate CPA Tells You How

Forensic Accounting: Four Cautionary Tales of Corruption

How Co-op & Condo Boards Can Recognize "The Fraud Triangle"

 

Admissions

Admissions and Secrecy: New Law Mandates Full Disclosure
Admissions: How to be Discriminating without Discriminating
Admissions Interview: Arthur Weinstein on Smart, Safe Admission Policies, Part 1
Admissions Interview: Arthur Weinstein on Smart, Safe Admission Policies, Part 2

 

Air Conditioners See: HVAC

 

Annual Meetings
Hot Topics at This Year's Annual Meetings: A Survey Report [2008]

Proxy Fights and Fair Elections

Proxy Fights: Stories from the Trenches

Term Limits and Staggered Elections: Democratic or Just Dumb?

Voting Confidentiality

 

Apartment Renovation

Bathroom and Kitchen Renovation: The Debate Over "Wet Over Dry"

Ultimate Recycling: Free Art Deco Fixtures to Increase Your Building's Value

 

Beautification See: Quality of Life Issues

 

Board Service
10 Books to Help Co-op / Condo Board Members

15 Common Mistakes Made by New Board Members: A Print 'Em Out Checklist
Authoritarian Boards, Public Rancor and One Board's Wise Compromise
Bad Board Behavior Feeding Co-op Disclosure Bill: A Case Study
Bad Oversight: When Boards Get Burned by Ignoring Red Flags
Board Service in the words of board members: Richard D'Amico • Ken Daniels • Melvin Doby • Edward J. Ermler • Gerry Fifer • Gerald L. Fingerhut • Angela Hirsch • Karen Kearney-Jimenez • Roberta Lawrence • Marleen Levi • Peter Morello • Richard Scorce

Being Board President: Two Portraits of Successful Co-op Leaders — Part 1

Being Board President: Two Portraits of Successful Co-op Leaders — Part 2
Co-op Board Leadership: Four Portraits, Part 1
Co-op Board Leadership: Four Portraits, Part 2

Co-op Op-Ed: Why Boards Have Bad Reputations – And What to Do About It

Decision-Making without Tears: Implementing New Policies Effectively
The Dire Effect of Board Disharmony: Learning from Morningside Gardens
Experience Counts: Two Very Senior Board Members Cut Out the Clutter
Fresh Blood on a Board Saves a Co-op: Saga of the Crumbling Alameda, Part 1
Fresh Blood on a Board Saves a Co-op: Saga of the Crumbling Alameda, Part 2
How to Turn Around a Troubled Building: A Case Study
Lessons of a Board Outside the Box: How Unorthodox Thinking Saved a Co-op

New Building, New Board: A Primer on How to Serve
Organizing with Other Board Presidents: Join the Club!
Ousting a Board Member: How to Remove Disruptive Troublemakers
Performance Analytics to Quell Performance Anxiety

 

Boiler / Oil
Boilers: Repair or Replace? Four Boards Solve Four Common Problems
Converting from Oil Heat to Gas Heat: A Primer

Heating-Oil Scams
Leaking Underground Oil Tank? Fixing Things Is Not a Tank-less Job!

Oil Spills and Six-Figure Fines: A Primer for Co-ops and Condos
Old Boilers: Repair or Replace? Lessons from One Co-op's Experience

 

Budget: See Finances and Budget

 

Building Upkeep

Co-op & Condo Boards Adjust to Co$tly New Site-Safety Enforcement

Façade Cleaning: Taking a Shine to Your Building

Heating, Insulation, Maintenance: Prepping Your Building for Winter

Preventive Maintenance … Prevents Death and Disaster. For Real

Structural Tests Can Save Money — and Lives

Walkthrough Inspections: A Less-Costly Alternative to Full Building Reports

 

Buying and Selling Apartments

Depending on Flip Taxes: Bad Bet or Sure Thing?
Flip-Tax Blowback: The Dangers of Implementing with No Shareholder Vote

Flip Taxes: Board Members Tell How They Passed Them — Or Didn't
Flip Taxes: Court Confusion Over Implementing Them Legitimately, Part 1
Flip Taxes: Court Confusion Over Implementing Them Legitimately, Part 2
International Ownership: The Ins & Outs of Foreign Buyers
Right of First Refusal: Flipping a Below-Market Apartment
Setting Minimum Prices for Apartment Sales: Are Boards Allowed?
Updating Your Flip Tax: How One Co-op Did It

Using "Right of First Refusal" to Stop Below-Market Co-op & Condo Sales
When Is a Flip Tax Not a Flip Tax?

 

Capital Improvements
$35 Million Makeover: Saving a Sinking Ship

Alterations, Not Altercations
Babe Roof: A Complex in The Bronx Gets Some Beautiful New Surfaces
Being Koi: How One Ordinary Co-op Created an Extraordinary Garden

Bidding Capital-Improvement Contractors

Co-op & Condo Boards Adjust to Co$tly New Site-Safety Enforcement
Co-op Cost-Effectively Copies a Candela Cornice: An Upper West Side Tale

Doing Due Diligence on Capital-Improvement Projects: Some Easy Steps
Fire Escapes: How to Inspect and Refurbish Without Burning Money
Found in Yonkers: A Roof Renovation Without Drama
High-Tech Waterproofing: There's More Than One Way to Skin a Co-op

Landmark Lampposts for a Greenwich Village Co-op: Go South, Young Man
Lobby Restoration: Returning Opulence to a Historic Building's Entranceway
Major Capital Improvements: The Lessons of Lido Beach Towers

Major Projects Need Major Communication

Projects & Improvements

• Archive of older Projects & Improvements

Replacing Co-op / Condo Windows: Three Very Different Cases
Replacing a Cornice is No Easy Task
Rockefeller Apts — Fixing Up a Landmark

Scaffolding: A Primer

Sea Change at Atlantic Towers: Redoing Lobbies from Institutional to Incredible

Window Replacement: No Pane, No Gain

 

Contractors

Bidding Capital-Improvement Contractors

Contracting a Quality Contractor

Criminal Contractors: New York Launches Complaint / Violations Web Site

Service-Provider Tips: First in a Series of Print 'Em Out Checklists

 

Commercial Tenants: See Retail Space

 

Co-op Conversion / Sponsor
Boards Fighting Back When Sponsors Illegally Refuse to Sell Shares
Condo Sponsor Defaults: How to Prepare for a Chilling Possibility

Cond-ops: A Horror Story
Dealing with a Sponsor Default

How Co-op / Condo Boards Can Get Free of Sponsors as Property Managers

Shoddy and Dangerous New Construction: Brand-New Boards Fight Back
Sponsor Good, Sponsor Bad: Two Case Studies
When Sponsors Refuse to Sell Apartments: Co-ops In Name Only, Part 1
When Sponsors Refuse to Sell Apartments: Co-ops In Name Only, Part 2

 

Editorials
From the Editor: Building Staff — Both a Family Affair and a Different World
From the Editor: Communication, Communication, Communication
From the Editor: Dealing with Death Threats
From the Editor: A Permanent Proxy Increases Attendance at Annual Meetings
From the Editor: Security Is Everybody's Business
From the Editor: Self-Management Perils and Possibilities

From the Editor: Snake Oil Salesmen Who Prey on Co-op and Condo Boards
From the Editor: Things That Go Bump in the Night
From the Editor: When a Dog in Your Building Needs to Leave

From the Editor: Whither Perry Mason

 

Elevator
New Elevator Inspection Code — and Related New Costs

 

Emergencies / Disaster

CPR Training and Heart Defibrillators: Why Your Building Should Have Them

Crisis Management: What to Do When Disaster Strikes

Emergency Preparedness

 

Energy Savings See also: Greening
Changes Coming to NYSERDA Low-Interest Energy Loans
Electricity: Saving by Submetering
How Heat Balance Can Help Your Checkbook Balance
Johnny DEP: Free NYC Water-Leak Audits Find Savings in Kitchens & Bath

Power Companies Overcharging Some Co-ops & Condos: How to Stop Them
Saving Energy & Improving Indoor Air Quality: A Print 'Em Out Checklist
Shareholders Will Vote for Submetering — If You Pitch It Effectively. Here's How
Submetering 930 Apartments: If They Can Do Theirs, You Can Yours!

Using Energy Brokers to Shop for Gas and Electric Services
What is NYSERDA?

 

Exterior Repair See: Capital Improvements

 

Finances and Budget See also: Mortgage / Loan / Refinancing
Being Proactive to Avoid Assessments, Save Money and Improve Your Building
Cutting Costs Today: The Right — and Dangerously Wrong — Ways to Do It
Fighting Back When Bonus-Engorged Banks Still Nickel & Dime Your Building
Financial Crisis Special Report: Avoiding Auction-Rate Securities in Reserve Funds
Financial Disaster: How to Recover, How to Avoid: Part I
Financial Disaster: How to Recover, How to Avoid: Part II
Financial Management Tips: Second in a Series of Print 'Em Out Checklists
Flat-Rate Attorney Retainers: A New Order in the Court?

Income Stream: A Primer
Investing Reserve Funds for Fun and Profit

LTV: How Lenders Decide What You're Worth
Money Alert! When Managers Comingle Different Buildings' Bank Accounts
New Auditing Guidelines: Two Accountants Add Up the Stricter Rules
The Old 80/20 Ends, New Income Begins

Protecting Your Reserve Fund
Recovering from Economic Catastrophe: Lessons of Parkway Village

Teach Your Residents Well: Financial Statements
Tracking Monthly Charges — Automatically

Updating the Proprietary Lease and Bylaws to Avoid Financial Disaster

Using "Right of First Refusal" to Stop Below-Market Co-op & Condo Sales

 

Flip Tax See: Buying and Selling Apartments

 

Foreclosure
Apartment Foreclosures: How to Deal with Them — and Make Deals

Opportunity in a Shareholder's Misfortune: Sublet Limits Force a Foreclosure
Reconsidering Sublets to Forestall Foreclosures

Shareholder Hardship: Balancing Your Fiduciary Obligations and a Helping Hand
Surprise Foreclosures: What Are a Board's Rights?

 

Garage See: Parking Garage

 

Greening

10 Practical Ways to Green Your Building: A Print 'Em Out Checklist
Adding Solar Energy: How Two Savings-Conscious Boards Did It
Assembly Passes Green-Roof Bill
Biofuel Basics: From "Oy!" to Soy
Changes Coming to NYSERDA Low-Interest Energy Loans
Environmentally Friendly Flooring
Free Greening Info: Environmental Group Makes House Calls to Your Boardroom
Free Greening Program: Save the Planet, One Super at a Time
Geothermal Ain't Gee-Whiz
Going Green on the Cheap: How You Can Start Today
Green Cleaning Products Can Actually Save You Money
Green New Products
Green Retrofitting: Start with an Energy Audit
Green-Roof Tax Incentives: Environmental Change Giving You a Chunk of Change
Green-Roofs Tax Abatement and Alt-Energy Initiatives Signed Into Law

Green Supers: A Property Mgr. Takes the Free Union Workshop and Reports

Green Supers Workshop: A Property Manager's Report from Day Two

Green Supers Workshop: Day Three
Greening Your Roof: You Can Do It, and It'll Be Great. Here's How, and Why…
Host Workshop, Get Free Light Bulbs: Going "Green from the Ground Up"
How Older Buildings Can Go Green by Taking the LEED
Johnny DEP: Free NYC Water-Leak Audits Find Savings in Kitchens & Bath
A Manager Goes Green, One Step at a Time
Microturbines: Thinking Small to Save Big
New State Green Incentive Includes Co-ops, Condos
NYC Introduces Legislation Mandating Green Upgrades to Large Buildings
• Update: Mandatory-Greening Bill Now Set For Wednesday [June 24, 2009]
Solar Power 2009: New Tax Breaks and More Help Boards See It in a New Light
Solar Power DIY: Kilowatts without Killing Yourself
The Stimulus Plan's New Tax Credits and More for Green Building Projects
Urban Farming: Co-ops Join the National Trend Toward DIY Food

 

HVAC
Window Air Conditioners: An Engineer's and an Architect's Guidelines … and Warnings

 

Insurance
Buying Insurance in a Soft Market: How to Negotiate a Good Deal

Co-op Apartment Damage: Who Should Carry Insurance, Who Pays for Repairs?
Co-op/Condo Insurance and Reducing Liability: A Print 'Em Out Checklist

Insurance Policy Basics — and Secrets

More Insurance Shenanigans: An Attorney Exposes an Outrageous Loophole

 

Laundry Room

Laundry-Room Contracts: How Not to Get Soaked

Laundry Rooms: Cleaning Up with Coinless Card Systems

 

Laws, New York City/State See also: Local Law 11/98

Billboards on Co-ops/Condos: How to Make Money on Signage & Avoid Fines

Building Violations: What Happens when There's No Quick Fix?
City Council Passes Water-Tower Inspection Bill

City's New "Lawn Litter" Law: Two Steps You Can Take to Stop Unwanted Menus

Co-op & Condo Boards Adjust to Co$tly New Site-Safety Enforcement

Local Law 48: The Creeping Horror

Negligent Sponsors: New Enforcement Against Them by the Attorney General
The New Identity-Theft Law: Secrets Servicing

Noise Complaints and the New 2007 Law

Sanitation Inspectors Go High-Tech: How to Challenge Computerized Citations

 

Legal Issues See also: Local Law 11/98

Apartment Access: A Key Issue

Co-op Boards and Shareholder Evictions: New Court Ruling Limits Pull of 'Pullman'
Co-op Crime: What You Can and Must Do Against Criminal Activity in Apartments

Common Walls, Common Problems: Who Fixes What When Buildings Share a Wall?

Evicting a Shareholder Unilaterally

Inherit the Wind(fall): Passing-on Apartments when Owners Pass On

Keys and Access to Co-op / Condo Apts: What Are Boards' Entry Rights?
Law Lessons, Part 1: The Case of the Contentious Cooperator
• Case of the Contentious Cooperator: The Attorney's View
Law Lessons, Part 2: The Case of the Disruptive Director
Law Lessons, Part 3: The Case of the Reckless Russians
Law Lessons, Part 4: The Case of the Incomplete Condo

Litigation and How to Avoid It

New Court Ruling: Who Gets the Co-op When You're Divorced ... and Dead?
Plaza Condo Owners Hit by Lien
• Mechanic's Lien on Plaza Hotel Condos — A Case Study for Other Boards

Reducing Legal Fees: A Ten-Step Program

Scam or Useful Service? The Corporate Records Compliance Office Speaks
Seniors Talk the Talk, Board Says Take a Walk: Co-op Controversy Spills into Media

• Staten Island Seniors, Part 2: Condo Controversy Coming to Court

Shoddy and Dangerous New Construction: Brand-New Boards Fight Back

 

Local Law 11/98
Local Law 11: A Primer

Scaffolding: A Primer

 

Managing Agent

Bad Property Management: A Veteran Manager's Three Nightmare Scenarios

Exclusive: A Charter Management Agent on the Company Corruption Scandal
How — and When — to Find a New Managing Agent

How Co-op / Condo Boards Can Get Free of Sponsors as Property Managers
How to Interview for a Managing Agent

 

 

Misc.

Block Assocations
Bulk Buying: A Primer
Congrats-on-Your-Condo Cards

Co-op/Condo Quiz: Do Your Residents Think You're a Lousy Board Member?

Construction, Condemnation and the Second Avenue Subway

Correction: December Story "Condo Catch-22": Devonshire House Sales Good
HDFC Low-Income Co-ops: The Last Gasp of Affordable Housing?

Hercules Donates Laundry Equip. to Ronald McDonald House

Should Your Building Run a Restaurant? A Cautionary Tale
The United Workers Co-op in The Bronx: Practical Lessons on PBS

 

Monthly Charges (Maintenance, Common Charges, Arrears)
Arrears and Late Payments: A Strategy for Collecting

Arrears and Sublets: Be Firm But Flexible

Collecting Arrears: Getting Maintenance and Common Charges from Dawdlers

Co-op Late Fees Work

Point-and-Click: Homeowners' Monthly Payments Go High-Tech

 

Mortgage / Loan / Refinancing
Analysis: A Mortgage Executive on Refinancing During the Economic Crisis
Banking on Mortgage-Interest Changes: What Happens when the Fed Cuts Rates
Changes Coming to NYSERDA Low-Interest Energy Loans
Condo Associations CAN Borrow: A Mortgage Broker Tells You How
Lenders & Brokers Tell All: How to Get a Great Mortgage in Today's Economy

A Mortgage Broker Reveals: Co-ops' Deadly Dozen Refinancing Mistakes
Mortgage Commitments: A Broker Explains Why Banks Rush You into Them
Refinancing in These Tough Economic Times: How Three Co-ops Did It, Part 1
Refinancing in These Tough Economic Times: How Three Co-ops Did It, Part 2
Refinancing Your Mortgage: A Primer
Reverse Mortgages Becoming More Prevalent in Co-ops and Condos

When Repair Refinancing Splits a Board: Get the Loan First, or the Contractor?

Reverse Mortgages: What They Are, and Why Boards Should Allow Them
Your Air Rights Aren't All Yours: Lenders' New Nickel-and-Dime Squeeze Play

 

New Products
The Weekly New Product
Previous New Products

 

Parking Garage
Earning a Lot from Parking
Flash-Flood Fix for the 21st Century: Mechanized Sandbags
Generating Garage Revenue from Charging Up Electric Cars
Sinking Garages ... City and Developer Irresponsibility: A Special Report

 

Pets

Co-op/Condo Pets Controversy: Two Attorneys on Latest Developments

 

Print 'Em Out Checklists

10 Practical Ways to Green Your Building: A Print 'Em Out Checklist

15 Common Mistakes Made by New Board Members: A Print 'Em Out Checklist
Co-op/Condo Insurance and Reducing Liability
Financial Management Tips
Five Important Mobile Apps for Property Management
Saving Energy & Improving Indoor Air Quality
Service-Provider Tips

 

Property Manager See: Managing Agent

 

Quality of Life Issues
Apartment Mold: Taking a Neighborly Approach When It's a Neighbor's Fault
Being Koi: How One Ordinary Co-op Created an Extraordinary Garden

Can Building-Amenities Build Community?
City's New "Lawn Litter" Law: Two Steps You Can Take to Stop Unwanted Menus
Co-op Crime: What You Can and Must Do Against Criminal Activity in Apartments

Cond-ops: A Horror Story
Free Trees: How to Get Them for Your Sidewalk

• Deadly Tree Infestation: What to Do When Asian Longhorned Beetles Attack

Fight Back When Neighboring Buildings Impair Your Quality of Life!
How to Rid Your Building of Bedbugs — The Latest Breakthroughs
Implementing Smoking Bans: Taking the Gradual Approach

Mold in a Co-op/Condo: What Boards Must Know to Prevent Litigation

Multi-Building Cooperation: How Co-op Board Davids Battled the Goliath MTA

New Court Ruling Should Prompt Co-ops & Condos to Update BBQ Rules Now

Noise Complaints and the New 2007 Law

Sea Change at Atlantic Towers: Redoing Lobbies from Institutional to Incredible

 

Residents, Board Relationship with

Alterations, Not Altercations

Condo Fined $10,000 for Forbidding Religious Item on Apartment Door
Conducting Surveys to Gauge Residents' Thinking and Placate Critics
Dissident Residents: Communication Is Key to Avoiding "Shadow Boards"
Greying Area: Adjusting as Residents Grow Old and Infirm

How to Handle the Five Most Frequent Co-op/Condo Owner Complaints

Multiculturalism and You: Embracing the Melting Pot without Getting Burned
Seniors Talk the Talk, Board Says Take a Walk: Co-op Controversy Spills into Media

 

Retail Space
Commercial Tenants and the Tax Escalator
Keeping Your Commercial Space Working During the Downturn
Retail Space and 80/20: Getting More from Your Store
Selling Your Co-op's Commercial Space: A Case Study

 

Revenue-Raising
Air Rights: One Attorney's Experience
Basement Space: Notes from the Underground

Billboards on Co-ops/Condos: How to Make Money on Signage & Avoid Fines
Earning a Lot from Parking
Film Productions at Your Building: Show Me the Money
Identifying Cash Assets: A Tale of Three Co-ops
Right of First Refusal: Flipping a Below-Market Apartment

Selling Air Rights
Selling Common Space: A Primer
Telecom to My House: Renting Roof Space

 

Security
Co-op Crime: What You Can and Must Do Against Criminal Activity in Apartments
Threats and Attack: When Board Members Face Danger and Violence

 

Staff
Background Checks Disallowed? When Residents Are at Risk

Boards & Bonuses: Some Holiday Tips

Building Superintendents: A Primer

Doormen: A Primer
Free Greening Program: Save the Planet, One Super at a Time

Green Supers: A Property Mgr. Takes the Free Union Workshop and Reports

Green Supers Workshop: A Property Manager's Report from Day Two

Green Supers Workshop: Day Three

Holiday Tipping: How Much and Why. Plus Some Handy Formulas

How Co-op & Condo Boards Can Prepare for a Possible Doorman/Porter Strike
New Supreme Court Ruling Mandates Arbitration in Union Firings

Part-Time Supers: Managing Them — Or Dismissing Them — Effectively

Surviving a Union Audit

When Supers Become Disabled: What Happens Now?

 

Subletting

Arrears and Sublets: Be Firm But Flexible

Opportunity in a Shareholder's Misfortune: Sublet Limits Force a Foreclosure

Reconsidering Sublets to Forestall Foreclosures
When Condo Owners Turn Apartments into Hotel Rooms: What Can a Board Do?

 

Taxes
Challenging Your Tax Assessment: Tactics from a Tax Attorney, Part 1
Challenging Your Tax Assessment: Tactics from a Tax Attorney, Part 2
Commercial Tenants and the Tax Escalator
Condo Tax Rebates — Divvying Up Money, Stepping into a Minefield

Fighting Back When Banks Grow Fat on Inflated Property-Tax Escrows
How to Challenge a Tax Assessment
How to Reduce a Tax Assessment: A Case Study
Lowering Your Tax-Assessment Value: How to Be Legitimately Gloomy
New Auditing Guidelines: Two Accountants Add Up the Stricter Rules

Power Companies Overcharging Some Co-ops & Condos: How to Stop Them
Property-Tax Abatement Extended [June 17, 2008]
Tax Appeals for Condos Specifically
Tax Relief: A Half-Dozen Ways to Say, "Whew!"

 

Technology and Telecommunications

Buying in Bulk: Cable, Satellite and Fiber-Optic TV
Co-op & Condo Communication: Getting Linked with Building Web Apps

FCC Bans Cable-TV Exclusivity
Five Important Mobile Apps for Property Management: A Print 'Em Out Checklist
Flash-Flood Fix for the 21st Century: Mechanized Sandbags
Getting a Co-op Exclusive Web-Site Name: How to Fly the "Coop"
Green New Products

Point-and-Click: Homeowners' Monthly Payments Go High-Tech

Telecom to My House: Renting Roof Space

The Weekly New Product and Previous New Products

 

Water

Fighting Back Against High Water Bills

Water Tank Explosion During Routine Cleaning: Yeah, It Can Happen

Well, Well, Well: How to Install Them and Save on Water Bills

 

 

COMMUNITY

Co-op Condo Web Site Directory

Board Members' Videos

Meet the Artists
• Co-op / Condo Art: Meet Marcellus Hall

• Co-op / Condo Art: Meet Danny Hellman

Slideshows
• 301 E. 78th St., Manhattan: Mailroom Innovation
• 375 Lincoln Place, Brooklyn: Technotrash

 

 

 

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