I do not believe so; however, you should check with a j-51 attorney... I do know that there is one on this site who responded to a recent inquiry by me.. search it and call him for the most accurate answer.

~AR

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_tax_reduc_coop_condo.shtml

Hi,

Our 22 story (550 residents) building is “T” shaped and after one leaves the terrazzo elevator lobby area on a floor the three hallways (north, east and south; 22 x 3 = 66 hallways) are fully carpeted. Each wing has about the same population of apartments.

We shampoo each hallway at least once a month with our porter staff.

We vacuum each hallway at once a week.

We picked a carpet pattern that can easily be repaired.

Though we have warned residents and their help staffs not to employ liquid bleach, we still have ignoramuses that ignore the “warning”.

So at least once a quarter, somewhere in one of the 66 hallways, we have a bleach spill.

In turn we call our carpet dyer to fix the “white” spots. In general, we have been very successful with our “dyer”.

Where we can identify the culprit, we ask for reimbursement.

Our 83 unit co-op offers free bleach in the laundry room to help prevent accidents as wash is carried through carpeted hallways. Costco is cheapest supplier. Never thought of calling a "carpet dyer" for the small spots we have from earlier years. Thanks, BoardTalk, will now investigate.

We had a few buildings redone recently.
In one with carpeting, the carpeting was replaced when the contractor did the lobby & hall restoration (the building did not want to do without it once they had it).. in 2 others we did tile flooring which also came out fabulous and the residents love it as well..... My point is, is that it is a matter of preference and personality of the building (carpet will be more costly to maintain)..
So, as a rental property owner, you must justify the cost and the return on your investment and its impact (if any) on rents... will it pay for itself in less than its lifespan? Will it matter to you and/or the residents?
I would be happy to provide you with my contacts for these if you like.

~AR

Our reserve fund is invested entirely in Treasuries and government agency bonds. Preservation of capital is absolutely critical, and in this financial market it is much more important that trying to get higher returns elsewhere.

My Coop was investing in Treasuries until rates hit the floor. We did find some banks that actually gave us (business account) a decent rate. Some included Countrywide and GMAC. Yes Countrywide; we kept the amount invested under the $100K FDIC mark. It's usually the banks that are on hard times that give you the best rates. Again keep it under $100K and your monies are protected/safe.

Since we all know how time consuming (and personal)it is to open individual accounts in each bank I'd suggest you look at some of the discount brokerage house (i.e Siebert, Waterhouse or Schwab) as they constantly offer a number of CD options to their clients. With this type of account you open it "ONCE" and have the option of investing in a number of banks/financial institutions; depending on current rates and your time horizon.

Again keep in mind the limits for each institution and you'll protect the monies as well as get competitve rates.

Good Luck,
Dominick

Interest income or growth are not viable objectives if one wishes to be a responsible fiduciary.

There are no other options.

Based on our capital improvement needs, the investments in government securities are laddered.

I actually posted something on Habitat's Blog about this subject the other day. We are paying a retainer (about $18K annually) and we get our money's worth; however we are a much larger building than yours (400+ units) and probably encounter more legal questions than a smaller building. Keep in mind that the retainer generally covers only routine legal questions and advice - if you initiate or are defending an actual case, the meter starts running.

Same response, same $$ retainer.

For a small 20 unit condo, you may wish to find a smaller firm that will answer your questions without charge. Most of mine I keep on a case by case basis and call them for advice and questions as needed without charge. I have several that I use that are like this and there are many more out there. I do keep larger firms around me with 2 of them on retainer for larger buildings (but still utilize the smaller ones for the questions!)

~AR

In our building the ByLaws state that only a SH (named on the deed) or the SH proxy (someone to rep them) may attend meetings. The SH has to send, in writing, the name of the person who is voting/speaking on thier behalf.
Check the Bylaws...
VP

That is correct for any building (or corporation for that matter).
Only a shareholder whose name appears on the stock and lease may vote at any SH meeting. The only exception would be if that person is provided a legal proxy or some form of one (Power of Atty...) signed by the shareholder.

A non shareholder may at the meeting holders discretion be permitted to share or voice concerns.

~AR

rereading the original post and seeing it is a condo, not a coop.. the same would hold true.

To add to AR's advice, the same would hold true even if the other person is a spouse or domestic partner. Unless their name is recorded as the shareholder of record, or they hold a proxy, they are not entitled to participate.

This raises interesting questions for me about an issue that I had been considering broaching. Our BP's wife, who is not listed on their deed so is technically not a shareholder, is completely privy to all board matters and frequently participates in board meetings (when they are held in the president's apartment). Even though she is in another room (ostensibly working), if something she hears interests her, she will get up, come into the room, interrupt the meeting, and give her two cents. At length. I find it awkward and inappropriate, but haven't raised it with the other board members so am not sure how they feel about it. My response is simply to ignore her; the others (except for her husband) seem to ignore her, too. Since she isn't even a shareholder, much less a board member, I find her participation problematic. But perhaps this is a fairly common problem.

I had a building where the board members husband was doing the same.. He sould even email me concerning some items and private board issues that were discussed.

After he sent me the following email, you can read my responce below it and see the results I obtained... which was full compliance and a full apology in the end!
___________
[his email to me]
Anthony-
While I respect that you would like to maintain the privacy of our building and its occupants, I disagree that the board vote should be confidential. Every owner in the building should know who voted for what and this way, as owners, we can vote for the appropriate board member based on their attendance, voting record, etc. This is how our very own country works. Everyone in the Congress is accountable for their voting records. That's what makes our country great. Closed committees and secret votes are the foundation for tyranny and oppression such as we experienced prior to this past year's board.
...... Finally, I don't remember my wife (who I sure as hell am going to talk to about what goes on at the board meetings as I have a vested interest in the outcome) ever signing a non-disclosure agreement to join the board. What kind of building would we live in if this was a requirement. The veiled threat not withstanding, I plan on continuing to be a sounding board for my wife's constant frustration with the current board meetings.
Kind regards,
XXXX

-------------
[my responce to him:]

Dear XXX:
The following is an excerpt from the NY Cooperator magazine, a great legal and informational resource:

A more grievous error, and one which often is committed both by seasoned and entry-level board members alike, is forgetting that what goes on behind the board room door is privileged, confidential information. ..

“It shouldn’t be part of pillow talk or conversation with friends and neighbors or family,” …

I provide you links below to many resources and articles explaining exactly why confidentiality is important, and why it can cost the building hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits as well as Board members being personally liable (potentially costing in some cases your apartment and life savings) if not adhered to.


Secret votes are not the foundation for tyranny. When I go into the booth on November 2nd, although I register and sign in, I do not punch my name in before selecting a candidate. And if I did, it is no business of my neighbor or anyone else, excepting who I choose, who I voted for ..........................

“The veiled threat not withstanding, I plan on continuing to be a sounding board for my wife's constant frustration with the current board meetings.” If the confidentiality of what goes on behind closed Board room doors is deliberately and consistently breached, and you continue to be the “sounding board”, it will be impossible for her to continue to serve on the Board as this breached a fiduciary responsibility and places a liability on the rest of the Board, the Corporation and the Shareholders.

So while you disagree with the rules (and you are entitled to feel the way you like), they must be followed. Your respect, support and understanding is greatly appreciated and counted on from here on.

The following is some articles for your understanding and perusal:

http://cooperator.com/articles/1185/1/To-Err-is-Human/Page1.html

http://cooperator.com/articles/1491/1/Board-Resource-Guide-Etiquette-for-Board-Members/Page1.html

http://cooperator.com/pages/SearchResults.html?cx=009347938684388107075%3Apfc5cy13cda&cof=FORID%3A11&q=board+members+confidentiality&sa=Search#737

This is just on a quick search… I can provide many more specific articles and resources for you if you still disagree.

Kindly understand, part of my commission and responsibility is to guide and protect the Board from liability regardless of the origin.

I trust and hope we can understand each other and work together to build a unified dwelling place that is a home, profitable investment and happy place for everyone alike. Feel free to contact me at any time to discuss this matter in further detail if you wish.
Kindly guide yourself accordingly in this matter
Sincerely,
Anthony Reinglas

------------
GK:
check out the links provided in the email above.. they should assist you also.

I hope all that adaquately addressed and/or helped your concerns??

Best

~AR

AR,

I've been meaning to thank you for your response.

In fact I was familiar with the articles you cited and even emailed copies a while back to the BP. Didn't make a dent. This is someone who brings an enormous amount to the board and demonstrates great leadership qualities. He is also very much a by-the-book kind of person — except, strangely, when it comes to his wife and to the former board president, with whom he also discusses board matters in detail. When it comes to those two, the BP has a real blind spot unfortunately, and all rules go out the window.

The building next door to us suffered a major outage event. To wit, one major section of the sewer line collapsed and thus one wing of the building (21 stories, 165 units) was rendered uninhabitable as the units could not discharge any waste water.

The building moved the affected folks into a hotel for five days, paying for room and board as emergency repairs were made. The owners received no abatement, nor were they entitled to any.

If folks own a home and one room suffers damage from a tree that punches a hole through the roof or wall, does the mortgage company forgive n% of the monthly payment because part of the home is uninhabitable? Nope.

Just because a room is rendered unusable as the coop effects appropriate repairs does not mean one is granted a waiver of some of the maintenance fees. Stuff happens, so just move along.

If as noted by the managing agent the room is rendered uninhabitable because of an event that is the coop’s responsibility, waste pipe in the wall failed, heating/cooling unit (if coop is responsible) failed, etc. The resident may make a claim for abatement if the repairs are not performed in a timely manner. Typically this becomes one of litigation, unless both sides are enlightened. The operative term is timely.

PLease see:
http://realestateqa.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/how-to-handle-unresolved-repairs/

You should check with your attorney to make sure, but assuming that your Board president was not connected with the sponsor, it's generally within the rules for *anyone* to collect as many proxies as they please. These proxies must be signed and dated by the shareholder(s) of record. If someone gives out more than one proxy -- which does indeed happen -- the more recently dated proxy is the one that counts.

It is decidedly tacky for someone to elect a Board through a proxy-based "palace coup." Unfortunately, unless your lawyer can find some loophole you haven't mentioned, it's probably legal.

We recommend that if a shareholder wishes to vote by proxy, then the proxy and ballot should be returned to the managing agent. This isn't required, but it gives people confidence that their proxies won't be misused.

Ted, We had the same problem.
1-Check the original documents related to the building turning coop... Our Sponsor was only allowed to automatically have a seat for about the first five years.
2-As long as the Sponsor gives his proxies to a SH, in our case, it was legal and for 16 years we had a board domoniated by one SH.
However, two things happened to change this. The Sponsor stopped supporting this SH and eventually sold his shares. Often Sponsors dont care, give thier vote the the first person that ask, or -- believe that this person is helping them in some way. See if you can reason with the Sponsor.
3-After being blocked from getting on the Board, SH voted to expand the board from 5 to 7, changed our voting to non-cumulative, and were abel to ouste the tirants.
EMail Power... Organize the SH, and get everyone in the Email loop, communication, transparicy are the two most important tools you have. Good luck VP

Unfortunately, this is the all too common scenario.

In a handful of my buildings, I manage the sponsors shares as well as the cooperatives shares...
What I have observed however is most of the times in the past where the sponsor gave his proxies to the BP, it wasn’t even out of, or with the intent of specific support, but more out of an apathetic laziness….. As long as everything is going fine, might as well keep it the same mentality… Just giving their proxies to the BP because it is the easiest thing to do….

Many sponsors would consider abstaining from the vote if given a reason and asked to… I have on many occasions appeared so there is a quorum, then abstained from voting to allow a true democratic vote. This seemed to always be appreciated by the remaining shareholders…
You might want to suggest this the next time around….

~AR

Don't your building have a service contract with one of the areas elevator company's?

The elevator company that you contract, and management are chiefly responsible.
The elevator company performs the monthly maintenance, so a "failure to maintain" should never occur.
Management should always be on top of any and all open issues as well such as ensuring that the pit and elevator rooms are kept clean and free of oil, water & debris; plus ensuring that all reoccurring tests and inspections (many rules have changed this year)

~AR

Yes, the board is responsible to ensure that the managing agent, the superintendent, etc. follow all federal, OSHA, state, city rules and regulations.

What do we do?

We spend a few bucks and we hire an outside engineering consulting firm that specializes in elevator systems.

This engineering firm inspects our elevator systems quarterly and writes a report that we then forward to our elevator maintenance firm. Small firms have merged (been acquired by large firms) so there is no real competition. But do be aware, all firms are cutting corners and costs and even if you scream, there is so much business due to consolidation of service companies, that they don't care.

It ain’t pretty, but if something happens we have our engineering report as the basis of a lawsuit.

We complained about the poor quality of work to our elevator service firm and the VP of the service firm retorted: “Go elsewhere, we don’t need you”.

But, with so few firms, there aren’t qualified alternatives with staff that can respond 24x7.

And, many parts, such as door rollers that seem to fail quite often, are made in our favorite manual labor state: China.

Alas, this is the state of the elevator world, it isn't all up, very unfortunately.

I work as a Resident Manager, I make sure that my elevator company inspects the elevator twice a year and they have to sign off on it. Also every 5 years at my previous building which was pre-war, I recommended to my board to hire an engineer independent from our elevator company to inspect it and to give a full report of any necessary repairs, I thought this was a good idea, for the reason that if I were to ask the elevator company they would of found laundry list of problems were the engineer has nothing else to gain ($$) except an honest report. The managing agent should be much more pro-active, as far as the board goes they only know what the super and the manager want them to know, unless they start asking questions.

Thank you Joseph for sharing this... This is exactly what the protocol should be.

I like your comment about the Board only knowing what the super and manager want them to know because it is very true; and this is exactly why it is the managing agents responsibility to ensure continued compliance in these areas. This is something that needs to be (if not already) in every management contract.

~AR

Fleetwood Lock and Alarm Yonkers Ave Yonkers. Ask for Mike.