Two suggestions. First, we keep our reserve fund in multiple CDs with rolling maturity dates. This way, each chunk can be locked up for a longer term -- so we get a somewhat higher interest rate -- but there's always a chunk of the money available every 30 days, should we need it.

Another possibility is triple-tax-free municipal bonds. These can pay as much as 3% interest (last time I checked), and the interest is completely non-taxable, so your effective yield is even higher.

Have you read this Habitat article?

Investing Is Easy Doing It Well Is Hard http://www.habitatmag.com/publication_content/2008_may/web_exclusive_adaptations/investing_reserve_funds May 2008 Hotline - Reserve Funds

Accumulated some extra funds? Habitat examines some ways to make use of those funds and grow them.

We've been satisfied by NCB (f.k.a. National Cooperative Bank) "CDARS" program. CDARS is a network of FDIC-insured banks whereby the depositor's fund are split among various CDs so that each CD's principal and accrued interest is protected in full by FDIC insurance. In other words, it saves you the hassle of buying brokered CDs or going to different banks to ensure that no more than $100,000 in principal and anticipated accrued interest is deposited at any one FDIC insured bank. You can also ladder the CDs in the CDARS program if you want to go longer on the maturity curve to secure higher interest rates.

In my building (Cooperative) I inform my supervisor at the management company and they inform the Board of Directors.

Our superintendent needs to give the board 2 months notice if he wants vacation and then the board votes whether to give it to him our not. This gives us enough time to fine a superintendent.

Management has no authority to grant vacation. (Non union Super)

V

Our managing agent has say so on when the super goes on vacation. The board has no say whatsoever.

I currently work as a full-time super/resident manager. Whenever I intended to go on vacation, I e-mail all the board members to let them know, I then will call the board president to make sure its ok. I do this for the simple reason that nothing is planned for the time I will be away, even though when I am away I have good coverage. Then after I get the ok, I will then inform the building manager. But also my board and I have a GREAT relationship, so then again if I were to tell them at the last minute they would happily tell me to enjoy myself, and to not worry about the building, it will be here when you return. What this board needs to do is define the level of communication. Also who has the right authorize vacation request and in most buildings its usually 30 day written notice is standard, unless a emergency or death should arise.

If your Board wants a say, it has every right to have a say. In our particular case, our property manager does an excellent job coordinating vacation time with our Superintendent in terms of finding coverage, not scheduling any big projects during the vacation, and sending memos to all shareholders with the contact information for the replacement. With that in mind, our Board's take is that we set policy and the managing agent is paid to handle the nitty-gritty day-to-day tasks like Superintendent vacation time. How hand-on your Board wants to be is up to you Board members--not your property manager.

Without revealing the name, what is the reason for the change? What are the thoughts of the shareholders?

The issue seems to be "out with the old, in with the new" to set a different direction for the coop than has previously been chartered. It would seem silly, but many have gotten on the band wagon.

Our coop has no name other than its street address. We have at least one shareholder who wants us to call ourselves "The Bromingfield" or some such, but whenever this issue is raised at our annual meeting, it is invariably met with rolling eyes and are-you-kidding looks from the other shareholders.

That said, it might not be unreasonable to consider a name change if (a) you've just done a major overhaul of the building and want a snazzy new name to attract buyers, or (b) your building is named something really awful like "Hitler House."

I haven't, but many aspects of Coops are governed by the NYS Business Corporation Law. Regular business corporations change their name (e.g. Apple Computers is now Apple Inc.) so I can't imagine it's that hard for a coop to do. I would think the Certificate of Incorporation would have to be changed.

Corporation names are registered with the State and you will be engaging your counsel if this is being changed. However, unless a name in a municipality may be extremely well known, you may not need to request a formal name change.

Although the NYT article cited below refers to commercial buildings, I can see how this may be similar to residential buildings and why certain individuals may wish to change the name of the building where you live.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/business/05name.html?fta=y


Finally, I said a while ago, that a shareholder who puts $200,000t to change the doors of the co-op not expected to be paid back, perhaps should have his/her name be part of the building. (Just a joke!!!)

AdC

The wax ring is shareholder's responsibility. Why? Because without a wax ring, a toilet (shareholder owned fixture) cannot be set into the lead bend. The wax ring acts like a gasket.

The lead bend - This is infrastructure. Connects the stack with the hole on the floor of the bathroom. The led bend is securted to the floor of the bathroom with the flange. When the lead bend fails, the co-op replaces it and changes the wax ring at no cost to the shareholder.. Please note that the toilet must be removed so that the new lead bend is fastened to the flange.


Flange - Co-op responsibility. This is the end of the infrastructure plumbing. I"t "grabs" the lead bend and secures it to the floor of the bathroom.


AdC

Unless you damaged the bathroom subflfoor for which you are responsible, you may repair the tiles with common original tiles to provide evenness when setting the toilet. Remember, tiles are the responsibility of the shareholder as it is not co-op responsibility. The co-op is responsible for subflooring. This is an area of great misunderstanding and sensitivity when a floor is chopped or damaged and expensive tiles or flooring are placed by shareholders. Shareholders need to have extra tiles for contingency situations such as the one you describe.

However, watchout for double tiles, i.e., a tile floor placed on top of the original tile in the bathroom. This is a shortcut that creates problems. In other words, the new tile may have elevated the floor under the toilet and created a separation between the toilet and flange that now requires a double wax ring. This problem sometimes creates water leaks.

Another shortcut that you may see is the second flooring was placed around the toilet, i.e., the tile person did not remove the toilet to place the second flooring, thus surrounded the toilet with the new tiles. If these surrounding tiles around the toilet were chopped to remove and reset the toilet, I would refuse doing anything. After all why take responsibility for shoddy work. In my view, a shareholder short changed the work with unprofessional work. Thus, they should pay the consequences of a poor election.

AdC

Thanks ADC. Are you saying that the Corp does not have to replace the floor tiles?, just provide a level surface for the new tiles to be adhered to? When we change shower bodies, we replace the tile-why the difference?

I said, "you may repair the tiles with common original tiles to provide evenness when setting the toilet". If the shareholder has stock of the expensive tiles and you are using a contractor or someone to repair the chopped floor, rather than using common tile, you use what the shareholder supplies. However, the co-op should not pay for fancy tiles. The shareholder should be able to claim the loss through their its personal insurance.

Regarding your shower body, the answer is the same. To replace a shower body, your plumber needs to break the wall behid the tiles and break at least 8 to 10 tiles. Once the shower body is changed, you need to repair the wall behind the tile and you only need to cover with common tile. If the shareholder used fancy tiles, he should claim the loss through personal property insurance or provide the person who will restore the wall behind theh tile with the fancy tile to complete the job.

Remember, if there is a water leak that is determined to be part of coop responsibility and the wall was covered with a very expensive wallpaper or special decorative paint, the co-op is only responsible to repair the damage in a professional manner and prime the wall, but is not required to replace the wallpaper or repaint the wall in the original decorative manner. The shareholder claims damages through personal insurance.

AdC

the tenants must come to the basement to pick up the items. from this particular delivery company. If they are not home then that is a differnt story. however, if the tenant is at home, they must come to the basement. Either that or the handtruck is eliminated in the basement and the boxes must go up by hand. usually they are not that heavy. many times the reason the fresh direct people like to go to the actual doors of the tenants is to get a tip.

Thanks, ST. That's a good suggestion. If the delivery people can carry the boxes w/o the handtruck, it's fine to use the lobby. Our concern is protecting the lobby not any sense of snobbishness about keeping delivery people out of sight.

When we updated our Proprietary Lease in 2006, an amendment successfully passed that requires a Board member to resign if s/he or an immediate family member is suing the Coop.

The board member must recuse himself/herself from any information, deliberations or decision-making relating to the subject.

Unfortunately, it takes some types of individuals not to even think that the spouse is placed in evidence in such a situation. Also, the BM whose spouse is suing may not be registering that she/he is placed in a highly vulnerable position in front of other residents by not stepping down. It's just hard to think about it!

AdC

We use Service Directions Inc
They are OK

http://www.servicedirections.com/index.php

Try Metered Appliance Company of Woodside,NY We had them for seven years and probably will renew with them. We got rid of Coinmach.

important: make sure whatever laundry company you chooses, renovates your laundry room (for free of course) - new floortiles, paintjob, table & chairs etc. also use side loading machines only and not top loaders - will save big $ water charges.

Goodness, we had a terrible time with Metered Appliances. Laundry card system frequently screwed up, and the company ignored calls from residents and management. We got out of our contract after only a year; we're now using MacGray and are happy with them so far.

The ONLY problem we had with Metered Appliance was with the money card. They solved the problem by putting in two money machines so that we had a spare at all times,at no cost to us. They responded to all service call within 24 hours. We found them good, and are in the process working out the details of a new contract.

One thing for sure we would NEVER use Coinmach.

We just renewed our contract with Hercules. They have been very attentive and helpful.

We use Fowler and are reasonably happy with them. That's not a glowing recommendation and is not intended to be, but there have been no disasters.

Your Coinmach contract is a problem and it sounds like you need to ask your lawyer about it. In particular, are you saying they won't even tell you when the contract expires?!

One key point: we insisted on a "Management Agreement" with Fowler rather than the standard contract, which gives us more leeway and gets rid of the objectionable clauses in most laundry contracts. The "Right of First Refusal" clause has been invalidated by the courts (Google the 2005 NYT article called "A Ruling on Contracts for Laundry Rooms"). Interestingly, the losing party in that case was Coinmach.

Automatic renewal is another headache you'll need to discuss with your lawyer. I *think* they have to send you written notice at renewal time, but I'm not sure.

NB - Contracts state that you must give your laundry co written notice within a certain time (e.g, 90 days) if you won't renew them. We gave Coinmach proper notice and went with Hercules this year, in fact we sent them 3 letters since Dec. They said they never got them, couldn't read the signed receipts we faxed them, wouldn't respond to calls from us or Hercules to remove their machines. The transition took much longer than it had to.

Our coop attorney finally called our rep and confirmed by email and letter to him that if they didn't remove their machines by (date), we'd uninstall and store them, and if they wanted them they had to come get them by (x date). That finally worked.

Check your legal position with your attorney and don't take any nonsense from Coinmach or let them waste your time. They'll give you a lot of excuses, if they reply at all. They did this to us, and I know other bldgs that had the same problem. Hercules renovated our laundry room, they'll been very attentive, and we're very pleased with them. Our prop mgr said some of his other bldgs use them and never had any complaints about them. Another laundry co I've heard of that's supposed to have a good reputation is Sepco.

1) if Coinmach cannot produce a contract then you are free and clear. anyhow you could threaten to sue them is they balk. get rid of them - they have a terrible reputation.

2) only 2 machines?? GET YOUR OWN ONES. seriously - get your own - research it - you can make good money for hte coop. and use the warrently onthe machines to have them fixed if they break. get very energy efficient ones and have a coinbox attached. you can do this!

Coinmach provides service, going above and beyond the call of duty, in my experience as a board director and co-op resident of many years.

Coinmach is #1 for a reason. They get the job done. There are some unfair comments here by folks who don't or won't sign their own names. When someone Anonymous says a negative about Coinmach that's meaningless. That could be a competitor for all we know.

In fact all these comments negating or praising one outfit or another without context are without meaning. What size building are you talking about? What is the paper trail of unresolved omplaints? Why dont you get new machines? It takes two to tango I've always found.

So back up your words, or back off.

Whoa! "Coinmach is #1 for a reason"? On what basis? Net revenue? Annual gross? Independent customer survey? This is such obvious company PR-speak, and it's clear to everyone here that you affiliated with the company.

"back up your words, or back off" is no way to speak to other people on this forum.

Messages like this have the opposite effect you're hoping for. People here take complaints with a grain of salt, and this thread has seen comments pro and con about numerous companies.

But I would never go with Coinmach now after such a transparent, defensive attempt at self-promotion.

Dear Sir or Madam,

This confident analysis of what is obvious, clear, pr speak, impact of bt postings, etc. is interesting.

Unfortunate your main conclusion is incorrect. I am not affiliated with Coinmach. Just a satisfied customer. Whether or not you - whoever you are - go with Coinmach, or a competitor, is your decision.

Let's try to be helpful to this forum's participants seeking fair and balanced information (I'm not affiliated with Fox News either) and stay with the issue(s) at hand.

After all, it all comes out in the wash. Have a pleasant day!

I notice you didn't answer my question: How do you "know" the company "is #1"?

What is the basis of that claim? I offered three examples of possibilities.

Did you perhaps read it in newspaper? A trade magazine article? Or, perhaps, a press release? Since no one outside a publicist says "Such-and-such is #1 for a reason."

Ask yourself how you "know" this supposed fact. Making vague and unsupported claims of market position shows an agenda -- and THAT is what's not "helpful to this forum's participants."

We have had a difficult time with Hi-Rise Laundry Service. It takes numerous calls from the property manager, superintendent, and residents before they will send a service crew to repair a broken machine. Of course, other coops may have had an entirely different experience, but that's ours.

We have had good experience with them. Like all laundry companies, they have their good and bad points, but in general, our residents are satisfied.

Inspired by this thread, we've placed a great story by Elizabeth Jensen on our front page, all about how to negotiate a great laundry-room contract -- even if you're still in mid-cycle.

Check it out:
"Laundry-Room Contracts: How Not to Get Soaked"

on the front page through Wed., July 30, and permalinked at

http://www.habitatmag.com/publication_content/featured_articles_updated_three_times_weekly__1/laundry_room_contracts

Where is the article now?

http://www.habitatmag.com/publication_content/2006_november/web_exclusive_adaptations/laundry_room_contracts

We bought our own coin op washer dryers thru this company much better service there website is selaundryequipment.com if this helps you

would you consider an energy audit? the state subsidizes this and you will be guided through this process by professionals.

Thanks, st. Yes, we have conducted an energy audit for the building, so the Board has been implementing actions, e.g. switching to compact fluorescent bulbs, that help the building save energy. I was thinking more along the lines of what AdC described, namely how individual shareholders can change their habits to reduce energy consumption. for example, she mentioned how some shareholders routinely call both elevators to save a few seconds despite causing more electrical use and wear & tear.

DN, for the energy audit, did you go through NYSERDA? Did your managing agent submit the application/help with the application process?

I have been under the impression that an audit through NYSERDA is not completely subsidized. Would you mind telling me what the cost was for the audit?

Thanks.

Before my time, so don't know. However, the audit report was written by "Energy Management and Research Associates" (516) 481-1455. As mentioned, our Board is taking steps recommended in the audit to curtail energy use, but that's for things under the Board's control, e.g., the hallway lights. We need to better convince individuals to cut down on their water use. Too bad individual shareholders aren't directly metered for their own water & sewer charges.

What's that?...

No, I'm not being facetious, but there is a need to bring reality by harping $$$ signs.

Example: Shareholders are complaining of higher and higher maintenance as a result of the crude oil crisis. Therefore, boards should take this opportunity to speak about the followoing:

1. Use of elevators: If your building has two elevators or more, it's practice for residents to put both elevators to work at the same time when they are trying to call for one. By pressing both bottons, the elevators begin working and twice as much electrical use is being used.

2. Hot water: If your building uses the boiler to produce water, let individuals know that fuel oil is being wasted if they have a hot water leak in their faucets.

3. Speak about doing savings related to water in general - constantly running toilets, long showers, allowing running water are issues that demand education. Also, in buildings with booster pumps, the pumps will work longer hours as a result of higher demand due to water waste.

4. Suggest home audits and builidng audits to capture wasted electrical, heat, gas, etc. By also including home audits, perhaps people may learn to know that they can personally benefit from an audit.

Unfortunately, our country has been blessed by niceties (not to say LUXURIES) that were outside the European societies until 10-15 years ago. Thus, our current economic situation may be a blessing to bring some measure of reflection regarding our excesses.

Good luck!

AdC