I am a board member, and our board president has stated that we have an informal confidentiality policy that must be followed. what is the official confidentiality policy for board members by law? He argues that ANYTHING said at a board meeting should not be shared with shareholders. I think this is a violation of our rights and of shareholder rights. Certain things like shareholder information, liability concerns, etc. are not for public consumption. But other issues that are already public can be shared and in fact I believe should be shared. Our by-laws say nothing about confidentiality - what is our legal responsibility to confidentiality, and what can and should be shared with shareholders?
Our coop board is considering setting minimum sales prices for apartments in our building. Has any other coop done it or considered it and decided not to? Is it legal? Do you have to have something in the proprietary lease or bylaws permitting such a thing? Under what circumstances is it desirable/justifiable? How do you go about setting minimum prices? What do you do if the shareholder can't find a buyer willing to pay as much as the minimum price?
This is from today's NYT. There must be only one manager in a coop according to the Business Laws. Question is what are the:
Pros?
Cons?
all input welcome.
Can Sponsors Employ Their Own Managers?
By JAY ROMANO
Published: March 23, 2008
Q In a co-op, must the managing agent for the co-op and sponsor-owned apartments be the same?
A “This is an interesting question because it may seem, in practice, that the law on the issue is ignored,” said Andrew Brucker, a Manhattan co-op and condo lawyer. He said that under a section of New York State’s General Business Law addressing issues governing the conversion of rental buildings to co-ops, all apartments occupied by nonpurchasing tenants must be managed by the same agent who manages all the other apartments in the building.
Yet many sponsors who own unsold apartments have someone else who deals with those tenants. “The sponsor typically hires someone to collect rents from the tenants, to pay maintenance to the co-op and to deal with any tenant problems they may have,” Mr. Brucker said. “Although the law seems to indicate that there can be only one managing agent in a building, this is not the way most buildings with nonpurchasing tenants operate.”
Our Board has just denied a S/H the right to have a proxy represent him at the S/H meeting. This right of a S/H is covered in our By-laws, and in our 20 year history -- we have always alowed proxy's.
This S/H cannot attend, and has been very vocal on a position strongly opposed by four board members. Two B/M objected and pointed out the law and legal def of a proxy --but they have been ignored.
The By-Laws are a Coops Constitution and is set in place to protect the S/H, and can only be altered by a vote from the S/H.
We know about getting the S/H to vote, but we need more backing. Any advice as to where to turn? A/Gs office? Any contact names.
Thank you,,, Alice
Really? Did you read your proprietary lease and found the exact item where such a restriction is stipulated?
As ST told you, you may mail it to the shareholders, do what politician do by standing outside the elevators in the lobby or mailboxes and meet residents or post your own flyer on bulletin boards if one or several are available throughout the buildng.
You may enlist some neighbors who may be willing to spread the voice on your ideas for the board, etc., invite people to your apartment or meet people over the laundry room.
Finally, have a good presentation for the night of the elections so that co-shareholders know why you are running, what attributes or behaviors characterize you as a team player, effective delegator or good collaborator. Remember 1/4 of the people are leaders; 1/2 collaborators and 1/4 empathizers. You need a good blend on the board to have an effective board.
Good luck on election night!
AdC
Our building’s proprietary lease does not permit any handouts at any time to shareholders, e.g.: under apartment doors, in the lobby, on the property, etc.
The existing board when it runs for reelection, although there has been some turnover, e.g.: on person per year over the last five years (seven person board) posts the names of all incumbents who are running again and all who have submitted their names for consideration on the building’s bulletin board and then it puts a letter under all apartment doors with the same information, including a brief resume of each person running for the board.
As I wish to run for office, I have asked the board for permission to put campaign information under the doors.
The board’s response to multiple requests has been that the proprietary lease does not permit any distribution of materials at any time.
In fairness, the board does not lobby for reelection via any materials under any apartment doors. Rather, shareholders who are aligned with the existing board members will solicit shareholders, but these folks do not distribute any information.
My alternative is mailings to the shareholders.
The building does not have a regular newsletter with chit/chat items. In fact, there is no co-op newsletter. Rather the president of the board, a member of the board, the board itself will distribute information pertinent to taxes, assessments, maintenance costs, capital expenditures, insurance, etc.
Notices regarding the annual shareholder meeting are mailed as required by the proprietary lease.
Sometimes, information such a fire alarm tests, elevator tests, AC plant activation, heating system activation, pool applications, health spa annual membership, etc. are posted in each floor’s elevator lobby.
What are my options without violating the proprietary lease?
As a brand new board member, just elected, I have a question.
I have been inquiring about the process to refinance our buildings existing mortgage.
I have been told that our management company can orchestrate this on our boards behalf, which we would like, but they will charge us a fee to do so.
What should we expect to be the charges for this service? Is this typical?
Has anyone encountered a hurdle that the co-op is declining to allow access to the shareholder lists, citing privacy requirements imposed by the Patriot Act?
Has anyone been faced with a partial or complete prohibition? For example, partial only names are shown, only last names shown, displayed without address (some residents have an alternate address or an alternate primary residence), phone, SS#,
Does the Patriot Act trump the proprietary lease?
Just wondering....
Tried to post this back when the board was down. Yay, it's back up.
We put in a new elevator about a year ago. Our managing agent didn't file a J51 doesn't know if we'd be eligible or not for it. Based on some web-reading, it looks like, for Manhattan, if the units are valued over $40k, the building may not be eligible. Is that correct? Has anyone succeeded, in Manhattan, in getting a J51 abatement? Does your managing agent handle it or do you need a special lawyer to file? Thanks for info or suggestions on how we should follow up.
our Super has started making private arangments with the sponsor to renovate/ hire subcontractors to work on the sponsor apts when they open up for rental. These jobs do not seem to have permits and the contractor may be unlicensed to do electrical, plumbing etc. What can we do and why is allowing this to happen not in the best interests of a cooperative?
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Confidentiality has several ramifications as to shareholder information, contract information, board member information (e.g.: voting, opposed or for), salaries, etc.
Here are some references.
Just for starters
http://cooperator.com/articles/1491/1/Board-Resource-Guide-Etiquette-for-Board-Members/Page1.html
http://cooperator.com/articles/1069/1/The-Need-to-Know/Page1.html
http://cooperator.com/articles/1096/1/Disseminating-Information/Page1.html
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