In preparing our draft 2024 budget, the Treasurer has listed the co-op tax abatement as an expense but not as income. How do other co-ops handle this?
Thank you.
Hello
What do you think of a Board hiring a construction company to work on a project but then they hired a subcontractor? the contractor is overseeing the subcontractor. Why??? To me that doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t the engineer company oversee the construction company? Why do we need two construction companies unless someone isn’t insured properly. They didn’t hire a huge engineer company so that could be the case. They assessed the damage etc but that’s it. I’m also assuming its also cheaper. The two Construction companies working together are going to agree with anything that’s done but if the engineer company oversees it then it’s fair and a neutral.
The board of directors has changed the resale policy without consulting with the rest of the shareholders and didn't even notify them after changing it. It is now much harder to sell/buy an apartment, because our coop is already an HDFC building, but the board decided to put even more restrictions (for example, the buyer cannot buy the apartment for cash and cannot have more than a certain amount of assets). Is it within the board authority to change the resale policy without the approval of the majority of the shareholders?
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Hi all,
I have found myself in a peculiar situation, and I have no idea where to turn to in order to get some sound advice. I'm hoping you can help!
I recently had an offer accepted on an HDFC co-op. Initially, when I first reached out to the agent listing the property, I was told I made above the income cap so I would not qualify. Later, he got back to me and told me that the income cap had been raised, and I now qualified. This is all in writing.
Fast forward to now and I have already completed a home survey, and my lawyer has gotten me to the point where I am just about to sign the sales contract. Unfortunately, he received communication from the sellers lawyer that neither the seller, the lawyer, the co-op board, or the co-op board president had been told that the income cap had been "raised". The seller's lawyer has said said that if I try to proceed, it will mean that I am negotiating in bad faith. The agent that I have been dealing with has said multiple times that it is fine, and that he has received explicit permission from the board president to allow me to proceed with the purchase. He has suggested that the problem is with the coop board not being able to put anything in writing, and that the sellers lawyer is just being overly cautious. It's all very strange I know, but why would the agent take me so far down this path if he hadn't cleared everything with the co-op board already?
My question is: can an income cap be raised for a purchaser who earns more than what is stated in the co-op policy, or is this figure written in stone.
Thank you.
Hello, I'm concerned that my fellow board members do not have a clear understanding of what their responsibilities are as fiduciaries for the condo association. Could someone please provide me with an up-to-date article on the fiduciary responsibilities of board members? These are not explained in our condo by-laws, but as I understand it New York State/ City regulations stipulate that elected Condo and Co-op board members act as fiduciaries for the Condo/ Co-op association. A definition of "fiduciary responsibility" as part of the article would be helpful. (In doing a search I did find a couple of articles, but they were from about 10 years back. I think my colleagues need to see an up-to-date article) Thanks.
> Join the conversation Comments (1)I was elected to my Condo's board, and I'd like to follow proper procedures. A volunteer took notes at the meeting (I was elected at the end of the meeting), and his notes are much too detailed. I served on a board several years back; and recall that notes are not supposed to be extremely detailed. Also, when are the notes supposed to be okayed, and by whom? Any other tips on minutes --for annual meetings, as well as for Board meetings--and for record-keeping, in general? Thanks.
> Join the conversationOur condo's original offering plan (written decades ago), including by-laws, specified a certain number of board officers which was an even number. In practice, however, over the last several years, there have only been a small, odd number of board members who have been elected and served. A long-term owner told me that someone, several years back, decided to merge 2 of the roles mentioned in the by-laws into one--but that change is not reflected in any addendum or revision to the offering plan. My question: Wouldn't we formally need to change the by-laws in order for this practice to be kosher? I do know we'd have to pay attorney fees, but wouldn't this fairly slight change be less expensive than others? Thanks for any intel.
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This is the scenario:
7 Board members total.
4 Board members vote to direct general Coop funds to an elective project that directly and only benefits those 4 board members.
Motion Passes since the vote is 4 yes, 3 no.
Legal?
I'm on the board of a small condo, which has an even number of units. Unlike co-ops, our votes are not "weighted' by the number of shares for each apartment since, obviously, condo apartments do not have assigned shares. If just two candidates are running for a board seat, it's possible that there will be a tie (assuming that each unit only has one vote, regardless of the number of residents in the unit). In the event of a tie, how can this be resolved? PS, the original board documents are of no help since they are very poorly written.
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Does anyone have any thoughts regarding shareholders paying their maintenance?
The best option? Convenient and/or cost?
Portal? Manual check sent out or shareholders filling out a form that a co-op will then deduct the funds from your bank?
If we use a portal is that part of the management company fee or a separate cost?
Portal is the most convenient and up to date while still letting the shareholders have control.
The downside of that would be some seniors maybe not comfortable with that process.
Thank you and would appreciate feedback.
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1) Calculate the *total* dollar amount of the full abatement. Include all abatement components such as R/E tax, STAR credit, and Veterans Credit into this single dollar amount.
2) Divide the total abatement dollar amount by the total number of co-op shares.
3) Board approves a one-time shareholder assessment in the amount of the value calculated in step #2, per share.
No shareholder will receive the exact amount from the abatement that they are being assessed per share. Some will have a net gain and others a net loss.
This is due to the incomparable way the abatements and assessments are calculated. DOF abatements use alchemy and voodoo chants to decide how much each unit (apartment) will receive as an abatement.
On the other hand, the assessment the board authorizes is on a strictly per-share basis. By corporate law, every share in a co-op must be treated equally. Thus each share owned by all the units must be assessed the same amount, to the penny.
For example, lets take Unit 7D which owns 100 shares. The DOF, without any further explanation, sends the managing agent a spreadsheet showing Unit 7D is to receive an abatement total of $900.
After doing the Total-Abatement/Total-Share calculation, the managing agent reports to the board that to break even, an assessment of $10 per share. Doing the calculation:
$10.00 per-share * 100 shares = $1,000 total assessment
we find that Unit 7D will have a net loss of $100 ($1,000 - $900). The owner of Unit 7D's shares will be hopping mad, but there is nothing the board can do. The differential is due to the ways the abatement and the assessment are required to be calculated.
Good luck!
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