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Wow. I'm sorry that your co-op is having so many issues. How many units are in your co-op and how many positions are there on the Board?

Let me review your items in order.

"List of Board members that makes no sense."
...Just curious since I've never heard that statement before. In what way doesn't it make sense?

"The Board has the right to appoint Board members."
...If you had a full Board and then one or more Board members subsequently resigned or were removed before the next Annual Meeting, then the Board definitely has the right to appoint or not appoint someone to fill some or all of those Board positions prior to the next Annual Meeting - pandemic or not. It's happened to us several times over the years.

However, we have never been in your position where we don't have a full Board to begin with, so I don't know if it's legal to appoint Board members to fill all vacant Board positions prior to the next Annual Meeting. That's an entirely different situation.

My guess is no. How can you fill a position that no one was elected to in the first place because you didn't have a quorum. But, since I'm not a lawyer, I could be wrong, so I'd suggest contacting the co-op's attorney (if you know who it is) to ask this important question.

"What about the fact that they did so without notifying any shareholders?"
...That is blatantly wrong. They definitely should have notified shareholders of positions being filled on the Board. But, what are the penalties for failing to do so? I don't know. That's another question to ask the attorney.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's illegal to fill Board positions with people that you or I find lacking moral values - even if they were convicted of crimes in a court of law. I'm sure that the prior secretary not taking minutes is a violation of any co-op's By-laws. Again, another question for the attorney.

I know it's a lot of work, but have you tried talking to your fellow shareholders in an effort to organize other people (perhaps yourself) to run for the Board? Seems like the only way to get rid of the current Board is to throw the bums out by electing different people. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it.

That's all I have for you at this moment. I wish you the best of luck. Stay strong. I'm sure there are other shareholders who feel the same as you do. You need to find and organize them.

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As far as I know there is no statute or regulation requiring a board to disclose how an assessment will be used. Something called the Business Judgement Rule gives boards broad discretionary powers to make decisions without having to justify them, as long as they are legal and in the best interests of the co-op.

It sounds to me as if you already have some idea of where the money will go. Have you tried asking the board what the assessment will be used for? Most boards will inform their shareholders beforehand why the are being assessed, but there is no specific requirement to do so I am aware of.

They could use as generic a reason as "reserve fund replenishment", which, in the situation you describe, is a very valid reason.

If you believe there is some sort of malfeasance going on, either check with an attorney or search online for how to report suspected co-op board misbehavior. Ultimately you can vote to replace members of the board at the annual shareholder meeting, or if it is urgent enough, check your bylaws for how to cal a special shareholder meeting for the purpose of recalling one or more of the board members.

Thank you Steve. Your first paragraph answers my question.
I had been asking the building's management company to tell me beforehand what their plans were. Now, understanding that there is no requirement for them to do so, I'm done with that request.

The rest is stuff I either already knew, or cannot actualize. Too long, too pathetic a story to tell of a building where at our last shareholders meeting, we couldn't even elect a new board b/c we didn't have a quorum. It's that kind of building—impossible to accomplish much. Very annoying.

Thanks again.

I understand what you are going through can be very agravating and frustrating. Good luck with receiving the information you are asking for.

Assessment? Finances are a focal point of your getting voted in( my opinion) in. Those who vote you in want you to represent them especially how their money is being saved, used etc. It seems board members( some of them) like to approve any and every thing. Then you have shortages and how do you make it up INCREASES!!! This to me is the wrong approach, spent the Coop funds as if it was your personal bank account. All board members should have monthly account balances and what checks are written. Part of the problem is, the laws in regard to Coop's should be tightened and accountability, if not, then boards can go unchecked and the state can do nothing. My opinion, Vote people on the board who are accountable to you( Shareholders, professionals) without accountability
this will continue to happen and when it's too late then what? Don't put people on the board who you like, are friends with, but someone who cares where they live and are fair and held accountable to you and others in your building...

I believe a good and decent Board will tell you where the money is going. We just had an informational meeting which put all our bills, incoming income and outgoing. The very few people who attended the meeting, I thought understood where we were coming from. Now they want to remove the Treasurer! Because the majority of SH don't care about where they live is very hard to maintain the bldg. Our bldg is also very old and falling apart . They don't realize the FANTASTIC job the treasurer is doing. just to keep us afloat. For the past 5 years we have not had a treasurer. You can imagine the mess we were handed. The removal is ALL personal. I pray for the bldg and SH. The bldg WILL CRUMBLE without our treasurer..

I can't see any reason why it would *not* be a valid requirement. Co-op's were created with all sorts of covenants in their governing documents, and I bet the relationship of the parking spot to the unit itself can be found in the Proprietary Lease. You may have to go back to the Offering Plan, or the other documents like the Bylaws and House Rules.

As for being "legally correct", there is no law, governmental regulation, or section of administrative code I am aware of that addresses the relationship between a parking spot and a co-op unit. Parking spots are usually highly coveted, and shareholders can make a lot of money renting them out (if allowed by the co-op).

I am not a lawyer, so the above is all supposition on my part. If it really becomes a sticking point, your best bet is to consult with an attorney, or maybe try searching in Google for parking spot attachment to co-op apartments.

I agree with Steven. I would contact management and directly ask if your daughter would have the right to rent out her parking space.

If they say yes, ask them to show her where in the Lease, By-Laws, or House Rules it says this.

If it actually says it, have her meet with real estate attorney to confirm this. If so, then could use that attorney since this seems to be the only possible sticking point.

In my co-op parking spaces are not attached to the apartment because they are so coveted, as Steven notes.

Good luck!

Hi, pissed --

Document retrieval fees can range all over the board (pun sort of intended), so there's no definite guidelines as to what they should be.

Is it your managing agent or your bank that is asking you to pay the retrieval fees? If its your bank, you might ask your MA how much they would charge.

The individual fees look "reasonable" to me. Remember that neither the MA nor the bank keep copies lying around. They have to task an employee to search the paper files or computer folders for the documents. They may have to print them out or convert them to PDF format depending on what you ask for. The Questionaire may require time spent researching the answers to specific question.

You might try searching your own files. Every shareholder is supposed to receive a copy of each annual budget, and you should have been given a copy of your lease when you closed on your unit. If you can find those you can save some of the fees.

But the real answer is, yes, these are partly nuisance fees the organization uses to raise a little extra capital. But they know they have you, and really, what percentage of the refi amount does the $446.25 represent?

Think of it as a cost of doing business. Consider how much you'll be saving each month after the refi, and it may give you a different perspective.

--- Steve

IMHO, the MA have a website where you can download these docs for a price, so the 'work' of converting the doc to a PDF was done a long time ago and frankly, it's not much work if they have recurring revenue off it.

I complained to my contact and, as a compromise, she forwarded me the annual budgets so that saves me $125.

The actual fee amounts you mention are pretty much par for the course with co-ops.

I must say I find the whole BoardPackager setup a somewhat dubious. Some cursory research suggests that there is some overlap between BoardPackager's board and the employees of my co-op's managing agent.

It's all very opaque - what exactly is the arrangement between BoardPackager, the managing agent, and the co-op? If BoardPackager didn't exist, then those fees would be going to the managing agent, and arguably reducing the management fee charged to the co-op / offsetting the cost of providing the documents / service (in theory). With BoardPackager in the mix, it looks for all the world like BoardPackager syphons off at least some of the revenue that might otherwise go to shareholders or at least reduce the management fee.

Of course, co-ops often have slightly opaque contracts / revenue-sharing agreements with laundry companies, parking garage managers, and the like, but those are at least periodically put out to a competitive bid, and there is no overlap in employees between the managing agent and the provider, that seems to take things one step further.

Maybe it's all totally above board and I have the wrong impression, who knows...

I had major issue with neighbors upstairs above me. Sent at least 50 emails to board and managing agent and nothing was done! Very disturbing ... and odd.

Thank for your response.

Sounds like it's an antiquated rule that probably needs to be removed from the "Rules and Regulations" .

I guess unless a rule is also an actual law it is not enforceable.

I don’t think it’s antiquated... I think it’s necessary even tho it is apparently unenforceable ... people should be aware and considerate if others. The residents who are at fault are not the ones who are subjected to the noise and disturbance of footsteps back and forth at sometimes ungodly hours. When the noise disrupts ones enjoyment in their apt it should been enforceable. Not a big deal to add area rugs to exposed areas.but considerate for those who live below

I agree and thanks to Steve , I passed on some interesting information to the shareholders who is having the problem

This is one of our house rules that carries a fine. In addition our proprietary lease has a clause about peaceful enjoyment and noise.

hopefully when this is addressed with the B.O.D. , they will stop ignoring this shareholder and mediate the situation.

If they continue to make no effort to resolve the problem, they might be in breach of the warranty of habitability.

Rules in the House Rules are enforceable if the board has the authority to levy fines for non-compliance. Whether or not it has the will to do so is another story.

Try putting "NYC apartment 80% carpet rule" into Google. There is a very large number of articles and some may give you practical ideas on how to deal with this issue.

Thanks Steve, :)

Don't know how I passed up "Consequences for Not Complying". Thanks again Steve....

You should be able to sell your co-op under these circumstances. The co-op would recover all past due maintenance at the closing, meaning that you'll receive less $$, but the debt would be gone.

You should ask the Board and/or the Building Manager to confirm that you'll be allowed to do this.

Good luck.