Our management company has already approached us about locking in oil for the upcoming year since oil market down. Anything we should we wary of? A good plan for approaching? Such as wait until it goes down to "x" but if goes up to "y" lock in???? Is there a site where we can check the daily lock in rates being offered?
> Join the conversation
I'm investigating refinancing my coop with a different mortgage company than the one I now have. (All I want is to lower my interest rate which is now 4.375%). The new broker said I had to have the coop questionnaire filled out by the Management company, but mgmt. wants to charge me $150. to do that.
I'd like to know how common that is, how common that $150 fee is, and if there's any way around it.
Because my building is in poor shape, with many (expensive) violations, I'm not sure that I'll be able to refi anyway, so I fear I'll be throwing away that $150. without being able to recoop it later (with a lower rate).
Knowledgeable replies, rather than opinions, are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I was waiting for someone else to start the conversation but I suppose I will..
As a property manager, I have placed plans and contingency planning into play with every building.
this includes (but not limited to) staffing, staffing absenteeism, added staffing, added cleaning and disinfecting of specified areas, board meetings, party, and congregation limitations, laundry room and facility rules, and I am having a mandatory emergency preparedness seminar and meeting for all my supers and staff tomorrow to review communications, staffing, risk identification and mitigation and more...
For the purpose of improving and helping others to mobilize a plan, what are you doing? What are your concerns?
~AR
There does not seem to be any clear policy mentioned about this in the bylaws.
Is it possible for a shareholder who has been living in the coop for a long time with a disabled adult son , to transfer it in his will to his sibling who lives out of state but visits and stays in the cop periodically , and allowing him to let this disabled adult child continue to stay in the apt? The relative has excellent financials , so there would be no problem paying the maintenance . The cop does not allow the apt to be placed in a trust which is what the shareholder would have preferred to do . Do coops allow exceptions in cases involving a disabled person , re rules limiting sublease , if that is wht this would be considered? Thank you .
My building doesn't have enough spaces in our covered heated garage. 150 units & no guest parking in NJ, in a small town with limited parking. We have 160 parking spaces and essentially 3 extra after all are divided up. Our 3 bedroom PH apartments or 5 units, each get 2 spaces & everyone else gets one space. We have 44 two bedroom units and the rest are mostly one bedrooms leaving 11 studios. We recently decreased our maintenance by $50 to increase the parking fee to $100 to see if anyone would give up their spot to those seeking an extra for a 2 car family. Waiting to hear the status of this. We've suggested valeting the garage to the Board, which would bring an additional cost, but they feel it would be too expensive. We feel it would add value to the building. They gave no numbers to back up the valet cost, but it would allow all day guests to park in the garage when many are out at work and hopefully allow for more parking.
Can anyone provide details on their valet situation at their building? Which company do you use? Did it solve any problems that you were having beforehand?
The co-op board of the building I own in has recently decided to determine how much compensation a shareholder is entitled to..In past years the shareholder negotiated the fee for the use of their unit and the co-op negotiated for their fee.
Now the co-op has put a cap on the dollar amount a shareholder will be compensated. Is this legal???
Our building has a covered garage with approx. 35 spots (149 units in the building) and an approximate 10 year waitlist to get a spot. The garage fee was $80/month until 2019 when it was raised to $100; and then this year the Board (4-3 split) decided to raise the fee to $125/month. Garage spot shareholders are complaining that this increase is unfair and meant to try and kick out elderly shareholders. The Board reasoned that the increase was because the current fee is much less than market rate (approx. $250+ in our neighborhood) so rather than increasing maintenance by 3% to cover the budget deficit, we raised the maintenance by 1% and increased the garage to bring it to $125. How have other Boards dealt with pushback about raising garage fees? My logic is that the shareholders are not entitled to a garage spot and Coop as a whole is a business and it makes business sense to raise the garage fees to be closer to market rate so that the building as a whole benefits financially. Anyone have any tips for how to deal with annoyed garage renters?
> Join the conversation Comments (3)
Curious what other issues boards have run into with demanding shareholders harassing board members? Have a situation with a shareholder making brazenly false complaints into 311, threatening lawsuits over completely unsubstantiated claims, etc. I realize there is likely some degree of mental illness at play here.
What are your stories and how were the situations dealt with?
Thanks!
Hi all,
My pre-war building potentially needs the roof replaced. We are thinking about pairing the roof replacement with the introduction of solar panels. We need to find some specialist engineers who could guide us through the cost benefits and feasibility of this plan. Presently we have wood joists under the roof. Does anyone have a referral base of specialists in these areas? Any guidance at all is appreciated.
thanks very much!
Coop with no sublet restrictions, in univ. neighborhood. I sublet out. Shareholder below me, on board, has water damage in bathroom ceiling. Accused me of poor maintenance, board agreed without inspecting. I sealed floor, problem continued. Finally board hired plumbing co. - they found valve leak behind wall, bldg's responsibility. This disproved board president's expectation. Same day president directed super to pour 'pitchers of dye water' along floor edge. Took pictures of dye on ceiling below to show floor is problem. Then claimed plumbing co. did dye test. I contacted plumbing co. they asserted absolutely not. This isn't how such tests are done, by code. They found leak in valve only. President didn't deny, in writing, but claimed mgt co. instructed her. Mgt. co. denied this.
I hired professional bldg. inspector to assess floor, he declared it sound, above average. Forwarded to board. No response. Board has blocked my current attempt to sublet for over 30 day period permitted by policy, ostensibly because I don't "fix floor problem." They cause me fiduciary damage. Insistence that floor is problem will impact resale. Shareholder below wants to buy my place, could be tactic.
Do I have any recourse?
Introduce yourself to other members of Board Talk! Log in below or register here.
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.
I assuming you are referring to the questionnaire your new mortgage company is requesting you have filled out by the co-op corporation (by their managing agent).
$150 is actually inexpensive. For as long as I can remember, the cost of completing the questionnaire by our MA is $250. Depending on what questions are asked and how frequently your MA completes a questionnaire for your building, there is probably research someone in the MA's office has to perform.
There's almost no way around needing to have the questionnaire completed. It provides your new mortgage company with a snapshot of the health of your co-op.
If you think the legal and financial situation of your co-op is such that your application may not be approved, you're wagering $150 (and other refi costs) against how much you'll save if you are approved. All you need is a good handicapper... ;-)
Good luck!
Thank you for rating!
You have already rated this page, you can only rate it once!
Your rating has been changed, thanks for rating!
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.