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Is it Legal to conduct a random non-emergency Department of Buildings Electrical Inspection on a Sunday at 7 am?
This is a Mitchell Lama Cooperative of 782 apartments.
A neighbor of mine has been wrongly accused, via email, by the building’s management—who provided zero proof or evidence—of subletting their coop unit. The only thing management said was very vague and heresay, along the lines of “someone saw…”. This shareholder has also been threatened with additional monthly fees (as stipulated in the House Rules). They responded immediately, saying the assumption is incorrect, and is still waiting for a reply. That was two weeks ago.
Any thoughts on how to proceed, where to start? Honestly… how do you prove a lack of evidence (no they didn’t have a Ring camera until now, after this started)?
Respectfully, please reply only if you have some experience or knowledge in this area.
Thank you so much!
We recently had an assessment imposed in out Coop of about 380 shareholders. While it is apparent work needs to get done, a few shareholders requested in writing access to financial records. There was a letter sent to the Property manager by am attorney, and he seems to have gone crazy. It is important to mention that the Property manager is kind of the gate keeper. There is no way we can speak with the Board and when we asked for the records in a meeting, the president said "No". In the last 14 years has been no quorum, therefore, the Board Members have remained by default in their position. Please share best practices on how to get shareholders to participate so when November comes we are prepared for a new board. None wants the actual Board, but the property manager seems to intimidate people and they are scared to act.
Can we create a Facebook group? or any other platforms we can utilize?
Hello,
Looking for references.
My coop insurance (Allstate) has gone up more than 25% this year over last year. Is anyone else experiencing this kind of rate raise? And if not, does anyone have an insurance company or broker they would recommend?
Thank you!
A new Managing Agent was recently hired by the board of a large NYC coop. Some shareholders are unhappy with the performance of the board and the new Managing Agent.
At the annual meeting the board members who hired the new Managing Agent also appointed them to act as the exclusive Inspector of Election. In this capacity the new Managing Agent / Inspector refused to make the results of the election available for review and would only announce the "winners" of the election (which happened to be the same board members who hired the new Managing Agent).
This behavior appears to violate the coop’s by-laws and Section 610 of the Business Corporation Law, but the controlling board members and Managing Agent insist they have the right to act in this manner. Shareholders who ran in the election but were told they “lost” have no way to examine the results and feel disenfranchised. Any thoughts on how to address this matter would be appreciated.
If the BY-LAWS are silent—no mention—regarding Zoom or online meetings, Can the Board only implement Zoom-online meetings with Shareholders until they decide to change them?
> Join the conversation Comments (2)Can Shareholders in a Mitchell Lama Cooperative requesting access to the community room to discuss the Election be denied by the Board and Management?
> Join the conversation Comments (3)Can a board impose a sublet penalty of $3k while the original shareholder is living in the apartment and renting the second bedroom via airbnb? By definition, sublet occurs when the shareholder is not present; which is not the case.
> Join the conversation Comments (1)We have an owner who owes quite a bit of money to our building. They use an old email address that often does not work well, e.g., our emails to them often bounce back. If we hire a debt collector, and the debt collector identifies the person's current, working email, does the board then have the right to use it? (This might be a work email.) Thanks for any insight.
> Join the conversation Comments (1)
I'm attempting to calculate the Gross Floor Area of my building (a small coop). What is not clear (to me) is whether outdoor, uncovered, roof decks are used in the calculation (description below).
GFA is one metric used to determine if a building is classified as "covered" under Local Law 97, which mandates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions starting this year (but getting serious in 2030).
Per 1-RCNY-103-06: "Gross floor area is the total number of square feet measured between the
exterior surfaces of the enclosing fixed walls. It includes vent shafts, elevator shafts, flues, pipe shafts,
vertical ducts, stairwells, light wells, basement space, mechanical/electrical rooms, and interior parking.
It excludes unroofed courtyards and unroofed light wells. For atria, gross floor area only includes the
area of atrium floors. For tenant spaces, interior demising walls should be measured to the centerline of
the wall."
Another definition I found says balconies should be included. Nothing I've found either includes or excludes roof decks.
WITHOUT including our roof decks my building is likely just under the 25,000 gross sqft threshold specified in LL97. Including them puts us over. This has serious implications for the finances of our coop in the near future.
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I don't have experience in this specific area, but I was board treasurer for 15 years and these are the steps I took under similar circumstances:
1) Have your neighbor make printouts of every email and other electronic textual communications they receive or received in the past.
2) Make copies of every bit of correspondence they receive regardless of how it was delivered (USPS, slipped under the door, etc)
3) Speak to other neighbors they are close to, to see if anyone else has experienced similar treatment.
4) As soon as possible, consult with an attorney who specializes in co-op law. I know it will cost money you were not expecting, but poop is a fact of life.
What I would *not* do is take any action whatsoever before your neighbor speaks to an attorney. Don't respond to any emails or other communications, immediately shut down any verbal conversations, do not initiate any actions, even responding to the email you said in your original message your friend sent two weeks ago.
The more your friend refuses to engage, the more agitated the board will become and the more prone they become to making mis-steps. I know this is hard, but even if a board member gets up into your friend's face, advise them to simply stand there, smile, and politely say when the confrontation is over, "thank you for sharing that with me." Full Stop.
I wish you and your friend all the best.
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