NEW YORK CITY

We already know that February condo sales hit a historic low, but how did co-op sales fare? CityRealty, which provides end-to-end service for prospective apartment buyers and in-depth analysis of the New York real estate market, has crunched the numbers in its April 2015 monthly market report. Let's take a look at some of the highlights. 

For many, it was like living in a nightmare.

Between 1989 and 1995, dozens of co-ops and condos faced severe financial difficulties because sponsors — who frequently still had a stake in the buildings they had converted — were defaulting. To get their buildings out from under onerous rent controls, sponsors had converted and borrowed heavily against them. But then they could not keep up with maintenance or common charges on these unsold apartments. The reason? Money from their rent-controlled and rent-stabilized tenants was far less than their income.

We've been talking a lot about the new breed of board member — a take-charge director who has obsessively turned the idea of money-saving into an art form. What about the other side of that coin? We're talking about a dissident board member, or even worse, a dissident board president. What happens when your co-op's board president goes on a power trip and intimidates fellow board members and goes so far as turning down the application of "a same-sex couple who wanted to purchase in the building"? That's the question Brickunderground's Ask an Expert column fields this week. 

They call it foreclosure, but for condo associations, it's more like "threeclosure" — you're third in line to receive money from the sale of an apartment, after the mortgage and property taxes are paid. This often makes a board reticent about foreclosing on a unit in severe arrears, since it costs money to take legal action. If you'll never recoup unpaid common charges, let alone attorney fees, you might well wonder, why spend more?

But veteran real estate attorney Marc H. Schneider, a partner at Schneider Mitola, argues that "it is too expensive to do nothing." First, a condo association loses income every month while waiting for the bank to foreclose and get common charges and assessments flowing again. But less obviously and more importantly, condo associations have legal advantages over a lender that open up two significant options for not only stanching the loss of income from the unit, but even for recouping arrears and collecting late fees and legal costs.

How?  

It's a nightmare scenario. An explosion and fire yesterday in the East Village leveled three buildings. Brickunderground.com has compiled some helpful information for New Yorkers who want to know how they can keep something like this from happening in their homes, if possible, and what to do if it does. First and foremost, it stressed Mayor Bill de Blasio's message from yesterday's press conference: if you smell gas, call 911 or Con Ed immediately. Brickunderground.com also reminds everyone to not overload their outlets, urges people to call 311 if their fire escapes look suspiciously rickety, and offers some information about apartment insurance. For more information on what happens when a building reports a gas leak, check out our coverage of last year's fatal explosion in East Harlem.

In the past few years, New York City co-op boards have begun to let residents buy units as limited liability corporations, or LLCs. Many boards now allow residents to change their ownership from an individual to a family trust as part of estate planning. As New York real estate values soar, the types of people buying apartments in the city's most expensive neighborhoods are changing and want anonymity — celebrities and buyers with enormous wealth, for example — and layers of financial protection. Those who live here less than half the year owe no city residency tax, and owning as an LLC can help reduce the risk of a residency audit.

A READER ASKS: I live in a small co-op building in Brooklyn. I've been here for about two years. After doing some spring cleaning, I noticed a weird smell in my bedroom. It smelled as if I had cleaned with dirty water or a dirty mop, a very strong, unpleasant smell. I checked my mop to see if maybe it was the cause, but it didn't smell bad. After shifting some furniture around, I saw, very near the radiator, a black spot the size of a dollar coin surrounded by a few smaller, dime-shaped black spots. My husband says that we should just clean it ourselves, rather than drag the property manager into this. I think we should notify the board, even if we do clean it ourselves. I know it's small, but what if the problem behind the wall is a lot bigger? 

A couple of weeks ago, StreetEasy compiled some stats showing that, not surprisingly, sales of co-ops and condos tend to slow down in winter and rev up in spring. StreetEasy analyst Alan Lightfeldt calls February the turning point between winter and the busy spring season. But although sales were expected to be on the slow side last month, there were just 3,175 condo units available in February, down 2.4% from January — a record low for the borough. Lightfeldt adds that although there is no anticipated dip in prices, price growth will likely slow slightly in March, as spring sellers begin to flood the market with new units. The listings websites forecasts that prices will rise by 3.9% in 2015, compared with a 7.1% growth rate in 2014.

A day after an explosion and fire in the East Village leveled three buildings, we are learning that at least two people are missing, 20 people were injured (3 of them critically), and at least 80 have been displaced. DNAinfo reports that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and other agencies are taking a closer look at contractor Dilber Kukic. The Bronx-based general contractor, who survived the explosion, performed work at 121 Second Avenue in the past year. He was also "already under the scrutiny of Manhattan prosecutors in an unrelated case. He was arrested last month for an alleged role in a widespread bribery scandal involving city inspectors." In an exclusive interview Thursday, Kukic told DNAinfo New York "that he and the son of the [building's] owner had just opened the basement door to check a gas odor when the room blew up, knocking them off their feet and sending debris raining down on them." Kukic added that he carried Michael Hrynenko, who was seriously injured, outside. Kukic suffered burns and was treated for smoke inhalation. His firm reportedly had finished plumbing and partition wall work at 121 Second Avenue six months ago, but Kukic added that his firm hadn't worked on the basement. When DNAinfo asked him in a second interview about his arrest February, Kukic reportedly hung up the phone. 

When it comes to making capital improvements, co-op and condo boards understand perhaps better than anyone else that timing is everything. A major project, such as replacing the elevators — especially when you have only one — requires a lot of planning, a lot of coordination, a lot of money, and a lot of damage control. When a building's elevator is out of service, residents complain — and rightfully so. But when you have to not only spend a lot of money that might make shareholders and unit-owners feel a little nervous and take the elevator offline so that work can begin… well, residents are probably going to complain some more.

There are steps a board can take, however, to reduce inconvenience and keep tempers from flaring up too much.