NEW YORK CITY

Annual water rate increases in New York City were in the low single digits a dozen years ago: prices rose by one percent in 2001 and by three percent in 2002. Then, in a terrible piece of timing, annual rate increases soared into double digits just as the Great Recession was reaching its terrible depths. In 2008 the increase was 11.5 percent; the following three years saw increases of 14.5 percent, 12.9 percent, and 12.9 percent. Just like that, water had become a major and growing expense when many buildings could least afford it.

Officials from the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Water Board offered a variety of explanations that did little to mollify New Yorkers suddenly faced with staggering water bills. The officials blamed everything from neglected infrastructure to unfunded federal mandates. There is a lot of expensive work going on, including the construction of a $2.8 billion filtration plant, a $1.4 billion ultraviolet disinfection facility, and the ongoing work on the $6 billion Tunnel No. 3 that will supplement the city's two existing water tunnels, which were built in 1917 and 1936 and are expected to need major work in the future. That work will be addressed once Tunnel No. 3 is completed.

Early this month, The New York Times declared 2015 to be the Year of the Condo, and with good reason. Reports from various residential brokerages, including the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group cited by the Times, projected that at least 6,500 new luxury condo units in more than 100 buildings would be available for the taking this year. After a five-year drought, that figure seemed pretty impressive. But a report published last week by Halstead Property Development Marketing paints a different picture.

It looks like the number of new condos available for purchase this year is closer to about 3,500. Why?

Want one for the "Who'd have thunk it?" file? A landlord tried to evict a woman from her apartment in Harlem for secretly keeping a dog and thus being in violation of her lease. And lost. Why? Because secret agent pooch was not so secret, explains Brickunderground.com. It turns out that Gertrude Davis, the dog owner in question, not only produced various photos of Dutchess, the dog in question, taken on various dates in the building's common areas, but also had thrown the dog "a birthday party in the building several months prior to the suit." And guess who was at the party? Two points if you said "the landlord." According to the New York Daily News, which first reported the story, months after attending the pup's lavish birthday soiree, "the landlord moved to give [Davis] the boot," but Judge Sabrina Kraus wasn't buying it. According to court documents, reported both Brickunderground.com and the Daily News, "…the party pictures showed the dog was kept in an 'open and notorious' manner for more than three months." So there you have it. Thanks to that birthday party, Davis gets to stay in her home of 20 years.

What happens when a developer that plans to build a high-rise condo needs access to the neighboring condo to do prep work and is refused entry? They sue, of course. DNAinfo reports that developer Erik Ekstein needs to "demolish the five-story Madison Avenue Baptist Church at 30 E. 31st Street, but the neighboring condo building, M127, has refused to let workers inside." The developer filed a lawsuit on January 13 in New York Supreme Court against M127 for delaying work. According to the report, M127's managing board denied the developer access to its roof, side yard, and backyard so it can install temporary crack and vibration monitors and waterproofing, along with scaffolding. DNAinfo adds that a member of M127's managing board declined to comment. It's, therefore, not clear what motivated the board to refuse the developer access to its building, but it's potentially made a costly mistake. A lawsuit means time and money wasted. Existing condo (and co-op) boards should take note and not make the same mistake. It's only a matter of time before a developer begins building a new condo right next door — especially given all the construction anticipated this year.  

Associations have access to all kinds of information on their current, former, and potential residents. Consider what goes into an application for share purchase in a co-op: Social Security numbers, bank statements, dates of birth, etc. All this information is entrusted to the care of an organization and its property manager. 

And who would love to get their hands on this? Thieves — the kind who create false identities and bogus credit accounts.

What can co-op and condo boards do about this problem? Be careful of the information collected, of course. And then insure against its theft.

Airbnb and its supporters were dealt yet another blow ahead of a City Council hearing on January 20 at City Hall titled, "Short Term Rentals: Stimulating the Economy or Destabilizing Neighborhoods." New York City Council Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee Chair Elizabeth Crowley has asked the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) to prioritize the investigation of 311 complaints reporting illegal hotel activity by companies like Airbnb because of the disproportionate public safety threat caused by fire code violations occurring in short-term rentals.

Some people seem to have all the luck. They spend about a month in New York, and rather than pay for a hotel or stay at an Airbnb accommodation, they buy a co-op. You may be asking yourself, "For a month?!?" Well, if money's no object, who are we to judge? But more money — as in "an extra maintenance fee" — is what one New York co-op wants from a resident who spends most of the year in China and just one month in his co-op apartment. Is the building out of line? After all, it seems unfair to penalize a shareholder with an extra maintenance charge simply because the apartment is not his primary residence. According to Brickunderground.com's Ask the Expert column, it does seem "like an unusual request, since [the shareholder] arguably put less stress on the building’s staff and facilities than full-time residents." But it's legit, explain the Brickunderground.com experts, who all added that they've never seen a provision like this one. "If the building has disclosed this potential fee in either your proprietary lease or your co-op bylaws, it’s legitimate." If it's not in the lease or bylaws, this shareholder may be able to challenge by filing a lawsuit on the grounds that the co-op had no right to impose the fee. Who knows? Maybe with a potential time-consuming and costly lawsuit looming over them, the co-op board may be willing to negotiate.

We've looked at the evolution of property management companies. As times change and needs grow, so do companies — by merging and pooling their resources together. For smaller companies, such as Gerard J. Picaso Inc., joining forces with a larger one makes good sense.

But is bigger necessarily better?

No, says Peter von Simson, CEO of midsize New Bedford Management. 

Following up on this week's announcement that Governor Andrew Cuomo would be proposing a tax credit to homeowners whose property taxes make up more than 6 percent of their income, a spokesperson for the governor has clarified that yes, co-op and condo owners are included. "Condos and co-ops are included, exactly the same as if you own a home. [They have] a different rate structure, but that doesn't impact the fact that they still pay property taxes," said Morris Peters, a spokesman for the governor's budget office. The property tax credit, which will affect more than 1.3 million homeowners and 1 million renters, will be included in the governor's proposed budget next week. The goal is to aid households whose income is less than $250,000 annually and whose property taxes are at least 6 percent of that income. Outside of New York City, homeowners who fit the financial qualifications will only be eligible if their communities keep their property tax increase under that cap. As far as renters are concerned, the terms to qualify are slightly different: renters must have an income of less than $150,000 and the portion of their rent attributed to property taxes must be more than 6 percent. According the governor's office, "the total taxpayer benefit from this new proposal will reach as high as $1.66 billion on an annual basis" after four years. 

Why shouldn't boards defer maintenance? If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Who can blame boards for not spending money where it's not imperative for them to do so? Gas, oil, and insurance are expensive. Don't get us started on taxes. Certainly, when budgets are tight, it truly is difficult to justify seemingly unnecessary expenses. As for raising maintenance or passing on yet another special assessment, many boards are understandably reluctant to go those routes. Unfortunately, however, when co-ops and condos defer maintenance, they open themselves up to a host of problems — from leaky roofs to bursting pipes — in the long term.

Some key areas where boards tend to defer are plumbing, roofs, and boilers.