NEW YORK CITY

Homeowners often claim that they did not receive notice from the condo / co-op board or management of a delinquency in their common charges or monthly maintenance. Sometimes this assertion comes up after the board files suit against the homeowner.  Fortunately, the "Mailbox Rule" can allow you to overcome this allegation.

Leases of stores in the retail portions of residential condominiums need to be significantly revised from the standard form used by many lawyers. Why? Simply put, a shopping center lease will not work in a condominium context. The boards of condominiums containing retail space should be sure their broker's term sheet and their lawyer's draft lease treats these basic condominium issues.

Will there be a strike? That's the question on the minds of many New York City co-op and condo board members as most of the service workers in the buildings they run seek a new labor deal with the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations (RAB). The current four-year contract for Local 32BJ workers — porters, handymen, doormen, and supers — ends on April 20. It deals with a host of hot-button issues, including pay rate, health care and pension. If contract talks stall, the most disruptive effect for local resident-owners would be a work stoppage.

I'd probably be dead right now. Maybe you, too.

That's because in all the years I've been writing about co-ops and condos, including fire-exit regulations and Fire Dept. inspections, I probably would have headed down the stairs at The Strand. That's what Daniel McClung did during the blaze at that W. 43rd Street condominium on Jan. 5. Knowing only that his building was on fire, he tried to escape from the 32nd floor — and ran headlong into smoke from the 20th that killed him.

But I mean — it's a fire. You're supposed to get out, right?

A trio of New York City statutes instituted last year are designed to make it easier for co-op and condo boards and other building owners and managers to address the extreme-weather effects of climate change, as well as better prepare for emergencies generally. We've written about Local Law 110/2013, which requires, among other things, drinking-water stations that draw separate from the main water line; and Local Law 111/2013, which addresses the complicated rules that govern backup-power generators.

The third leg of this triangle is Local Law 109/2013, which helps make it easier for buildings to install flood barriers.

Editor's note: All boards and buildings have their little secrets — and some are more common than others. So who better than longtime condominium and homeowner-association attorney and regular Habitat contributor Donna DiMaggio Berger to offer five examples each of things condo and co-op boards won't tell homeowners and things your own neighbors won't tell you. See if any of these sound familiar…

A reader asks: I sit on the co-op board of a six-story building in Inwood. We recently hired an engineer to design and administer the replacement of our roof system over a wooden deck, which over the years has suffered serious water damage and created persistent leaks. The engineer has requested several investigative probes, which will cost us an additional $4,500. I know that doesn't sound like a lot for a $350,000 project, but the co-op's finances are tight, so we're wondering if probes are really necessary. What exactly are these probes?

Engineers and architects routinely evaluate building systems by examining such visible components as the façade, roofing membrane, parapets, boilers, pipes, etc. But when seeking to determine whether a building's problems may be due to less visible underlying conditions investigative probes are often required.

New York City co-ops, condos and other buildings will soon be able to schedule Dept. of Buildings inspections online in an expansion of the NYC Development Hub. Called Hub Inspection Ready, the new service is scheduled to go live sometime this spring.

We have a board that has trouble meeting.

Not a troubled meeting. Not troubles at meetings. But trouble getting together. Coordinating schedules. Sitting down and talking.

It's not that we don't like meeting. It's just that we're all very busy. "I can meet on Monday or Tuesday," wrote one co-op board member. "I can meet on alternate Wednesdays," wrote another. "I'm available any night except Friday, Saturday, or Sunday — and not this Tuesday or Wednesday," wrote a third. (Translation: "I'm available on Monday or Thursday.")