New York's Cooperative and Condominium Community

Habitat Magazine Insider Guide

HABITAT

NEW YORK CITY

Many boards don't know, understand or care about minutes, seeing them as a chore to be treated lightly, if at all. Some accounts are full of typographical errors and colorful descriptions of the people at the meeting. Others devote pages and pages to speeches on how the garbage is packed. Still others refer to everyone present by their first names in chatty discourses.

Yet verbose and unfocused ramblings can spell trouble as a public record of a corporation. Minutes matter: They can be used to defend the board in court, explain actions to shareholders (and future boards), and offer a picture of the building to potential buyers. How well they are kept reflects on the corporation.

Spotlight on: The Admissions Process at Self-Managed Co-ops

Written by Michael Gwertzman on July 29, 2014

New York City

Without a property manager to wrangle applications and organize interviews, self-managed co-ops need to nail down an efficient admissions procedure to ensure that everyone has the right information. But getting everyone's schedules organized, getting all the application forms copied and distributed, following up on missing documents and all the other back-and-forth matters take persistence, dedication and time — items sometimes in short supply for self-managed boards.

A sad fact of life is that building staff can become disabled over the course of their jobs. But a happy fact is that many still can perform their jobs: A doorman who needs a cane or whose vision doesn't allow him to drive can still work as a doorman; a porter with learning disabilities can still vacuum the hallways and take out garbage; a hearing-impaired super can wear a hearing aid and do the job just fine. 

The real issue for boards and building managers is when long-term disabilities genuinely affect an employee's ability to perform his or her duties adequately. The leading reasons, says the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA), are musculoskeletal disease, cancer, injuries and mental illness. When that happens, what do you do? Throw them out with the trash and get a newer, younger model?

A READER ASKS: I'm concerned that my board doesn't communicate with residents enough. There has to be a way for them to get information to us other than at the annual meeting. What are some options that I can suggest?

It's an issue that's been getting more and more attention since Habitat's 2012 expose of false disability claims and shady "certification" mills unscrupulous pet-owners use in order to scam their way to having dogs in a pet-free building. The New York Times covered the issue in 2013, and a new featurette at BrickUnderground.com encapsulates three do's and don'ts for landlords and co-op and condo boards. No one wants to discriminate, obviously, and likewise no one wants fakers who abuse the system, so take these tips to heart — before your pet-free building goes to the dogs.

Does your super say he feels not so super on more days that seem reasonable? Most employees don't abuse paid or unpaid sick days — which most New York City employers must offer — but co-op and condo boards can attest that there there are those who do. How can you stop it? Writing on Lexology.com, attorney Joanna R. Vilos of Holland & Hart offers six simple tips to help curb fakers. And if you don't know what a PTO System is, well, it's about time you learned! Our favorite: "Tip #5: Adopt Sick Leave Incentive or Attendance Awards," followed by a half-dozen interesting examples like "Free lunch or a gift card for each quarter that an employee has perfect attendance" and "A floating personal day off with pay for every six months without calling in sick." Say, we're feeling better already!

The co-op board of a 22-unit on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan was facing a problem. One of the shareholders had petitioned the board to be allowed to install a washer and dryer in his apartment. While the board was sympathetic – the shareholder lived on the sixth floor, the machines were in the basement, and the building had no elevator – a clause in the laundry contract prohibited the board from "encouraging" shareholders to install their own private washing machines and dryers.

What's a board to do?

Co-op and condo buildings that aren't reporting income from the cell-phone antennas on their property may be facing increased scrutiny, now that a new report says New York City has missed an estimated $24 million in property taxes.

But since the Department of Finance (DOF) disagrees with the report, will anyone actually be bloodhounding for unreported cell-tower income? And just how much income does the average building make from leasing cell-phone tower space, anyway? The city's got some eye-opening estimates for that part — and makes dubious assumptions about what you may be earning.

A READER ASKS:  Do we have to report cell-phone antennas on our roof as income? We never have so far, all the years we've had cell antenna in place, and nothing has happened. What can we expect if the city finds out we haven't been reporting this income? 

October 15, 2010 — The New York City Department of Buildings appears to be on a crackdown regarding Local law 11 repairs, as reported in the October issue of Habitat. Now it appears that its sister agency, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, is doing likewise over a small, science fictiony-looking piece of plumbing equipment called a backflow-prevention device. And if your co-op or condo doesn't have these installed where you should, backflow could turn into cash flow – from your bank account to the city's coffers. Also, a shutoff of your water supply. Ouch.
 
Not all co-ops or condos need a backflow-prevention device. But how do you know if yours does? And if so, what do you need to do?

Ask the Experts

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Learn all the basics of NYC co-op and condo management, with straight talk from heavy hitters in the field of co-op or condo apartments

Professionals in some of the key fields of co-op and condo board governance and building management answer common questions in their areas of expertise

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