MANHATTAN

The downturn in the economy could be leading to a rise in legal disputes between co-op and condo owners — even over the payment of relatively low insurance deductibles caused by leaks, fire, shabby construction and other kinds of damages to a neighbor's apartment — especially when neither tenant is directly negligible or in violation of the house rules.

I'm close to this story, because it happened to me. I've lived in my co-op for some time, and have dutifully served on the board.

Recent news affecting co-op / condo buyers, sellers, boards and residents. This week, a New York City co-op board that refuses to recognize Hanukkah? That'd be mashugana if it weren't so disturbing. Plus, another high-rise hooker, recovering from superstorm Sandy, a co-op flood wall in Yonkers and city inspectors have become unglued in Co-op City. And for co-op and condo boards that want good lobby art but can't afford it, two boards have creative solutions.

In February 2011, the Carlton Regency, a 210-unit co-op in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan, signed a fixed-rate, one-year contract with Hess Corporation for electricity. It didn't have to negotiate with Hess, nor did it have to shop the market to get this rate. What it did have to do, however, is join a bulk-buying group and pay $.002 per kilowatt hour for the privilege.

A Manhattan lingerie model on Wednesday sued her condominium over what she claims is mold from a nearly two-year-old water leak that neither the condo board nor the management company has satisfactorily addressed, and that has forced her to move out of her luxury apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood.

Household mold is the stuff of high-dollar lawsuits, contentious insurance claims and an upcoming appellate court ruling. But one co-op shareholder in Greenwich Village has come up with an effective solution to the problem of what to do when an apartment gets invaded by mold: Talk with her neighbor, and contact the insurance company before sic'ing lawyers after anyone.

As a board member, I think a call should go out to New York City co-op and condo boards for great ideas that buildings left without power came up with to help cope with their situation. Superstorm Sandy hammered home the point that every board ought to have an emergency preparedness plan. Your ideas will inform such plans and enable us all to be better prepared.

Recent news affecting co-op / condo buyers, sellers, boards and residents. This week, we pick up the pieces from Hurricane Sandy, with timely advice from insurers, property mangers and others, along with a sneak peek at an e-mail exchange among some condo owners in Lower Manhattan. Plus, a former doorman tells how incredibly cheap the billionaires are at 740 Park Avenue, and a free-speech case goes to court.

On March 19, 2007, Bianca Razzano had an admissions interview with April Anderson, co-president of the co-op board of Woodstock Tower at 320 East 42nd Street in Manhattan's Murray Hill neighborhood. The prospective buyer of one-bedroom apartment #2009 in the 459-unit, 32-story building said on e they discussed was the no-sublet policy. Razzano said she explained there was a possibility she might need to sublet her apartment due to temporary relocation for work, and Anderson, she claims, told her the policy was flexible if someone had a financial hardship due to unemployment, ill health or a work need outside New York City.

Recent news affecting co-op / condo buyers, sellers, boards and residents. This week, even paying all-cash and additionally transferring a year's maintenance and $30,000 extra into an escrow wasn't enough for a Murray Hill co-op board being sued after allegedly leading a buyer on. Oh, and they also wanted his British documents translated to, um, English. And you wonder why a new sitcom makes fun of co-op boards. Plus, The Sheffield gets a work by renowned sculptor David Hostetler, and OSHA cites poor construction in a Brighton Beach condo collapse.

Recent news affecting co-op / condo buyers, sellers, boards and residents. More on price floors keeping people locked in their apartments, and billionaire buyers at one midtown condo may reap 421-A tax abatements meant for lower-income housing. There's one degree of Kevin Bacon at an Upper West Side co-op trying to tone down a big honking new penthouse next door. And for co-op boards, a candidate for the New York State Assembly wants to revive the issue of board oversight and accountability.