CooperatorNews New York August 2021

August 2021 COOPERATORNEWS.COM This is my story about becoming a New Kid on the Board that I hope will offer some advice and resources that might be useful to others who are new to their own co-op, condo, or HOA board; those who are considering board service; or existing board mem- bers and their support professionals looking to help educate newer members—or themselves. Step By Step Once our co-op’s board election was certified, one of the vet- NEW YORK THE CO-OP & CONDO RESOURCE COOPERATORNEWS 205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Even among otherwise conscientious, community-minded co-op and condo residents, the idea of running for and serving on their board often ranks some- where between taxes and dental work. It conjures thoughts of endless meetings... arguing about the minutiae of vendor bids...confrontations with neighbors unhappy with board decisions...gossipy remarks in the elevator...the list goes on. More often, however, the issue is sim- ply apathy. Many if not most co-op and condo owners just don’t care enough to take on the responsibility and challeng- es of board service—they’d rather their neighbor do it. Consequently, those who are willing to serve often hold the same position for years—sometimes for de- cades—and that can bring its own set of problems. The Roots of Apathy Aside from the thanklessness (both real and perceived) of serving on the board, there are other reasons owners and shareholders shy away from partici- pation. They range from lack of knowl- edge and experience to what’s sometimes referred to as a ‘renter mentality.’ ‘Renter mentality’ is a common phe- nomenon in co-op and condominium communities. Owners of co-op and condominium apartments are typically entering the ownership market from the Across the country, one of the biggest challenges to governing co-ops, condomini- ums, and homeowners associations is finding new members who are willing to vol- unteer their time and energy to serve on their community’s board of directors. In addition to a time commitment that can seem onerous to those whose lives are already packed with work, families, hobbies, households, and more, board service comes with myriad tasks, responsibilities, and politicking. After all, who would want to take an unpaid gig that potentially makes you the recipient of all your neighbors’ grievances? Oh, right— did. Seven years ago, in an effort to help a small cohort of relatively I new shareholders redirect a long pattern of what we saw as dysfunctionality, financial mismanagement, and abdication of fiduciary duty among previous boards, I ran for a seat on the board of the co-op where I live in Lower Manhattan. In a 1,700-unit com- munity where around half of the shareholders acquired their units during the decades when the corporation operated under Title I of the Federal Housing Act of 1949 (inel- egantly titled “Slum Clearance and Community Development and Redevelopment”), getting new members elected was not an easy feat. It entailed weeks of campaigning, printing and distributing fliers about my qualification and intentions, and even posi- tioning myself in the lobbies with my two toddlers and free lemonade. Paper, or electronic? It’s now a choice for everything, from the books we read for pleasure to the books we keep on our associations and corporations. Even restaurant menus are digital today in the wake of the need for ‘touch-free’ en- vironments amid the COVID-19 pan- demic. With that said, co-op and condo communities generate volumes of infor- mation and data every year, from min- utes of meetings to receipts for expenses and payments to financial information on unit and share buyers. But how much of all that really needs to be kept, and for how long? And is there anything that should be kept specifically in paper form, as well as digitized? What Does the Law Say? Mark Hakim, an attorney with the firm Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas, is of counsel to numerous co-op and condo buildings in the greater New York area. According to him, “Under Section 624(a) of the Business Corpora- tion Law of the State of New York (BCL), corporations are required to maintain ‘correct and complete books and records of account and shall keep minutes of the proceedings of its shareholders, board, and executive committee, if any, and shall keep at the office of the corporation in this state or at the office of its transfer agent or registrar in this state, a record containing the names and addresses of all shareholders, the number and class of shares held by each and the dates when they respectively became the owners of record thereof. Any of the foregoing books, minutes, or records may be in written form or in any other form capa- ble of being converted into written form within a reasonable time.’ “In essence,” Hakim continues, “there is nothing in the BCL that mandates a paper format. We often counsel our cli- New Kids on the Board First-Person Advice for Newly Elected Directors BY DARCEY GERSTEIN Improving Board Involvement Combating Apathy Among Residents BY A. J. SIDRANSKY Digital Documents Balancing Safe Storage with Accessibility BY A. J. SIDRANSKY continued on page 9 continued on page 8 continued on page 11 NEW YORK’S BIGGEST & BEST CO-OP, CONDO & APT EXPO! NEW YORK HILTON MIDTOWN — THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 9-4:30 FREE REGISTRATION: COOPEXPO.COM LIVE AND IN PERSON