CooperatorNews NY February 2022
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February 2022                        COOPERATORNEWS.COM  op, or the unit owners in a condominium, \\\[and the\\\] governing   documents of the building dictate their authority. As such their   responsibilities vis-à-vis individual units are not the same as a   landlord.”  What About Management?  In a rental setting, the owner and the management of the   property are often the same entity. Scott Wolf, CEO of BRIGS,   a property management firm  based in Boston, notes that his   NEW YORK  THE CO-OP & CONDO RESOURCE  COOPERATORNEWS  205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED  By its very nature, life in a co-op or condominium community is different from   living in a rental unit or a private home. While that statement may seem pretty obvious,   many owners of co-op and condo units lack a clear understanding of what exactly those   differences are, and how they determine the parameters of what residents can and can’t   do in their units and in the common areas of their building or HOA. There’s also frequent   confusion about what physical, administrative, and maintenance elements boards and   management are responsible for in a community, versus what falls to individual owners.   All too often, owners think of their board as a landlord, rather than an elected governing   body, and mistakenly expect them to handle everything from sorting the recycling to   changing a lightbulb in their bathroom.   While there is a fair bit of overlap between the respective roles of boards, managers,   and landlords, they’re not interchangeable. Knowing the difference—and even more   importantly,  respecting  it—can  go  a  long  way  toward  smoother,  more  amicable   relationships between co-op, condo, and HOA residents and their community   administrators.   Is the Board a Landlord?  In a word, no. “The board is not a landlord,” plain and simple, says Daniel Wollman,   CEO of Gumley Haft, a New York-based management firm. And while some more   obscure legal positions take the view that co-op boards are a kind of “stand-in” for   the landlord or property owner (as the widespread confusion over the rent protection   legislation passed in New York State in 2019 demonstrated), in reality, it’s not equivalent   to either of those roles.    “The board members, like all the shareholders, are proprietary lessees,” notes   Wollman. “They have the same rights and obligations as the rest of shareholders. The   board \\\[members\\\] are the elected representatives of the corporate shareholders in a co-  continued on page 2   If you live in a condo or a co-op, you   most likely have heard the term   fiduciary   duty  , usually in reference to the responsi-  bilities and obligations of board members   and management. But what is a fiduciary   duty? In essence, it’s a legal relationship be-  tween two parties that gives one party the   right to act and make important decisions   on behalf of the other. Fiduciary respon-  sibility is a cornerstone of both board and   management service. Board members and   managers alike must put their obligation to   the corporation or association over person-  al gain—which means avoiding situations   that could present a conflict of interest.  Simply put, a conflict of interest is a   situation in which the concerns or aims of   two different parties are incompatible. In   a business environment such as a condo   association or cooperative corporation, it’s   a situation in which someone—like a board   member or property manager—is in a   position to benefit personally from actions   or decisions made in their official capacity.  Honesty = Best Policy  “A board member has a conflict when he   or she has a financial interest in the subject   matter being decided,” explains Mark   Hakim, an attorney with New York-based   law firm Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg   Atlas. “Examples include a board member   (or possibly someone in a board member’s   immediate family) having an interest in   the building doing business with a specific   company, or a board member who is also   a broker handling sales in the building.   Such conflict must be disclosed, and can be   waived by the board—but disclosure is the   key. Board members must disclose their   conflict, and if it’s not waived or waivable,   must recuse themselves from the matter.”   Richard Brooks, a partner with law firm   Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C.   in Braintree, Massachusetts,  expands on   Boards, Managers, Landlords  Understanding the Difference  BY A. J. SIDRANSKY  Conflicts of Interest  Recognize Them Now to   Avoid Problems Later  BY A J SIDRANSKY  Dealing With   Disruptive   Residents  Empathy & Education vs.   Enforcement & Eviction  BY DARCEY GERSTEIN  continued on page 6   If you live in, work in, or provide services   for a co-op, condo, or HOA, you know that   however harmonious a building or asso-  ciation is in general, there is always that one   person—or perhaps more than one—who   throws a wrench in the works. It could be   the guy who seems to take pleasure in dis-  respecting the doorman, or the lady who   insists on feeding the feral cats (and by ex-  tension the neighborhood rats), or the fam-  ily who lets their kids play basketball inside   their apartment. These are the people who—  at best—regularly suck up more than their   fair share of energy and resources from the   community, or—at worst—create an unde-  sirable, unhealthy, or even dangerous living   situation for themselves and their neighbors.  Now throw in one of the most devastat-  ing pandemics the modern world has ever   seen, and it’s a wonder we haven’t all turned   into some form of   that guy.   After two years   of loss—of loved ones, of homes, of jobs, of   normalcy— the news has been full of reports   of incidents ranging from the outlandish to   the criminal going down in settings that are   normally benign: grocery stores, airplanes,   hair salons, restaurants, school board meet-  ings, even medical facilities. Whether it’s   for  attention  (even  the  negative  kind),  an   expression of deep frustration and anxiety   over the seemingly endless state of crisis, or   just jerks happy to have an excuse to be es-  pecially jerky, it seems that more and more   people are indulging in disruptive, combat-  ive behaviors. Has this also been the case in   the nation’s multifamily communities? We   spoke to several pros in the industry to find   out.   The COVID Conundrum  The coronavirus’s rampant transmission   and attendant restrictions on public life have   made time at home essential to survival—  both in the sense of avoiding the spread of   a  potentially  deadly  contagion, and  in the   sense of keeping  work, family,  and  other   fundamental functions going from within   one’s own domestic confines. In a co-op or   condo, particularly those of the vertical va-  riety, the communal element of shared walls,   spaces, and financial obligations brings both   continued on page 8 


































































































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