Page 5 - CooperatorNews NY July 2022

COOPERATORNEWS.COM COOPERATORNEWS — JULY 2022 5 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Legal Q A& “ “ New York’s Property Management Leader for 40 years I’ve been a board president for 35 years and have worked with four different management firms prior to FirstService Residential. I can comfortably say that FirstService has been our best managing agent, which is why we’ve kept them in place for 20 years! -Gerald R., Co-op Board President Let’s Talk! | 212.634.5410 LetsTalk.NY@fsresidential.com | Rule-Breaking Resident Q I live in a senior cooperative pressure to comply with the house rules,” with 102 units. Occasionally says Bruce Cholst, attorney with New we have quality of life issues. York City law firm Herrick, Feinstein. For instance, someone has been opening “What’s more, unless your cooperative’s a window (even in the cold, cold winter!) proprietary lease or bylaws explicitly au- and blasting music out, sweeping balcony thorize imposition of fines for house rule debris onto the common sidewalk below, violations, fining is not a legally enforce- parking in an unauthorized space which able remedy. (Fining authorization in the blocks the handicapped ramp, or exces- sive noise early in the morning. We initially spoke with the offending managing agent as the first resort in ap- resident. When that failed, letters from proaching a recalcitrant shareholder over our board and our managing agent also his rule violations. If that fails, I suggest a failed. Our managing agent has advised verbal overture by the property manager. that our only recourse is fining individu- als who blatantly and deliberately ignore versation often leads to dialogue which our rules. Any suggestions on how to handle this In this dialogue the property manager type of resident? —Frustrated Senior A “Unfortunately, there is capricious in making an issue of the vio- little a board can do, short lation. This often abates the shareholder’s of fining or initiation of underlying resentment and induces com- litigation to contain the conduct of a re- calcitrant shareholder who remains im- pervious to persuasion or peer group house rules only is insufficient). “I typically suggest a letter from the Engaging the shareholder in direct con- successfully addresses the situation. should stress that there is a rationale be- hind the particular rule in question and explain what it is, thereby demonstrating that the board is not being arbitrary or pliance. “Should the verbal overture fail, I typi- cally suggest denying the shareholder ac- cess to building amenities, such as com- mon recreational facilities. However, this coercive step should not be taken without water so that it does not disturb use of the consulting counsel, as there are legal im- plications in resorting to this remedy. “If the shareholder remains recalci- trant, I would consult the proprietary lease and bylaws to see if these docu- ments contain the requisite authority to impose fines. If they do, I would levy this sanction. If fining fails, you should con- sider resorting to litigation. “In your case, the written overture has says attorney Jeffrey Reich with the New apparently failed, so I would have the York City law firm of Schwartz Sladkus managing agent proceed with a verbal ap- proach and then consider the other steps both the unit owners whose units are I have suggested.” Drip, Drip Q I have outdoor space that is ac- cessed by a door from my unit and with steps leading down to an outdoor patio and garden. There are two floors above where the unit owners or occupants have window air condition- ers that drip onto my steps and a section of my outdoor space, making it annoying to walk down or up the steps. Who is responsible for diverting the steps and patio? —All Wet A “The writer refers to the ‘unit owners or occupants’ living above the writer’s apartment, indicating that the apartment is located in a condominium building,” Reich Greenberg Atlas. “In such a case, dripping onto the back steps and the con- dominium board of managers have some responsibility for addressing the air con- ditioning–related issue. “While it would be necessary to review the condominium bylaws to determine exactly what they provide with respect to nuisance behavior, most condominium bylaws prohibit a resident from doing or continued on page 14