When most New Yorkers think of co-op apartment buildings, they have a vision of a stately old Park Avenue prewar residence; a shining, modern glass tower on the Hudson waterfront; or even maybe a quaint duplex in brownstone Brooklyn. But th…
Condo, co-op and HOA communities come in all sizes, shapes, and locations. They can range from literally thousands of units spread across multiple high-rise buildings, or scores of single-family townhomes in sprawling HOAs. They can be desi…
Appreciation, and the profit that comes with it, is surely a major benefit of home ownership. But that profit does not come without a cost. You can’t hide from the tax collector, and sooner or later he or she will come looking for you to ex…
While a productive building or association manager who ably navigates the day-to-day operations of one or more client communities may not have millions in the bank, it’s hard to argue that he or she is not ‘successful’ in practical terms. B…
A condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association is only as efficient as the elected board that oversees its day-to-day operations. Considering how difficult it can be to find time for family, leisure, and sleep amid work and assorted …
Attorneys and community association managers can be a godsend for the board of a co-op, condominium or HOA. Most boards consist of volunteers who usually have quite busy external lives themselves, so having an experienced professional on th…
If you live in a condominium, cooperative or HOA, you’re effectively acting as part of a participatory democracy run by an elected group of volunteers. And as with any democracy, those affected by the board’s decisions are encouraged to get…
The board of a condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association has a fiduciary duty to make decisions in the best interest of the community as a whole. But individual board members may have different ideas as to what those decisions mig…
Most co-op, condo, and HOA board members are not legal professionals - they're volunteers who participate in the governance of their community out of a sense of duty and the desire to have a say in maintaining the value of their and their n…
Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) cooperatives were set up some 40 years ago as a means of establishing home ownership opportunities for low-income residents in New York City. The program also served to help the city stabilize nei…