Chances are if you’re a resident in a co-op, condo, or HOA community, you’re familiar with your property’s board of directors (or trustees, or managers, depending on what part of the country you live in). Boards are usually made up of volun…
Despite the fact that most people would agree that discrimination is a bad thing, discrimination persists, which suggests either that existing laws against it are sometimes ignored, or that the legal definition of ‘discrimination’ isn’t alw…
Are condominiums, co-ops and HOAs cohesive communities? Is community part and parcel of what the purchaser is seeking when they buy into a co-op, condo or HOA? The concept of ‘community cohesiveness’ could be defined as a community in which…
Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, oh my! Today, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t use some form of social media to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. Whether they are posting updates on their daily life, sha…
On January 9, shortly before the end of his second and final term, President Barack Obama sent a directive to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), ordering a reduction in FHA mortgage insurance premiums by a quarter of…
Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching and love is in the air. Another thing that is also in the air is rampant consumerism, the barely-hidden reason for the holiday. And this means gifts upon gifts being delivered en masse to condominium a…
For those who work in and follow New York City real estate, architecture and design, last weekend's “City of Tomorrow” event at Manhattan's 92Y must have felt like one-stop shopping for information. Consisting of a variety of discussions, t…
Nobody enjoys litigation; it's expensive, time-consuming, and acrimonious. There are ways to avoid the courtroom however, and in this clip, legal pros explain their role in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings in the context of …
Over 45 years ago, when New York City was entering a dangerous financial decline that nearly culminated in municipal bankruptcy in 1975, the 421-a tax exemption program was created to incentivize developers to enter into new residential dev…
Conflict comes hand-in-hand with living in close quarters. Such is the nature of condominium and cooperative living. Some dust-ups between neighbors are settled with a polite conversation, or a mild nudge from the condo or co-op board. Othe…