According to the June 2014 US census, New York City—the largest, most populous city in the United States—is home to roughly 8.5 million people, and a record-breaking 56 million folks stopped in just to visit last year alone. The Big Apple i…

While the invasive board approval process in many co-ops would likely make it very difficult for a prospective buyer with a criminal background to purchase an apartment in a given building, that doesn't mean that residents who've done bad t…

Co-ops and condos are called communities for a reason—families and individuals live side by side with one another, sometimes for years or even decades. Although residents may not exchange much more than a “hello” or “nice day” with their ne…

The synopsis for the 2013 horror film The Purge is pretty extreme: in the future, society implements a 12-hour period called “the purge,” wherein any and all crime is legalized. Always wanted to vandalize your boss’s car? Thinking about sho…

New York is home to almost 1 million people age 65 or older; approximately one in three seniors suffer some type of disability, according to the last census. In a city like New York, where anything can happen—from fire, to extreme weather, …

Condominium associations, whether housed in a single building or in a sprawling development, provide a reliably cozy and comfortable community in which to live. But this comfort requires vigilance on the part of both board and management to…

One of the benefits of transitioning from renter to homeowner is the knowledge that your space is sacred and belongs only to you. But, when it comes to association living, sometimes unit owners have to give building staff or managers access…

The most important aspect of managing a building is keeping it, its residents, and their property safe. In days past, 'safety technology' consisted mostly of well-lit exits, the installation of panic bars and glow-in-the-dark stripping on e…

Q. My co-op has $570,000 in reserve funds invested in CDs earning approximately 0.5% interest. My question is this—are we being too cautious given that the rate of inflation is about 2.7%? How can we get a better rate of return or is this…

Q. This is a very common age-old question in a cooperative. What are my rights for inheriting a co-op apartment if the unit owner unfortunately dies? If a unit owner is deceased and the property is turned over to the estate, what are righ…