From the outside, the structure of a condo or co-op building may appear to be monolithic; just one big piece of brick and steel, punctuated with some glass here and there. That's an oversimplification, however. A multifamily building is pe…

I would like to establish a revocable living trust and place my co-op apartment in the trust. This will avoid probate for my heirs. My co-op board is unwilling to agree to my request. I have not been given a reason for this. How can I convi…

Valuable paintings will be hung in our newly renovated lobby which is a common area of our co-op building. What if they are stolen or damaged? The owner who has loaned them has personal insurance but since the paintings are in our common ar…

Q I've heard a lot about the STAR abatement and other tax breaks for apartment owners, but I'm confused as to who gets what, and how those refunds are distributed among residents in multifamily buildings. Could you please clarify the most…

Some of us will never forget the ultimate question posed by Paris Hilton on the reality show The Simple Life. The overly coiffed, highly-manicured Hilton was “roughing it” by bunking with a working-class family in middle America and when a…

It's a truism that's been phrased many ways by many wise people: “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” That's the case in any number of situations, but it's especially applicable to the administration…

While having goods and services like retail stores, banks and dry cleaners on-site can be convenient and viewed as a positive by co-op or condo unit owners and neighbors, not every commercial tenant is a good fit for every community or HOA…

Bad neighbors are something that everyone living with shared walls fears—and not without cause; co-op or condo, small or large, chances are there's at least one chronically objectionable person who seems to do his or her level best to anno…

Gone are the days when a treadmill and a set of dumbbells in a fluorescent-lit basement room passed for athletic amenities in condo buildings and HOAs. Today, the size and scope of sporty offerings—be it basketball courts, pools or saunas–…

Condos and homeowner associations have made headlines over the years for passing all kinds of overreaching and downright silly rules and regulations—everything from forbidding the flying of the American flag to having prohibitions about ha…