Remember your first day at a new school? Most likely, you didn’t know a soul, had no idea what the students were learning and you probably felt  nervous, intimidated or maybe even afraid. In most cases, this is what it’s like to be a new …

 Insurance is designed to be there for us when we need it most. Without knowing  the full extent of our coverage, though, we may find ourselves facing an  emergency with less protection than we thought. For shareholders or unit  owners, it…

 When it comes to insurance, there's more to think about than just premiums and  deductibles; on one side, there's insurance fraud—and on the other, there's the insurance that protects you from fraud. Both sides  of the equation are import…

Q My wife and I own the shares for our co-op apartment jointly. We wish to establish a revocable living trust for our assets and the apartment. Our co-op board is unwilling to make the transfer to the trust. How can we convince the boar…

 A leaking pool, a wall in need of repair, a faulty exhaust system, chimney and  furnace repairs… Who’s responsible for fixing them? Generally, most leases provide that “structural” repairs are the landlord’s responsibility and that “nonst…

Individual cooperative board members scored a major victory recently in the case of Weinreb v. 37 Apartments Corp., et al, an appellate court decision that relieved them of certain responsibilities when it comes to shareholders' propos…

 Valley Stream is known for being a big village with a small town feel. With a population of nearly 38,000, Valley Stream is one of the largest villages  in the state of New York. The incorporated village is located inside the  southwest p…

 Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently released the New York City Executive Budget  for the 2013 fiscal year. While the mayor lauded the $68.7 billion plan as a “balanced budget with no tax increases,” the City Council believes the prelimina…

 Next to fire, perhaps nothing is more damaging to residential buildings and  their occupants' property then leaks. Whether it’s a torrential deluge from the upstairs neighbor’s overflowing bathtub or a slow, seeping leak around the window…

 With interest rates at historic lows, never rising too far above 4% these days,  boards are looking at refinancing their co-op's underlying mortgage to build up  their reserves as a viable alternative to raising maintenance fees or levyin…