As managers, residents, and board members of the city's residential buildings gear up for 2011, sweeping up the tinsel and cookie crumbs leftover from holiday parties isn't the only job at hand. From bedbug disclosure rules to a propose…
As recently as five years ago, traditional phone logs and Rolodexes were a common part of a managing agent’s daily communications arsenal. Yet, with recent advances in property management software, such anachronistic methods are largely…
Most buildings have emergency preparedness plans in case of fires, floods, or hurricanes. But there’s one form of crisis that very few have an organized response for: the public relations disaster. It could come in the form of a scandal…
Drawing up a contract for management services looks at first glance like a simple task. Such contracts usually follow a particular format and outline similar services for both co-ops and condos, regardless of size. But what about contr…
Job losses. Bankruptcies. Foreclosures. These are tough times for everyone, but when homeowners fall on hard times, they are often late paying their condo or co-op fees. Some can’t even afford to pay them at all. Add in contractors and …
These are hardly the best of times for those who manage co-op and condo buildings, charged as they are with overseeing financial well-being, maintenance goals, legal issues and an almost unpredictable kaleidoscope of other daily concer…
With the New Year under way, The Cooperator’s 2011 Co-op & Condo Expo is quietly taking shape as this spring’s must-attend event for the tri-state area’s property managers, trustees, and unit owners. Held at the Hilton New York in …
Q What are the rules concerning how many proxies any one person can submit? Also, does a person submitting proxies have to be a unit owner or even live in the complex? We have a situation where a renter, not an owner, of a co-op coll…
Q “The board was advised by one of the owners that we must mail all the minutes of each directors’ meeting to all the owners. Is this correct?” —Out in the Open A “In order to answer this question it would be nece…
Security systems are not just for homeowners in a suburban setting. With advances in wireless technology, security and life safety systems, the features found in the newest systems are a great appliance add-on to condo or co-op apartme…