Few board members would argue that the time spent serving their buildings and  fellow residents can be both very strenuous and very rewarding. For years, they  make decisions that affect their community in the present and may continue to …

 For most people, “foaming at the mouth” is just a figure of speech. Attorney Ellen Hirsch de Haan, a managing partner  in the Tampa Bay, Florida office of Becker & Poliakoff PA, has encountered the real thing—and not at an animal shelter,…

Q “If a unit owner is deceased, what are the inheritance rights of a relative, for example, let's say, siblings, to moving in and taking possession of an apartment?” —Legal Legacy A “There are several iss…

Q Is there a law allowing us to conduct a meeting without a quorum reached? We need more than 50 percent of the vote and certain shareholders refuse to attend the meetings. We don’t have a co-op board and can not elect one. The old b…

Planning for what happens to your estate upon your death is never a pleasant chore, but if you own property of any kind, that planning is an vital responsibility. While there are many aspects and legal mechanisms that can be considered…

 With land so developed, it is sometimes impossible for New York City property  owners to build, repair or improve their own property without accessing their  neighbor’s. But if your neighbor is unwilling to grant you access, what is your …

 Just take a walk around the streets and parks of the city, and it’s easy to see that New Yorkers love their pets. But not everyone loves animals,  of course—and this can be problematic when it comes to a board deciding if pets should be  …

In early 2009, at the urging of President Barack Obama, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) with a view toward easing the blow dealt to the economy by what some are calling the Great Recession. The ARRA ha…

Criminals like Bernard Madoff and other so-called “white collar” lawbreakers have made headlines recently with their financial double-dealings, but unfortunately, fiscal mismanagement and fraud also happen in co-op and condo communities…

A short distance away from this writer’s “regular,” non-Cooperator job in Downtown Brooklyn is a large, empty edifice, a former industrial building. A year or so ago, the conversion of this building to condos was a big deal—a sales offi…