Insurance sounds like a simple concept: you pay a premium to your insurer, and then when you file a claim, your insurer pays you. Simple. Insuring a co-op or condo building shouldn’t be much different than insuring yourself—just on a b…

Since they were first built, apartment buildings have been insured for disasters and unforeseen circumstances—the things nobody ever wants to happen, but has to admit are possible. Things like fires, floods, earthquakes and so on. In t…

Having insurance means having financial protection—protection from being financially crippled by having to pay excessive costs to rebuild a life or a home—or a whole building—when tragedy strikes. Just as individual homeowners h…

In 2001, the Amalgamated Houses co-op in the Bronx paid $287,000 in insurance premiums. The following June, when the existing policy terminated, the yearly tab rose to a staggering $427,000—an increase of almost 50 percent. And wasn’t …

Q I’m a resident co-op shareholder, and despite the clearly stated bylaw that washing machines and dryers are not allowed in my building, the resident board president living underneath me illegally has not one, but both appliances in h…

Q I am the current board president of a 48-unit Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) co-op located in Manhattan. Recently, in an effort to bolster operating income, without increasing maintenance assessments, previous boards had…

Q Late last year, our board decided to make changes to our bylaws by an act of resolution; a move not authorized by our governing documents. A group of shareholders called a special meeting to oppose the changes, and they were voted on…

Q I am on the board of my Ridgewood, Queens co-op, and I have a problem with our current board president. Without consulting the other board members, the president has cancelled our upcoming meeting, saying that there is ‘nothing on the…

Once an estate planning operative for only the rich and famous, trusts are commonly used today to facilitate estate planning for everyone. While empty-nesters downsize and seek out residences that are more maintenance free—such as co-o…

In New York, buying and selling real estate is almost a contact sport. The hours are long, the stakes high, the customers savvy and demanding. In a city of eight million people, there are thousands of real estate brokers, but only an e…