With mortgages as common as they are today, most borrowers know the standard steps in securing a loan for a condo or co-op. In the simplest terms, a borrower must first pick a lending institution, be it a commercial bank or mortgage banker.…
The economic boom of the last few years has been a remarkable period of prosperity for the real estate industry in general, and co-ops in particular. Shareholders no longer need to feel trapped; the time is now for co-op boards to tackle th…
Out of concern over escalating property taxes, The Action Committee for Reasonable Real Estate Taxes was formed in 1990. Created by The Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums (CNYC), the committee uncovered a gross disparity betw…
"Foreclosure" is a word no co-op or condo owner wants to hear, but when residents fall behind on maintenance fees or common charges - when their financial burden becomes too large to shoulder - sometimes foreclosure can be the only answ…
A couple years ago, I became genuinely surprised to learn of conflicting opinions throughout the legal community and in court decisions (including rulings from New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division) which centered on how to clas…
Under the sweeping shade of the World Trade Center, something miraculous is happening—a neighborhood is coming to life. Once the enclave of intense financiers worried more about the bottom line than where they would hang their hats, Manhatt…
One of the unique features of performing construction work in a cooperative or condominium apartment is that it must usually be performed pursuant to an alteration agreement that addresses what, where, when and how construction work is to b…
Perhaps you’ve seen the commercials on television; a mob of people shouting “The Internet is slow as heck, and we’re not going to take it anymore!” Or the one where a succession of comedians tell jokes beginning with “My internet service is…
The Internal Revenue Code’s Section 216 authorizes cooperative apartment owners to receive a pass-through tax deduction for their proportionate share of the mortgage interest and real estate taxes paid by a qualifying co-op corporation. One…
Beyond the obvious differences—taxicabs versus cacti, towering high-rises versus wide-open spaces, big business versus big-sky country—there’s more separating the New York real estate scene from the rest of the country than just geography a…