Real estate lore has its share of stories about merciless, if not downright unscrupulous, city inspectors popping in on unaware building owners, conducting unscheduled examinations of all types, and sometimes even demanding payoffs in excha…
As part of the larger Climate Mobilization Act, the City of New York passed Local Law 97 (LL97) in 2019 to reduce carbon emissions from buildings. This law enforces carbon caps on most buildings larger than 25,000 square feet—including roug…
On October 18, workers at 108 Leonard Street, a 166-unit luxury condo in the Tribeca section of Manhattan, went on strike to protest a number of alleged unfair labor practices at the condominium developed by Elad Group. According to an anno…
The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) recently published proposed rules for implementing Local Law 97 (LL97), landmark legislation initially passed in 2019 aimed at limiting the city’s carbon emissions. These limits are the center…
The real estate market since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on all buyers, but aspiring first-time buyers may have struggled most of all. For much of 2020 and 2021, the housing market faced a challenging combination of h…
As the effects of climate change intensify, apartment communities are faced with new and newly stringent requirements on many fronts in an effort to slow the tide. These range from converting from fossil fuels to more efficient types of ren…
Q. I’m a member of my building’s board. At a recent board meeting, the owner of our management company told the board that I fired the plumbing company. The owner of the plumbing company then asked for my name and phone number, and the ma…
Q. I currently live in a Mitchell-Lama co-op I purchased for $15,000 27 years ago. The building is going private. My question is: will I have to pay more money for my apartment to own it outright? —Worried About What’s …
Q. One of our condo units that the owner was renting out to a tenant is now in foreclosure. But before the unit went into foreclosure, the owner (who has been missing in action) was behind on the common charges and the condo board was tak…
Q. My co-op board just voted to require all shareholders to buy homeowners insurance. I’d like to find out if that’s a common thing, but I don’t know who to ask. Thanks! —Is This Right? A. “…