Many of the organizations mentioned often in the pages of The Cooperator are extremely high-profile; constantly seeking new members, holding seminars and social events, meeting with city and state legislators, and holding outreach prog…
Many directors serving on the boards of co-ops and condominium communities assume that once they have secured the appropriate coverage for their properties, their problems are largely over. Unfortunately, problems in the insurance mark…
While the grid of streets and avenues may remain rigid and unchanging as the years go by, New York City’s neighborhoods are organic entities, constantly shifting and evolving as new features emerge and old ones fade away. Nowhere is thi…
Though often responsible for millions of dollars in property and charged with the oversight of complex building functions, few co-op/condo board members are real estate professionals. Board members are resident volunteers who come from …
Inefficiently-run board meetings are time-wasters that can make even the most enthusiastic board member cringe at the thought of an upcoming session. By contrast, a well-run board meeting can be a productive hour or two that benefits t…
Most co-op and condo residents understand that there is a board protecting the interests of their building community and individual owners—they’ve probably taken part in numerous board elections, or even served on committees, or volunte…
Unlike individual apartment owners’ insurance coverage, most co-op and condo buildings’ insurance policies are pretty standard—they include homeowners’ insurance, liability, and umbrella coverage. Usually, the common areas such as the ha…
Part of the process of bidding and hiring a contractor to work in your building is verifying their insurance coverage. Uninsured or inadequately insured contractors pose a serious threat to a co-op or condo community’s finances and can …
The economic crisis has affected many individuals, businesses and markets—the real estate and job markets, to name just two particularly nasty examples. Until now, one of the few industries that didn’t seem as deeply impacted was the ins…
In the last two years, Fannie Mae has amended it’s guidelines for selling and serving mortgages on condominiums, cooperatives, and planned unit developments three times. Why should service providers, cooperative corporations and communi…