Category: Law & Legislation

Nowadays everyone is looking for ways to save money—and co-ops, condos and HOAs are no exception. After all, it takes a great deal of financial support to run a community in accord with residents' standards, so every dollar counts. Funds ar…

On January 22, Airbnb listed New York City as the third-most travelled to city for business trips on its new “Airbnb for Business” platform. The announcement comes a month after the company released data showing that 55 percent of Airbnb us…

The synopsis for the 2013 horror film The Purge is pretty extreme: in the future, society implements a 12-hour period called “the purge,” wherein any and all crime is legalized. Always wanted to vandalize your boss’s car? Thinking about sho…

Owners of co-ops and condos in New York are apt to find that the neighbors down the hall live according to a different set of rules and often pay less then they do for the same apartment.  Thanks to the state law in effect when most cooper…

We all hope for good neighbors when we move into a new building or community. The same is true for commercial properties in residential buildings. Making a good match, one that benefits both the commercial tenants and unit owners, can go a …

In 1955, when many city neighborhoods were deteriorating and the flight to the suburbs was going full blast, the Mitchell-Lama bill, named after state Sen. McNeil Mitchell and Assemblyman Alfred Lama, was signed into law in New York State. …

During a recent news conference about noise pollution, Michael Horodniceanu—the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s president of capital construction—had to shout in order to be heard while speaking at a Second Avenue construction proje…

Every relationship starts the same way—people getting to know each other and moving into a new condo or co-op is no different. It’s actually a lot like moving into a new town; there are new neighbors, new rules and new community leaders. S…

With dozens and sometimes hundreds of people living in a community governed by neighbors, acquaintances and friends, it should be no surprise that disputes can happen in co-op and condo buildings. The possibility of disagreements among res…

In South Africa, it’s called a “sectional title.” In Quebec, it’s a copropriété divise or “divided co-property.” In Italy, they call it “condominio,” derived from Latin. Regardless of location, a condominium—commonly referred to as “condo”…