Category: Q&A

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!                                 —Can They Do That? A. “Requiring…

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. In 1999 I inherited a low-income HDFC co-op, which at that time the president told me I could rent out. When my relative passed away in 1998, I had just bought myself a condominium, so I took the president at his word and rented the co…

Q. I live in a co-op with some unsold shared apartments. This month a woman in a rent stabilized apartment passed away. Will her apartment remain rent stabilized, or can the owner transfer it to market value?                             …

Q. I signed a contract for a condo unit at the end of November 2023. There was an increase in the maintenance in February 2024, so it’s likely they got notice of this last December. Unfortunately I wasn’t given notice of this $55 increase…

Q. I have lived in a Mitchell-Lama co-op since 1992 and never received a copy of the complete house rules. Recently I was assaulted by a neighbor’s husband on co-op property; he is not a tenant on record, yet lives here and is a very dang…

Q. I am a shareholder in a Mitchell-Lama cooperative. If I have concerns about the results of the board of directors’ election, how can I get an independent person to recount the votes and confirm the tally? Management and the Board of Di…

Q. A co-op owner purchased her unit in 2005 and has been subleasing it to the same tenant since 2011. The co-op board recently passed an amendment to the bylaws that states that an owner cannot sublease a unit for more than two years, and…

Q. The owner in the condo unit below mine is a nightmare: slamming/banging noise at all hours, screaming fights, rude guests loitering in front of the building. When I first complained to the board, they served him a cease and desist noti…

Q. We have a shareholder who has filed several frivolous and vindictive complaints against the cooperative with various city agencies. While he always loses, these complaints have cost the cooperative money in attorneys’ fees. His latest …