Category: Q&A

Q Ten years ago I rented a small closet on the floor of my co-op for $25 per month. Last year the board raised the price to $200 per month. Last month, they raised the price yet again to $300, which is about the cost of maintenance of a…

Q For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a leak in my bathroom. I believe it happened when the shareholders above  me moved in. Another complaint is that the upstairs owner’s son likes to take long baths, sometimes for two hours or more. O…

Q My 47-unit Brooklyn cooperative is carrying $1.7 million of debt, all of it  already spent, in an interest-only mortgage, and contemplating taking on more  debt. By what measure or measures does a cooperative determine how much debt is …

Q I live in a townhouse development consisting of 120 units. The board is the management team and the association is financially responsible for outside maintenance. In 2009, there was work done on the sidewalks and stoops, and more wo…

Q The building where I live, a former hotel, was converted to a condo about four years ago. There are nine hotel-stabilized tenants remaining as renters within the condo. Management says that our hotel-stabilized units have been “condom…

Q Our co-op board has begun a policy of forbidding individual members to communicate with other shareholders about any issues in the building, not just legal matters. Any queries are answered with a stock reply. This board did not run …

Q My wife and I own the shares for our co-op apartment jointly. We wish to establish a revocable living trust for our assets and the apartment. Our co-op board is unwilling to make the transfer to the trust. How can we convince the boar…

Q “I know you probably get tons of questions—I have combed through your site and am looking for information regarding the rights of shareholders to see books. Our managing agent and board are refusing to allow viewing of anything but mi…

Q “My mother and I jointly own her co-op apartment. She is 90 years old and still lives in the co-op. If it becomes a necessity for her to need homecare and possibly go on Medicaid, what would happen to the co-op after she passes? Will M…

Q I own a cooperative apartment in Brooklyn and I’m hoping you could offer an opinion on a plumbing issue. In my bathroom I have  two water valves protruding from the wall that control the hot and cold water  flow to the sink and the tub.…