As an attorney who represents co-op boards, building managers and shareholders, one sometimes wonders if the expression—“ You can’t please all the people all of the time” best applies to the idea of creating harmony between these partie…
When cooperators elect their boards of directors, and condo owners elect their community association or boards of managers, they do so in the expectation that these boards will represent their interests. But conflict between boards …
New York is an expensive town - on that point there can be little debate. Regardless of your means, the holiday season compounds the issue: there are gifts to be bought, travel accommodations to be booked, parties to attend, inclement weat…
New York is an expensive town–on that point there can be little debate. Regardless of your means, sometimes it can feel as though everybody from the waitress at your favorite coffee shop to the person who sacks your groceries is trying to g…
Over two decades ago, an amendment to the New York City Civil Court Act transferred enforcement proceedings connected with housing to the Civil Court. This amendment established what we now know as housing court, where residential landlord …
Annual shareholders’ meetings are in our midst. It takes a lot for a board to prepare for the spring occasion, but if thoughtfully planned by a building’s board and managing agent, it can become a successful forum for board elections, the d…
Your roof terrace leaked and the neighbor below you sued for damages. Do you have any recourse? The heating system in your apartment failed to work and the managing agent sent you the bill for its repair. Do you have to pay? You bought a …
Two weeks after Angel Agostino renewed her small insurance policy with Ron Tepperman, Inc., a base- ment fire caused her apartment to burn down and she lost everything. I got insurance because I thought the roof would leak, Agostino expla…
In the 1980s, at the height of the conversion movement, many New Yorkers were thrilled because they were able to buy apartments at a great insider's price. But, for some, the dream of owning their own home turned sour. Imagine learning tha…
The collapse of the New York real estate market in the late 1980s left dozens, if not hundreds, of co-ops unable to pay or refinance their mortgages. Many sponsors managed to have their plans declared effective with only 15 percent of the u…