2010 Feb
Focus on... Board/Shareholder Relations

 For most people, “foaming at the mouth” is just a figure of speech. Attorney Ellen Hirsch de Haan, a managing partner  in the Tampa Bay, Florida office of Becker & Poliakoff PA, has encountered the real thing—and not at an animal shelter,…

 Few board members would argue that the time spent serving their buildings and  fellow residents can be both very strenuous and very rewarding. For years, they  make decisions that affect their community in the present and may continue to …

 As the leaders of a private corporation in which shareholders own stock that  entitles them to live in an apartment within the corporation’s building, residential co-op board members have a lot of responsibility. Along  with this responsi…

 Ari Meisel lives in a 4,000-square foot loft in a four-family co-op building in  Soho—he also operates several green buildings, consulting and real estate businesses  from the comfort of his own unit. He has lived in this building for his…

 Every co-op and condo community has a board of directors in charge of governing  the community’s finances, physical maintenance and other day-to-day business. Part of the  board’s responsibility also is to keep the community fiscally soun…

 Few things can be as upsetting as discovering that the funds that fuel a co-op  or condo have been mishandled—or worse yet, stolen. For residents, fraud undermines their sense of trust in  the men and women who oversee and manage the plac…

 Astoria Boulevard is the second-to-last stop on the N-W subway line. The N train  whistles against the track on a banking turn near 39th Avenue, five subway  stops south of Astoria Boulevard. There’s a sign posted inside the train explain…

 I often go up to Washington Heights, an area where I lived many years ago, just  to walk around. On one recent trip, I decided to take a look into the lobby of  my old apartment building on Cabrini Boulevard to see if there had been any  …

 Most of your buildings have a shareholder—or maybe two or three—who fit into a particular mold: you know, longer hair, Birkenstocks, vintage  Woodstock t-shirts; or maybe yours has the $5,000 suit, $1,000 shoes, and  starched attitude. Th…

Q I live in a high-rise co-op on the Upper East Side and have a situation where my neighbor two floors down built a terrace and installed six string up-lights, for "landscape" lighting, which shine up into my windows. They leave the…

Q I am the vice president of our co-op board. Just recently we found out through a real estate ad that the president of the board is selling his unit. Does this pose a conflict of interest? In effect should the president remain the …

Q Our co-op has a question about our various insurance policies. Our insurance agent has recommended to the board that we keep our Directors & Officers (D&O) coverage separate from our general liability coverage. I understand that som…