2016 October
Focus on... Board Operations

It’s often tough to get co-op, condo, and HOA residents interested in joining their building or association’s board. No one wants to work a second job if they don’t have to—especially one that doesn’t pay—but regardless, there’s important w…

Although it may sometimes feel as if our pets have the run of the land, humans are still the masters of their own domains. In order to maintain this status quo—especially in a communal environment such as a condominium, cooperative or homeo…

Dana Greco, a therapist specializing in marriage counseling and divorce mediation lived in a comfortable two bedroom co-op on New York’s Upper West Side near Columbia University.  Divorced herself and with grown children, her apartment was …

While current technology allows one to access almost infinite information in real time, history allows one to look back. And for many New Yorkers, the city’s rich architectural tradition is inscribed in the countless prewar buildings that p…

The vast majority of co-op and condo residents are regular folks who wouldn’t dream of disrupting life in their building by being verbally abusive to the neighbors, blowing up board members’ phones and email inboxes with endless complaints …

Every co-op, condo, and HOA must elect a board of directors to oversee the community’s finances, physical maintenance, and other day-to- day operations. While board elections don’t rise quite to the level of a state or even local election i…

There are plenty of people who think their jobs are difficult: politicians or professional football players, for example. Then there are those who know for certain their jobs are difficult. They’re called professional property managers.  W…

Take a gander around major U.S. cities, and you’ll see that the market for newly-constructed condo units is at an all-time high; many developers are seeking way to set their particular luxury properties apart from all the others going up ar…

As times change and we encounter life’s transitions, many of the things we once desired take on new forms and shapes. None of those transitions is quite as profound as starting—and raising—a family, and for co-op and condo owners who are al…

Management by definition is a process; a series of ongoing systems and controls put in place with a specific outcome in mind. The management needs and requirements of HOAs, co-ops and condominiums have helped define the overall property man…

While state and local governments implement energy-saving incentive programs and more buildings are either being retrofitted or built with next-generation energy-saving technology, the habits of unit owners and shareholders still impact a b…

When buyers purchase apartments, they also purchase access to the condo or co-op’s shared amenities. Depending on the scale and financial demographics of the building, those amenities could be substantial; during the real estate boom of the…

Few situations in life require you to lay bare your financial health and history in such full-color detail the way buying a co-op does. While it may be stressful and time-consuming to prepare and share all the documents required for evaluat…

Q. If someone wants to get a board member off the board, how do they go about it and what percentage of the shareholders do they need? Also, do renters vote?                   —Civic-Minded Cooperator A. “First, you need to check the …

As the weather and temperatures shift, so do pest populations. Knowing which critters to look out for (and get rid of) as the seasons change can help keep your building pest-free.

Part of being an effective board member is keeping abreast of legal and legislative issues that could impact your building and its residents. Attorney Marc H. Schneider discusses a few things that should be on your administrative radar.