Q I am the owner of a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I have a legal subtenant who filled out all forms and paid all the fees as described on the required two-year lease provided by the board, including that o…
The sitting president of a Connecticut condo board recently approached the property manager with a proposition: If he saw to it that her contractor boyfriend was awarded certain jobs in the building, the property manager would receive …
Q I live in a self-managed co-op and we are getting conflicting information about whether co-ops can disallow roommates or not. We've heard that the board of directors has absolute decision making power over whether or not to allow room…
The late 1990s saw a surge of nationwide smoking restrictions put into effect. State by state, legislation banning smoking in various settings was proposed and passed into law. With varying amounts of resistance and controversy, workpl…
Lawsuits are an unfortunate, expensive fact of life these days—chances are that at some point in your lifetime you’ll be involved in one to at least some degree. In you live in a co-op or condo community, legal issues arise between board…
Q I am a non-resident owner in a 10-unit co-op in Manhattan. I have been renting out my unit for the past 7 years. Recently, while I was away from the country on work, my son inadvertently rented my apartment to a tenant without firs…
In today’s difficult economic times, more and more co-op and condo owners and boards are constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve their bottom line. It’s one of the many reasons that more and more renters are moving into co-op a…
Q What do you do when a board/board member rejects you as a prospective buyer for self-serving gain? My husband and I were in contract on an apartment where we were paying in cash, had no mortgage, could easily pay the maintenance ev…
Almost any veteran property manager can tell tales of buildings that have fallen on rough times thanks to the economic meltdown of the last few years. Some have been beset by multiple unit foreclosures, others are dealing with defaultin…
When it comes to board members pushing their own pet projects, stalling meetings, and generally gumming up their building’s administrative works for selfish reasons, Chris Ebert, senior property manager of Downtown Properties in Manhatt…