Board Member's Expertise in Market Research Helps Resolve Co-op Disputes

Rachel Pincu-Singer has a knack for solving people problems. After earning a bachelor’s in anthropology and a master’s in public health at the University of South Florida, she now runs a market research consulting firm, Know and Tell, that helps clients deal with their most pressing business problems and issues. She spoke with Habitat about the art of talking things over with shareholders to resolve disputes at her 16-story, 170-unit Upper West Side co-op. 

A good first impression. After my husband and I moved to New York for his job in 2010, we rented an apartment, but when the landlord refused to renew our lease, we had to scramble for a new home. We looked at a lot of apartments and were instantly taken with this building. The staff seemed great, really friendly, and the common areas were so clean. It sounds like a weird thing to say, but I was really impressed with the basement. There’s a laundry room and a gym, and while it’s nothing fancy, it was so clean and bright, and made it very clear how well the building was cared for.

Diving right in. I didn’t really know anything about a co-op board. The whole co-op thing was brand new to me. I was already involved in volunteer positions with school PTAs for a local green market, which made me open to serving. This apartment was our biggest investment, and I wanted to know what was going on and to have a peek behind the curtain. After I joined in 2014, I became the committee leader for shareholder relations, which was a good fit because I am less conflict averse than a lot of people I know and feel OK having tough conversations.

Most disputes are about noise. We have a prewar building where noise travels in strange ways and it’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. The first complaint I dealt with involved a shareholder who was upset about a family upstairs whose daughter played basketball in the apartment. Even when that stopped, she was very sensitive to noise and constantly listening for sounds and constantly complaining. I told her to tell me the next time she heard any and I would come right down to her apartment. I did, and I heard absolutely nothing. I acknowledged that it’s frustrating when neighbors are noisy, and while they should be considerate of others, you have to let people live their lives, and accept that sounds inevitably travel between the walls and between ceilings and floors. I don’t know if she thought about it and figured, “Oh, she’s right,” or if she assumed I wouldn’t help her and just gave up, but it worked. 

Teachable moments. The lesson I learned from that is that you need to say things with a smile. Your tone and your body language and expression are just as important as what you’re saying. People just want to feel heard, and that applies to dealing with shareholder complaints as well as working with your board. We had another dispute where someone had installed a central air conditioning compressor in the wall facing the courtyard that was exceedingly loud, and several residents complained about it. Because the renovation plans had been approved by the building, the shareholder blamed the co-op for the problem and felt unfairly attacked. Some board members were less than sympathetic, but after some congenial discussion, the shareholder found a way to dampen the sound. 

 Sound finances. We’ve had good treasurers who’ve managed our money really well. And we’ve been fortunate to have a great on-site super who kept costs down by avoiding overtime for our staff and getting repairs done that are not crazy expensive. A flip tax keeps the reserves healthy, we haven’t had major assessments, and the maintenance increases are exceedingly reasonable for a building of our caliber and size. We also refinanced the mortgage when interest rates were still low and took out extra money for repairs. Our most recent expenses were an extensive $2 million facade project and the installation of a dual-fuel boiler.

LL97 outlook. Thanks to a really forward-thinking board member who pushed for energy upgrades before they were a twinkle in anyone’s eye, we’re in good shape when it comes to LL97 requirements, likely through 2040. When we did our most recent FISP work, we also replaced the old gravel roof and painted it white. And there are sensors throughout the building that help regulate heating use. We’re considering upgrading the electricity, and my dream is to install heat pumps. But that would be a challenge because this is a landmarked building and it’s not possible to install them facing the courtyard for all the apartments.

Gratitude attitude. I’ve been on and off the board for several years, including a few as president. People say being a board member is a thankless job, but it hasn’t been thankless at all. A lot of shareholders come up to me and say, “Thank you so much for your service and giving your time.” You always have difficult people who complain about everything and blame the board for everything, but they are in the vast minority. This is a great community.