Deborah, Send an Email outlining all the facts to the whole Board --, this must be written in a non-emotional, business-line manner. And call for a meeting to discuss and resolve the problem.

However, you are running a business, and no matter how you personally feel about this person/business -- you need to make a decision based on the financial welfare of the Coop. So keep an open mind that this may be good for the Coop.

Also, have the Board vote to instruct the Coop Lawyer that he is only allowed to speak with people who have been authorized by the Board. Otherwise, we learned the hard way, you will be hit with outrageous legal
fees.

Good Luck, VP

No Lawyer working for a Board should be authorized to do any billable work without explicit Board approval. even as your attorney they should still be required to quote on any project, as to hours potentially involved, and not just the rate for the hours. No Management company should have the authority to initiate any legal work without your approval, it is your money, not theirs, paying the bills. Any work performed for the coop that has not been explicitly approved by the Board I would consider non-payable unless you have given your Management Co. the right to authorize, if so I would rescind it immediately. You have a fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders which includes being diligent as to all spending, planning, commitments and planning.

Deborah, Send an Email outlining all the facts to the whole Board --, this must be written in a non-emotional, business-line manner. And call for a meeting to discuss and resolve the problem.

However, you are running a business, and no matter how you personally feel about this person/business -- you need to make a decision based on the financial welfare of the Coop. So keep an open mind that this may be good for the Coop.

Also, have the Board vote to instruct the Coop Lawyer that he is only allowed to speak with people who have been authorized by the Board. Otherwise, we learned the hard way, you will be hit with outrageous legal
fees.

Good Luck, VP

Thank you. Your advice is very helpful.

Market rate is what you determine it to be, the market in this case is your Coop. Your Board needs to decide what you can afford, what services are included in that fee/cost what are a la carte. What other's pay is not relevant as it is still about what you can afford. Do not fall for the every job, mortgage etc. has a % price tag attached to it. Set fees for services either an hourly rate, or a flat fee for a service. Set a monthly management fee that includes all basic services, filings, monthly accounting, bill paying etc. set an authorization limit scaled to your coop that sets a limit on what the cost ceiling is before needing Board approval, any capital system repairs should require Board notification. require monthly management reports with all receivables and payables accounted for, photocopies of every invoice paid, and a spreadsheet page that shows monthly receivables and payables from the perspective of the month, the year to date, the over/under, and the budget annualized so you can see if you are over/under/ahead/behind each month you can adjust mentally for the seasonal differentials: landscaping, snow removal, fuel etc. make sure all bank accounts are properly labeled as to operations, reserves, taxes and that you make them line item operations and reserves interest collections and crediting separately. Many management companies pay various accounts out of one large slush operations account of all their properties. Not good. IF a property is behind in collections, or financially unsound they are, in effect, paying their bills with your money. You will never recover that money in a default, they will skip, and so will your Manager. Insist on a minimal monetary presence in that account and all surplus funds have to be swept to your reserves each month. IF you have a large Coop, then your Bank should/can do a nightly sweep of your accounts for interest/overnight money-making. However, make sure you have an agreement with them that your payables and receivables can not cross in the night or you will be hit with bounce charges, or show a deficit on your balance sheet. Remember, you are the client, you dictate terms, negotiate terms etc. If they think they can hold you hostage to high fees, replace them. You can say no.

Market rate is what you determine it to be, the market in this case is your Coop. Your Board needs to decide what you can afford, what services are included in that fee/cost what are a la carte. What other's pay is not relevant as it is still about what you can afford. Do not fall for the every job, mortgage etc. has a % price tag attached to it. Set fees for services either an hourly rate, or a flat fee for a service. Set a monthly management fee that includes all basic services, filings, monthly accounting, bill paying etc. set an authorization limit scaled to your coop that sets a limit on what the cost ceiling is before needing Board approval, any capital system repairs should require Board notification. require monthly management reports with all receivables and payables accounted for, photocopies of every invoice paid, and a spreadsheet page that shows monthly receivables and payables from the perspective of the month, the year to date, the over/under, and the budget annualized so you can see if you are over/under/ahead/behind each month you can adjust mentally for the seasonal differentials: landscaping, snow removal, fuel etc. make sure all bank accounts are properly labeled as to operations, reserves, taxes and that you make them line item operations and reserves interest collections and crediting separately. Many management companies pay various accounts out of one large slush operations account of all their properties. Not good. IF a property is behind in collections, or financially unsound they are, in effect, paying their bills with your money. You will never recover that money in a default, they will skip, and so will your Manager. Insist on a minimal monetary presence in that account and all surplus funds have to be swept to your reserves each month. IF you have a large Coop, then your Bank should/can do a nightly sweep of your accounts for interest/overnight money-making. However, make sure you have an agreement with them that your payables and receivables can not cross in the night or you will be hit with bounce charges, or show a deficit on your balance sheet. Remember, you are the client, you dictate terms, negotiate terms etc. If they think they can hold you hostage to high fees, replace them. You can say no.

Perhaps you should give some sort of indication as to the number of floors your building has, type of construction, size of balconies and issues that you are currently experiencing, i.e., railings & footings, membrane protective system, drainage, etc.

I would prefer to discuss this offline...that would be better for me...is it possible to share with you?

first are the rules established by your proprietary lease and bylaws. Secondly do you have any sublet and fee provisions established, or is it illegal to sublet an apt? assuming that you allow sublets, with a surcharge, or allow family and you need to check on the definition because many only allow for immediate family and not extended family. So, assuming that they are in breach, you first, stop accepting their maintenance payments immediately. Acceptance can be construed as acknowledgement and therefore acceptance of the situation. Second, you have your Attorney draw up a notice to cure' and set a 10 up to 30 day cure period. Assuming the pretense was for her to find a place then less than 30 is not unreasonable. You have to be committed to curing the situation and going the full route to success, which includes the very real threat, and possible action of eviction and foreclosure. Not for the faint of heart. IF she is not a shareholder it is not her primary residence, assuming there is no contract with the board for a sublease. IF you are talking about the Shareholder, it doesn't have to be their primary residence, usually (check your prop lease and bylaws) the shareholder is required to be in fully present and in residence if there is a guest in the apt, and if not immediate family (and often even if...) there is a stipulated time base restriction on their residence as well. So,lease and bylaws first, cessation of acceptance of maintenance payments is second, 'Notice to Cure' is third, and when all is said and done you can always try and go for a sublease surcharge fee based on the number of months an illegal sublet existed, but do not try this before the fact as it can inadvertently trigger an acknowledgement condition with the Judge.

Yes our attorney has done all of the above. We have a court date with the judge, were the board needs to prove this is not her primary residence. Why should the board prove this is not her primary residence? The shareholder needs to prove this, correct?

I won't assume, but since this has been an ongoing situation, has the Board kept a definitive time log on the resident? If not, maybe you can use discovery for collecting CC bills to prove airfare and/or gas receipts out of state. If you're bringing the charges, then I guess the burden of proof remands to you. Paper trails, I can't emphasize enough the value of paper trails, records, and logs. Keep it clean, but keep it in detail. If you bring an action, you have to show cause, prove there is a basis for the action. Otherwise it is considered frivolous and unsubstantiated. If you are correct, the Court can award you all your legal expense, or vice-versa if unsubstantiated. A good rule of thumb is if your action isn't so clear cut and substantiated to stand a reasonable chance of recovery then maybe you need to do more work before bringing the action. Our common-sense sensibilities as to habitability, noise, disruptive habits have to meet the Court's standards of legal definition, which at times seems very different than what we would assume as a lay person. Good luck, at least they are not a Rent Control/Stabilization holdover Tenant...!

First, are the rules established by your proprietary lease and bylaws. Secondly do you have any sublet and fee provisions established, or is it illegal to sublet an apt? assuming that you allow sublets, with a surcharge, or allow family and you need to check on the definition because many only allow for immediate family and not extended family. So, assuming that they are in breach, you first, stop accepting their maintenance payments immediately. Acceptance can be construed as acknowledgement and therefore acceptance of the situation. Second, you have your Attorney draw up a notice to cure' and set a 10 up to 30 day cure period. Assuming the pretense was for her to find a place then less than 30 is not unreasonable. You have to be committed to curing the situation and going the full route to success, which includes the very real threat, and possible action of eviction and foreclosure. Not for the faint of heart. IF she is not a shareholder it is not her primary residence, assuming there is no contract with the board for a sublease. IF you are talking about the Shareholder, it doesn't have to be their primary residence, usually (check your prop lease and bylaws) the shareholder is required to be in fully present and in residence if there is a guest in the apt, and if not immediate family (and often even if...) there is a stipulated time base restriction on their residence as well. So,lease and bylaws first, cessation of acceptance of maintenance payments is second, 'Notice to Cure' is third, and when all is said and done you can always try and go for a sublease surcharge fee based on the number of months an illegal sublet existed, but do not try this before the fact as it can inadvertently trigger an acknowledgement condition with the Judge.

First, are the rules established by your proprietary lease and bylaws. Secondly do you have any sublet and fee provisions established, or is it illegal to sublet an apt? assuming that you allow sublets, with a surcharge, or allow family and you need to check on the definition because many only allow for immediate family and not extended family. So, assuming that they are in breach, you first, stop accepting their maintenance payments immediately. Acceptance can be construed as acknowledgement and therefore acceptance of the situation. Second, you have your Attorney draw up a notice to cure' and set a 10 up to 30 day cure period. Assuming the pretense was for her to find a place then less than 30 is not unreasonable. You have to be committed to curing the situation and going the full route to success, which includes the very real threat, and possible action of eviction and foreclosure. Not for the faint of heart. IF she is not a shareholder it is not her primary residence, assuming there is no contract with the board for a sublease. IF you are talking about the Shareholder, it doesn't have to be their primary residence, usually (check your prop lease and bylaws) the shareholder is required to be in fully present and in residence if there is a guest in the apt, and if not immediate family (and often even if...) there is a stipulated time base restriction on their residence as well. So,lease and bylaws first, cessation of acceptance of maintenance payments is second, 'Notice to Cure' is third, and when all is said and done you can always try and go for a sublease surcharge fee based on the number of months an illegal sublet existed, but do not try this before the fact as it can inadvertently trigger an acknowledgement condition with the Judge.

First, are the rules established by your proprietary lease and bylaws. Secondly do you have any sublet and fee provisions established, or is it illegal to sublet an apt? assuming that you allow sublets, with a surcharge, or allow family and you need to check on the definition because many only allow for immediate family and not extended family. So, assuming that they are in breach, you first, stop accepting their maintenance payments immediately. Acceptance can be construed as acknowledgement and therefore acceptance of the situation. Second, you have your Attorney draw up a notice to cure' and set a 10 up to 30 day cure period. Assuming the pretense was for her to find a place then less than 30 is not unreasonable. You have to be committed to curing the situation and going the full route to success, which includes the very real threat, and possible action of eviction and foreclosure. Not for the faint of heart. IF she is not a shareholder it is not her primary residence, assuming there is no contract with the board for a sublease. IF you are talking about the Shareholder, it doesn't have to be their primary residence, usually (check your prop lease and bylaws) the shareholder is required to be in fully present and in residence if there is a guest in the apt, and if not immediate family (and often even if...) there is a stipulated time base restriction on their residence as well. So,lease and bylaws first, cessation of acceptance of maintenance payments is second, 'Notice to Cure' is third, and when all is said and done you can always try and go for a sublease surcharge fee based on the number of months an illegal sublet existed, but do not try this before the fact as it can inadvertently trigger an acknowledgement condition with the Judge.

Three-part answer:

(1) NO, there is no conflict of interest in this person running for the board. Anyone who qualifies may run for any reason, or no reason ("Hey! I wanna be a director!"). That said, one-issue candidates are rarely good board members.

(2) YES, if this person is elected, he should be prohibited from discussing or voting on sublet fees and policies so long as he is subletting himself. That would be a conflict of interest. (In practice, I can imagine this being problematic if several members of a small board were all subletting.)

(3) MAYBE this person qualifies to run for the board, but maybe not. There's no fixed answer; you'll need to check your By-Laws. In our co-op, a non-resident shareholder would *not* be qualified, due to language we adopted several years ago: "Each Director of the Corporation shall be a shareholder or the spouse of a shareholder. Directors shall be residents of the apartment building owned by the Corporation."

Carl's first two points are correct as far as I know. Single issue Board members rarely last long,either they achieve their goals and leave, or fail and leave. The greater issue is, even if they recuse themselves, their friendships, presence etc. can affect votes. The real problem is that it is actually a form of self-dealing, if, in fact, they can directly benefit from the outcome of a vote. I don't believe residency, while generally desirable, should be an issue, providing a non-resident Board member is involved with the building and maintains a reasonably active presence. Good Board members are hard to find and train, if you are in a small building, it can be really tough, so I wouldn't want to lose a good one for those reasons, unless there is a reasonably capable replacement ready to step up. Many Coop governing docs actually do not require any Board officers to actually be shareholders outside the role of President. The hard thing is finding willing shareholders who understand that what is best for the Coop as a community and to maintain a financially viable entity, is not always what is best for a particular individual. In a Coop, a (wo)man's home is not their castle, to do with as they will, it is always subject to the greater good. That is a tough concept.

Carl's first two points are correct as far as I know. Single issue Board members rarely last long,either they achieve their goals and leave, or fail and leave. The greater issue is, even if they recuse themselves, their friendships, presence etc. can affect votes. The real problem is that it is actually a form of self-dealing, if, in fact, they can directly benefit from the outcome of a vote. I don't believe residency, while generally desirable, should be an issue, providing a non-resident Board member is involved with the building and maintains a reasonably active presence. Good Board members are hard to find and train, if you are in a small building, it can be really tough, so I wouldn't want to lose a good one for those reasons, unless there is a reasonably capable replacement ready to step up. Many Coop governing docs actually do not require any Board officers to actually be shareholders outside the role of President. The hard thing is finding willing shareholders who understand that what is best for the Coop as a community and to maintain a financially viable entity, is not always what is best for a particular individual. In a Coop, a (wo)man's home is not their castle, to do with as they will, it is always subject to the greater good. That is a tough concept.

Thanks Carl! Your answers were a big help. I checked our By-Laws and it is not included. Will certainly look to add this policy for sure.

Hire an Engineer who is licensed to solve these issues and their underlying complexities. If warranted, the Engineer will need to do drawings and write specs that meet all codes, will pass DOB inspections and both remediate the issues and protect your property. You then use those specs to bid the work, and have the Engineer serve as the Bid referee and be responsible to inspect, approve and supervise the handling of the repairs. You need to solve the problems (Engineer), before you repair the problems (Contractor). Never let the Contractor be the inspector of his own work and solutions.

Thank you.

We have used Ralph Sobel, Architect for a few serious facade projects and local Law/11work. Fairly priced; where he has had to produce detailed solutions and specs along with construction drawings for serious facade reconstruction and repair problems on our 1928 terra-cotta facade building. Very solid quality work, onsite inspections, supervision etc, @:
Ralph Sobel, Architect
171 Sullivan St., #9
New York, NY 10012
212-228-4001
rsobelarch@gmail.com

D.

We have used Ralph Sobel, Architect for a few serious facade projects and local Law/11work. Fairly priced; where he has had to produce detailed solutions and specs along with construction drawings for serious facade reconstruction and repair problems on our 1928 terra-cotta facade building. Very solid quality work, onsite inspections, supervision etc, @:
Ralph Sobel, Architect
171 Sullivan St., #9
New York, NY 10012
212-228-4001
rsobelarch@gmail.com

D.

We have used Ralph Sobel, Architect for a few serious facade projects and local Law/11work. Fairly priced; where he has had to produce detailed solutions and specs along with construction drawings for serious facade reconstruction and repair problems on our 1928 terra-cotta facade building. Very solid quality work, onsite inspections, supervision etc, @:
Ralph Sobel, Architect
171 Sullivan St., #9
New York, NY 10012
212-228-4001
rsobelarch@gmail.com

D.

We have used Ralph Sobel, Architect: 171 Sullivan Street, #9, NY, NY 10012 212-228-4001 rsobelarch@gmail.com; he has done our local law/11 work two times, which for us was extensive, and now is overseeing the execution of facade repairs where cracks revealed that the steel straps that hold our terracotta facade had started to give way. He has designed the solutions, which includes how to dismantle, repair and re-install without damaging or losing our 84 yr old elements. This is along with lintel replacements, brick and mortar, escapes etc. caulking, sills and sealants. So, this is a third major project for him with us. I guess that is a statement in itself.

I use Lane Engineers for this type of thing, they are much less expensive and very good... let them identify the issues and then hire or allow them to reccomend several contractors to do the repairs....732-264-4307

You can Also call REAP Construction that does full building inspection reports, but they charge and are not free.... 877-799-6810

Thank you for your assistance. It appears that an engineer has to inspect it and recommend a solution before a contractor is hired.