Hi,

We thought we would do the right thing and try using washers that recycle water. That was a BAD IDEA. First of all, the owners hated the idea that their wash water was someone else’s rinse water. Many of the owners decided to use a traditional Laundromat down the street instead and our income recovers has been less than breakeven. Then the tanks that held the recycled water began to smell and so did the clothes. We did end up saving water but for all of the wrong reasons. This has been both a financial loss and a public relations loss for us.

Also, please be sure that you washing machines offer longer cycle times. One of our giant machines offers a 34 minute cycle time which is too short to get the clothes clean.

Be sure you understand what you are getting in a washer
.
Finally, be careful, the LG commercial product line appears to be new: http://www.coinmachservicecorp.com/news/lg_new_commercial_line.pdf

I think every building does. We have a mix of owners, a few sublets and 40% sponsor rentals. We started to hit people with an administrative fee for failure to recycle. If they are that bad, they usually have mail or something in the bag or we might catch them on our recording cctv system. Sponsor agreed to add fees to their rent bills, owners get it added to maintenance bills. Helps a little. We also put out building updates to advise of construction, assessments, meetings, etc. and include reminders to recycle as well.

Thanks very much JG. This is very helpful but I would love to speak with you in more depth about this matter as my article is very detailed. Again, this would be entirely off the record and I don't need use your name or anything which would identify your building or situation. I am looking for interesting anecdotes/more details to flesh out the story. Many thanks.

Are you sure it's a non-profit? That type of corporation rarely has stock holders, though it's not unheard of.

Yes, it's a non profit.

If you are talking about the list of shareholders in a co op the answer is yes and no A co op is a not for profit and falls under BCL
you are entitled to a list of shareholders
Here is the letter that you must write

"Please provide me with a current list of shareholders. I am aware that this list
cannot be used for any commercial purposes.

I will need the name, apartment number."

They do not have to furnish email addresses

I hope this will help

Yes it is shocking, as the property manager works for the board and not the staff. I would question the agent and ask for an explainaition.

MRM

Please see the Board Talk posting titled "Denying Board Member Right to Read Building Related Contracts," which is dated July 25, 2011. In my opinion, my board was acting on two bases: retaliation against me personally and the erroneous opinion of its attorney, which was supported by the managing agent, that I, as a board member had no right to see building-related documents, including financials, without the express permission of the board. I obtained a written legal opinion, which confirmed that a board member's right to access is absolute and projected that should I sue the board over the issue, I would win. I presented the opinion to the board and they backed down. Also see the following article http://www.stroock.com/SiteFiles/Pub240.pdf as it directly deals with the issue. Good luck.

I checked that article earlier and presented it to the board. However, they are very stubborn and addition to that, the corporate attorney said that a board member has the right to inspect corporate books and records, such right is not an unqualified right and the board can limit access to such information so that it does not interfere with the day to day operations of the corporation.

So according to this the board can do whatever they want. They limit the power for themselves. They are doing this because only I want to check financial record.

Unfortunately, as you know, the Attorney Generals office does not handle this type of complaint. There are a couple of bills in both the Senate and Assembly to create an ombudsman committee that would hear complaints of this type. Please,contact your state elected officials and ask them to support these bills. If we the shareholders do not take action,we will never gain the support needed to pass them. As far as the court, supreme court is the one my case regarding an election was heard. Unless you are really well versed in the court system, I would strongly recommend an attorney since these cases require depositions and can be a bit complicated to navigate.

Dear Dianne, Would you be comfortable giving any details regarding your experience in the court system? Following along with the original post, the court system seems very mysterious to those of us who have only contemplated it from the outside. Any insight from someone who's been there as you have would be greatly appreciated. If you are comfortable discussing it, some possible questions might be: what was the issue litigated, was your lawsuit a shareholder derivative action, how did you find an attorney and what was the cost, was the lawsuit settled or litigated, did you prevail, and, if you prevailed, were you able to recover any legal fees? On another level, did you experience any support or resentment from other shareholders? Anything you care to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and congratulations on having stood up and taken action.

I know plenty of so-called "normal" people who do dumb, potentially dangerous things too. If everyone in NYC was subject to your standards of approval, you and I and just about everyone else would have A LOT of empty apartments in our buildings.

depending on the wording of your proprietary lease, the son may not be a allowed per proprietary lease par 14 , to occupy the apartment without the shareholder living there. The buying of the apartment for the son should have been nixed by the board at the get go, unless the lease allows it for it , the "and -or" wording is what makes it allowable or not .
i would presume sublease fee's and the occupier/subtenant would have to follow the sublease procedures.
no one should hesitate from calling 911 if they think it is emergency, i could think of many times it would be and has been very deadly to do so. From a cell phone, depending on your location , calling the police or fire preceint directly may be a lot faster,since if you are on the Hudson river, NJ answers in my case and you lose precious time for them to realize your in ny, and routing you to the correct city.