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Management Company Fee Increase - anon Jan 04, 2012

I posted this a few weeks ago but thought I'd put it out again to see if I can get a little more feedback. Our managing agent has been getting a 3 - 3.5% increase on their very reasonable fee each year for the past 5 or 6 years. This year the board is proposing a 1.5% increase. I asked why (this is my first year back on the board after a 6 year absence) and was told it was just a general interest in keeping costs down. This agent was hired during my previous tenure and has turned the building around. The reduction in the increase is not based on any financial or building-wide performance issues. There are a number of people (board members and other shareholders) who find the management to be difficult to deal with and to have an unpleasant personality and I believe the reduction is a punitive response. I think an increase lower than the rate of inflation will have the opposite of the intended effect of creating a more pleasant relationship. I would prefer the Board communicate directly with the Management about the issue and offer to pay for a course in "Professional Communications" at the American Management Association before resorting to such punitive measures. Any thoughts?

> Join the conversation Comments (1)

Congratulations. Your approach is both professional and fair. To simply lower an expected increase without clarifying the reasoning behind it will, no doubt, foster anger and cause an increase in unpleasant experiences. A meeting between the head of the management company and the board should be called and a conversation take place explaining what the problems are. At the conclusion of the meeting the board needs to evaluate whether or not to continue with this company. I agree that a course in professional communication could go a long way in fostering good relations. Good luck.

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Emergency Preparedness - Eric Michaels Jan 03, 2012

As winter weather approaches (so says the weathermen) it is imperative that you communicate with your boiler plant service company to ensure that they are equipped and capable of handling a large influx of emergency service calls in a short period of time. Service companies traditionally prioritize service calls based on severity of issue and impact on residence...a very sound way to execute calls. No heat calls are 1st and from there it depends on crew, location and in some cases tenant make up.

Call your service company today. If they are new to you be sure to go over their emergency call policy...who gets the call, how long before it is dispatched, will you get a call back to confirm that your service call has in fact been processed? Nothing is worse than not knowing...even if you are kept waiting it alleviates a lot of anxiety to at least know you will be waiting.

You pay for the service and part of what you should demand is prompt and respectful service. Honesty and returned calls should be important as well.

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Cooking in Bedroom? - APayne Dec 29, 2011

We have a shareholder who is a nuisance and has violated just about every house rule there is. Most recently, he had his bathroom renovated without approval by an unlicensed contractor and caused $20,000 in damages to the shareholder's unit below his. He had no homeowner's insurance and as a result has a lien on his apartment for the damages. In less than a year, he's caused more water damage to the shareholder's unit below his.

I have the pleasure of living directly beside him. For the past months I've been awakened to cooking aromas coming through the wall of my master bedroom. His bedroom is on the opposite side of his. The way the layout of his apartment is, his kitchen is in the same location as mine (in the front of the unit). I've never smelled cooking aromas coming from his unit in the past 5 years that I've lived there - until now.

I asked Management to please inspect the apartment because in light of the previous incidents, I'm fearful that this shareholder will cause a fire. They performed an inspection and claim they found no evidence to suggest that he is cooking and say it is probably "the vents." I pointed out that the vents theory seems flawed because I should have smelled the same smells long before this year.

Management is aware of the laundry list of complaints against this individual. Any idea on how long a Pullman hearing takes how many complaints you need against a shareholder to have them officially deemed objectionable and get rid of them?

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staff harasses residents - Alex Dec 27, 2011

What should a coop do when staff harasses residents (the Super has a history of corruption but butters up the board members)...?

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Can you be more specific?

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It is mostly verbal, plus dirty looks and a big drama if you need anything fixed plus misinformation given to managerial parties. They turn their backs to the general situation having to do with illegal contracting , etc. The managerial parties buy into the situation.

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I had a similar experience with my Super. The building is managed by a Property management company. The super would make up false report of 'water leaks' or 'noise complaints' and I would end up getting calls from the management company to 'fix' the issue when there were no issues to begin with.

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Chimney Liners - Eric Michaels Dec 27, 2011

All too often property managers and board presidents are being advised that a complete chimney liner replacement is necessary prior to the conversion from #6 heating oil to natural gas. A staggering number of these "recommendations" are coming in the absence of any formal lab testing or assessment of existing chimney liner materials. Average cost to replace a chimney liner is between 8-10k per floor!

Average cost to have a NYCDOB approved testing laboratory conduct an assessment on one (1) brick sample from an existing chimney liner to determine actual acid resistance and potential suitability for use in a combustion chimney liner: $3,800-$5,000.

In most cases the firm contracted to execute the conversion project should have a relationship with an approved lab and this firm should be willing to waive the analysis fee if you sign a contract with them to do the conversion project.

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This is what I am finding

In a pre-war building burning no. 6 - it is very likely a chimney will need to be lined. This is for gas burning and not needed if will only burn oil. It is estimated to be about $300 per foot installed.

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removal of the entire board - Joan Dec 24, 2011

My condo has a very high maintenance fee. In addition, the management company that the board contracted charges exorbitant amount of fees. The unit owners are fed up and I've secured signatures from majority of the unit owners to overthrow the board. My question is: is that all I need to remove the board ? Who do I send the 'you have been fired' letter to ? The board president got wind of this and she went around and told people that the letter is not enough to remove her and the rest of the managers from the board. She said we'd need to call a meeting and we'd have to have a quarum. In the past, getting a quarum in the meeting has always been extremely difficult due to the fact that most of the owners don't live in the building (they rent their units out). I checked the 'house rules' and the rule says that the board can be removed 'with or without a cause' and it didn't say we'd have to have a live meeting just to have them removed from the board. How is this normally done ? If I have a letter from the majority of the unit owners, can't I just present it to the board president and wouldn't everybody on the board would just be removed, including the president herself ? Can't we then have a meeting to re-elect the new board ? Can the unit owners send in a proxy form nominating the new board without showing up in person ?

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First, your buildings governing should have a provision regarding this kind of vote. Usually you have to call a meeting through a petition ( 10% or 25% of residents, not sure ). Then a vote to remove a board member. Finally an election to vote in new board. All this with the help/supervision of the building attorney. Proper forms, vote count and records must be kept. Any mistake can void the removal/election.

Residents can vote by proxy, it's the law.

You do have someone to replace them, right ?
It is very counterproductive to remove an entire board in just one shot. There needs to be some continuity in supervising/followup building affairs.

good luck

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> Join the conversation Comments (3)

should read *governing documents ( sorry )

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I don't think 'the help/supervision of the building attorney' is practical in this situation. The building attorney is retained by the current board. As such, they are not interested in helping the condo owners to overthrow their 'employer'. We are thinking about getting our own attorney, and after the board is replaced, we will switch out the whole package, i.e. the attorney, the management company and the super.

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Our by-laws allow stockholders to be present by proxy for quorum purposes, but votes must be cast by stockholders present in person only. You really do not want people voting on issues of which they are not aware by not being present at a meeting.

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> Join the conversation Comments (1)

everthing from the amounbt of owners required to have a special meeting, the notification of everybody of this special meeting and what is is for, and whether your allowed to vote by proxy is in your by laws. The criteria for calling the special meeting, sifnatures , coin toss, will be in there, plus the amount od people required , it may not be 50% it may be another number.
The same goes for replacing a board, but that sounds very difficult, However you usually need to have the proxy's if allowed and notice and reason for meeting all mailed out in a certain time frame, in our by-laws it is the same as the requirement for the annual meeting, It will be a no more than X days ans no less than Y days, in my by laws for a special vote , that has to ne specified in the letter concerning the meeting.
everything on how to remove a board member is in there for your condo more or less, probably less.
You should have reasons on why your taking the action, usually in a co-op its in the proprietary lease condo may be ib the by-laws too , it should give you the right to look at the finances from the building. That is where you will find evidence of wrongful or wasteful spending. I always look for what is not there.or as i do look for what is not there, like pre payment penalties , payment made to obtain mortgage, especially finders fees.
If you want to replace them, or one, for finances, where is the overspending. If your by laws state that only in person voting as one poster says is his condo rule, it sounds like your screwed before you start,however that may not be legal, check with a lawyer. Voting by proxy may be superseded by NYS law. i do not know, but you need to know.
You really need to study the by laws . You know they will fight you, with their lawyer, so it may be better to try and find improper use of funds. something you can hang your hat on , as they say, or self dealing of funds, misappropriation of funds to board members. Good Luck

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Hi Joan,

I don't know the particulars of your building's finances. I am concerned that making a blanket statement about "high maintenance charges = bad Board" though. That being said though, it could mean a “bad Board”.

I would suggest that you take a look at what level of finances your building needs to be fiscally sustainable, have cash reserves, and able to spend wisely (in order to lower expenses).

My fear on reading your post that you might replace one Board with another one – only to have the same basic fiscal drivers impacting both.

Good luck!

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Now on my second term as president, I would greatly caution against equating high charges with a "bad" board. I now understand what it takes to run a building -- and in our case, repair and maintain -- and while in the ideal world, low maintenance and management fees would be lovely, that is not the reality when dealing with upkeep, bill, unexpected needs, etc. If the board is not communicating this need, then that is an issue that is easily resolved. It sounds to me like there is a big gap between board operations and what owners understand. I think the route to take is closing that gap...rather than replacing everyone. Trust me, once you sit in a board member's sit, your perspective changes. In the end, it is to satisfy the long-term needs of owners...and that often requires money. If you had a private home -- a house -- you would probably see that more clearly.

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Inattentive Board Members - APayne Dec 21, 2011

I'm having an issue with Board Members who don't read or respond to e-mails. When the new board came in place earlier this year, I asked everyone if they had e-mail and checked it regularly (at least once a week) and if they could check it and respond to e-mails because a big problem we have is that we take too long to make minor decisions.

We had 2 major capital improvement projects going on and I needed input and only 2 people responded. When I call the others they don't answer or return phone calls either. The Board is supposed to make the decisions, not the President.

Another example is since June we've been discussing proposals for a snow contractor. No one was reviewing the proposals and it takes up too much time at our meeting for them to review them at the meetings, which is why I send them before hand. The worst offenders then at the October meeting kept asking to see other proposals. I'm like we are in October (and it should have been in place already). I know this is a volunteer position and there is no salary, but the building can't run by itself and how do I get people to realize you can't drag decisions like that out for months because you need to actually contract and use the services?

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The short answer is: you probably can't if that's not their way of thinking or 'doing business.' You can't force people to realize anything. You can't force people to respond. And you can't force Board members to act in a timely manner. Unfortunately, you probably have to wait for the next vote and get rid of them... bring in people you hope will be more responsive, responsible, and respectable.

Other than that, speak to them in person. Call. Knock on their doors. Etc.

Good luck. I feel your pain.

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> Join the conversation Comments (1)

Read your Bylaws and Proprietary Lease, In some cases only the President has to be an actual shareholder and the rest of the positions can be filled by interested non-shareholders. Finding willing, capable, honest volunteers for your Board can be tough, very tough.

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you can ask them to resign and replace them with directors who will be more responsive. it's confrontational but if you want to solve the problem early that is what you have to do.

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> Join the conversation Comments (1)

Alan's answer is the technically correct one. Ah, were it that easy!

If the situation is anything like it is in my building, finding people willing to replace the sitting board is where the problem will lie. NO ONE wanted to be on the board of my coop. And so few people showed up to vote, that a vote wasn't even necessary. Whoever stepped forward and said "OK, I'll do it" was automatically elected. And it's been a pain in the ass to get even those willing few to act in a timely manner. I feel like I'm pushing a rope and it's gotten old quickly. ; - (

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I agree. We are a small-mid-size co-op and no one wanted to be on the board. These folks reluctantly joined the board and were automatically 'elected' because we can't even get a quorum at our meetings since no one attends. But it truly is a pain in the azz trying to get them to respond and some of them have no knowledge of how a building is supposed to run and think you can drag your feet on certain issues like major repairs. When I explain how you can't and why, I'm looked at like the bad guy. Even the Super is frustrated because shareholders complain about when issues like the leaking roof will be fixed and he has nothing to tell them and the other board members feel like you can keep dragging out the process to choose a contractor for months on end.

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Management company - anonymous Dec 21, 2011

The management company contracted by my condo board president is sucking the unit owners dry with their fees. Is it common for a managment company to charge $250 as 'application fees' for renovation approval ? And since the board basically gave them free reign of everything in the building, they get to reject the application on behalf of the board, then ask for another $250 if you submit a amended version of the application for re-approval. If this is not highway robbery, I don't know what is. Is there anything to be done about that ? The board members didnt want to do anything it didn't impact them. The management company waived all application fees for all board managers.

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First, does the management contract allow for the fees to be charged? If not, who gave them permission and when. It must be documented. Second, it is the Board who accepts or rejects someone, the management company can give input if the board requests it, but the final decision is made by the elected board. Again, as I have answered in several posts, we need an Ombudsman bill to get some State legall "traction" behind co op and condo owners who have massive problems such as yours. Senator Liz Kruegar has introduced this bill and we must get behind it. Contact her office. Dianne Stromfeld

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Hi, I own a Management company and we're always very up-front about our fees and these are always placed in the contract and can't be amended without Board approval first.

The way we do it in our firm is we have two types of applications; a "decoration" and a "renovation". The decoration is for owners / shareholders who are not doing anything more than painting, tiling, cosmetic, etc. We don't charge for that as all we have to do is ensure that we are getting the property security deposits and certificates of insurance from the contractors.

The renovation package is a little more detailed and we do charge a fee for that. The $250 is on the mark and is normal in the industry, although we've seen higher as well. This is for work that is structural in nature, electrical or touches any of the heating / plumbing lines. From experience there are times that the property manager will have to spend hours on a shareholder's personal renovation so this helps to offset the cost of that to the firm.

If it is as detailed as the "renovation" then the manager has to be in touch with the contractors, the shareholder, the engineer (sometimes the building's engineer as well), so there is a large amount of work done on a personal project that is outside the scope of the management contract for the cooperative corporation.

If a renovation is not approved and the form has to be re-filed with the management company for approval again, we don't charge for that, but others might.

I hope that helps and let me know if you have any questions related to this.

Mark Levine
mblevine@ebmg.com

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salary for a NON-union super - anonymous Dec 21, 2011

This is a question for someone on their coop board, who sees the books.

Can you please share with me what you pay your NON-UNION super, who also has a free (2-BR) apt. in the building? We also have a non-union "porter" who handles the daily sweeping, mopping, and trash collection, so these are not tasks that the super typically does.

Thank you so much.

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our condo building has the exact same arrangement like you described above with the super. He gets a salary of $35000/year and the 'porter' is covered under the Super's insurance (the super owns a construction company). But I'm actually looking into the IRS rules to see if this is a tax evation meneuver by the super because the '2-bed' free room is a barter. The super should be paying the tax on the market rent of the room if he only performs ad-hoc repair work (i.e. not at the full capacity of a super). This arrangement is actually illegal because he also gets to deduct the porter's salary from his contruction company, as the porter is basically a sub-contractor to the super.

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our condo building has the exact same arrangement like you described above with the super. He gets a salary of $35000/year and the 'porter' is covered under the Super's insurance (the super owns a construction company). But I'm actually looking into the IRS rules to see if this is a tax evation meneuver by the super because the '2-bed' free room is a barter. The super should be paying the tax on the market rent of the room if he only performs ad-hoc repair work (i.e. not at the full capacity of a super). This arrangement is actually illegal because he also gets to deduct the porter's salary from his contruction company, as the porter is basically a sub-contractor to the super.

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The salery varies depending on the size of a building and the experience one has. There is nothing free about the super apartment, because you are required by law to have a live in super who is qualified and licensed to operate the buildings equipment, and not to mention, it is the super who receives the emergency calls after hours and also cleans the snow in the winter time.

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How to control the board? - Robert Miller Dec 21, 2011

Where can I direct any complaint about a possibility of committing a crime by the board or the management company?
Are there any institutions controlling the action of the board or the management company?
What can we do when we see that something is wrong?

Any ideas?

> Join the conversation Comments (2)

Contact Eric T. Schneiderman. He's the Attorney General for New York State.

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Unfortunately, Alvin's answer is incorrect. The Attorney General will only handle disputes involving the sponsor. Once the sponsor is no longer in control, the only legal way is through the court system. This is expensive and time consuming. I am working with several groups to get an "Ombudsman Bill" passed which would give co op and condo owners a government agency the ability to hear non sponsor major complaints. We need owners to get on board by discussing this bill and putting pressure on your State elected officials to back this most important bill. It was introduced in the Senate by Liz Krueger.The more owners we get to push this the more likely we can get it passed. We need everyone to make this a priority if there is any hope of getting the State to help us. Contack Senator Krueger's office in Manhatten for more information.

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