Your board can only attempt to pass the amendment by way of an extraordinary or special meeting and by sending to all shareholders the proxy and the amendment they wish to enact in order to submit their vote and make the amendment legal if the majority or supermajority (accordidng to your By-laws) becomes the winning faction. There is no way the prior vote + new proxies provided to the Board can be acceptable.

AdC

Under certain circumstances, meetings may be "held open" rather than adjourned, & a typical reason is to allow further solicitation of votes on an important issue, instead of starting the voting process anew. Procedures would have to be carefully followed--& it sounds from Escape's description that at least some aspects of the election were quite sloppy--but it can be done. We don't have enough info to conclude this action is improper.

well we will see how this pans out since it will all be kept secret , if i am not there i cannot challenge the proxy, and i know i know more about this than anyone on the board or managing agent. The board refuses to do their due diligence and listens the falsehoods/lies/ sprouted by the managing agent. BOD refuse to read the proprietary lease even when i disagree and can name the page and paragraph of the proprietary lease. The president likes to play the "your the only one with an issue" And i say yeah, there was only the one guy in boston had an issue with bernie madhoff. I am sure they passed it. What can i do the wholw board doesn't have a clue on what their job is , and they just act like pupetts. Hopefully the AG will act on my letter, next it is media.

A LOT depends on whether the natural gas 'boom' is real or not. According to an article in the NYT, might be NOT.

Very true....yet if Con Ed. or NGrid will provide the infrastructure at little or no cost to building it seems wise to at least always have the option for gas or oil. Most boilers are equipped with duel fuel burning capacity thus the cost is minimal. At current prices a gas conversion project pays for itself very quickly...well before the natural gas "boom" goes bust. I am simply recommending that management companies/ownership group and commercial/industrial organizations take a look at this as an investment option.

Thanks, Eric - will pass this along.

To the best of my recollection, NYC occupancy laws were 2 per bedroom for a room over 80sq. ft. I am not sure if this is the criteria today. Check with the building dept. or your local community board. Or, call 311 and they will direct you. Good luck

I believe NYC defines occupancy requirements as minimum 80 sq feet per person. Our coop bylaws further restricts it to one married couple per apartment.

To restrict occupancy to a "married couple" violates fair housing laws. It can be restricted to 2 people, but not on the basis pf their marital status or age. So a parent and one child would be allowed as would two unmarried adults. I would suggest you bring this to the attention of your board before you have a major problem.
Good Luck

Great By-Laws. In our building "anything goes", there's no control.

WHile our Co-op only requires 10%, I believe the new mortgage rules are closer to 20%

I need to restate my last post. Our co-op has recently seen some 10% down mortgages with PMI. The problem with raising the bar to 20% is that you decrease the pool of buyers. Remember, if the buyer goes under, the co-op still has primary lien and can recoup the missing maintenance and legal fees. Assuming the co-op has a policy of sending late payers into the legal process fairly soon after the late event occurs (60-90 days, for example), your considerations should only be timing of when the maintenance is received and not whether the maintenance is received. Your reserves should cover the timing too.

we changed from 10 to 15% a couple years ago, maybe 8 years or more.
It was abot 6 months before the housing mess started coming out. They wanted to go to 20% we went to 15%, however i beleibe tey became more stringent on buyers money in the bank and their finances in reserve if they lost their job, ie 1 year of maintenance in reserve.
i didn't realize how messed up the mortgages were, when i got my mortgage in 1983, it was pretty strict as far as income and amount borrowed . with the way they were throwing mortgages around i could have bought a i million dollar property for the same money. it was insane.
i see the other post below states PMI, i thought PMI was necessary if you put down under 20%, it was when i bought. i could not believe that it wasn't required anymore under 20%. idiots

I push for a 20% rule in my buildings because if (God forbid) we were to have a stronger housing slump, and property values drop by 10 and 15%, the coop would have no leverage against someone who is financed at 90% and possibly now upside down on thier loan... they may even walk away from the liability if they get in trouble.

~AR

We have used outside operators for years with minimal problems. There tends to be greater turnover in garage staff than in building service workers. Also a large operator can provide incentives for monthly parkers to park outside of the garage at their other facilities elsewhere in the city, such as in the theatre district, etc.. Also, they can attract daily parkers through their marketing which can increase the payments to your building if you have a shareing arrangement in your lease.

I would call the police and tell them you are smelling it and don't know where it's coming from and don't want to be accused of violating the Propreitary Lease by having one of your neighbors think YOU are the culprit and let them discover the offender. It also establishes a record beyond management that this is taking place on the premises and they in turn would notify management about it.

If you don't want them coming to your apartment you can call 911 anonomously and give them the information of the offending apartment and tell them that you wish to remain anonymous.

Yes, but sometimes it's a judgment call to know which unit in a building has the pot smoker. How can you tell?

IF this is a problem for you, then: Start a paper trail: to the Board, to the Police, to your neighbors; keep a log of complaints, involve your neighbors, keep a log of his transactions, keep a log of any awareness of his Mother's about the transactions and activities, notify the Management Company in writing of the problem, involve your neighbors as the steady flow of traffic represents a security and safety risk to them by allowing trafficking in the building, move for a recusal of the Board President for aiding and abetting/harboring a criminal activity, etc. how far do you want to go with this? Take photographs of his visitors, be obvious, scare away his trade. There are a number of things you can do, how far do you want to go out on a limb to shut it down? What is your personal risk quotient? Ultimately you are dealing with forcing the son out of the building because he will never stop in the near term, the mother off the Board permanently as she is totally in breach of her duties as Board President, and the interpersonal issues that accompany that. You will need friends and support in the building in order to clean it up. Personally I don't think pot smoking is an issue, really in these times, a towel under the door would suffice; I think trafficking is, as it is a breach of your reasonable right to a sense of security that any strangers in the building are visitors and guests of neighbors not customers of a drug dealer. It doesn't matter that it is pot, vs. meth or coke, it matters that it is a steady stream of strangers due to trafficking and not social visits that puts the whole building at risk. Notify the building attorney of the problem and the intent to deal with it. But understand you are going to make the mom and the son very angry at your 'interfering' with his activities, are you up to dealing with this? you need allies that will stand by you thru the whole process to the end. We've been thru this, it won't be easy, and it can be scary depending on the personalities involved. Go to the Community Affairs Officer at your local Precinct for a chat first. Find out what level of support you local Precinct will provide, and what they advise. If they are unwilling then go to the local Board as they can apply pressure on the Precinct. Go to your local City Council Rep. They can also provide pressure. Does the son own his apartment or rent? IF he rents try and get a notice to cure issued against the owner, if he is the owner then do the same as a breach of the bylaws. IF the Mom owns the apt then file against her for breach. You can also go after them on the second hand smoke laws and precedents currently being established in the NYC courts, without getting into the pot issue. The bottom line is that you will need balls the size of coconuts to see it thru, so take a measure and decide what you are willing to, and can muster in terms of willpower and support before you embark on this endeavor. Don't give up, but you need to assess yourself, and your neighbors, before you go out on a limb alone. If your neighbors are afraid, then that is a very telling response in itself. At the very least, anyone trying to sell in the building with the smell of pot present is a kiss of death to prospective purchasers. Someone lost a sale in our building that way at one time. we got it corrected, fast. Unity helps. you need to figure out how to accomplish this and keep yourself safe in the process, a complex analysis of the undertaking is in order.

your best bet is to ask nicely if they can put a well towel dowm and use an exhaust fan. I have more of an odor problem from cigarettess by neighbors in my hallway. another neighbor and i plug in glade fresheners into the hallway receptacles. It is possible that your name will be given out , since it falls under a nuisance call ,not a drug dealing call, home use is legal.
i posted higher up, but still see these ridiculous post about reefer smell and <span class="hiddenSpellError" pre="amd "></span> paper trails, get over it is is not illegal. kids have friends , and they are allowed to visit, and if over the age, smoke reefer too. You may end up giving them proof that you are harassing them . If you smoke nicotine , you have no right to complain

Penal Law Section 221.05 - see web page

http://www.queensdefense.com/marijuana.htm

the write up from a criminal defense attorney. mj is no longer classified as a controlled substance in NYS.

EscapeFromYonkers, I don't know what you've been smoking, but marijuana in any quantity whatsoever is still illegal in New York. True, it's not a "controlled substance" with heavy penalties like cocaine, but that's doesn't mean it's legal. To quote from the very website you're referencing:

"Marijuana related offenses, in New York, have their own special laws with their own offense levels. This does not necessarily mean that New York doesn't care about marijuana or that it isn't serious to be charged with a marijuana related offense."

The penalty for possession of a small quantity of marijuana (under 25g) is fairly small -- a $100 fine, according to http://law.findlaw.com/state-laws/marijuana/new-york -- but possession is most definitely illegal. I don't for a minute think that's a good idea -- the whole War on Drugs is criminally insane, in my book -- but that's the way it is, at least for the moment.

This is not illegal and nothing can or should be done. Get some Febreeze and spray it around if the odor is annoying.

Of course drugs (Pot) is illegal, how can one say it is NOT! Call the police. If you speak with these neighbors, ring their bell and explain the smell is coming through. If management does nothing they are encouraging drug use on the premises.

Not illegal. You're saying pot is not illegal. Are you high?

Have they legalized Pot in NY? I'm unaware of that, since when did it become legal? Please advise.

reefer is not illegal in ny state when the quantity is around 23 grams or less and your not selling, your not smoking in public, like on the street, street corner, subway platform, probably all parks too.
it is a violation, the same as riding your bicycle on the sidewalk,or having a open alcohol container on public property.
Youget a ticket, and can mail in a fine. Unless your black or brown, in that case the police will say that they you had it in plain sight., or as they detain and frisk you for weapons, they will lie to you and say if you give any drugs your holding to me i will go easier on you for cooperating, but if you make me go into your socks and feel around your junk i am going to be pissed and come down harder. If the "suspect" follows and falls for the lies, known as the police instructions and pulls a joint out of his pocket or shoe, a place and size that they know can't be a place for a weapon . They will then charge the individual with possession in public view , which is a crime, a misdemeanor, and ruin the kids life. They have also simply found it in a stop and frisk weapons search and said it was in plain view and charged the misdemeanor offense, when they shouldn't be searching in small places for guns.s stop and frisk. Glocks dont fit inside a sock or in the bottom 1/3 of a pocket. Plus if it isnt hard and small , it is not a gun.
The ny times had a big write up about this procedure over a year ago. Since then much worse conduct of planting cocaine on innocent people, purely a way to get overtime, have been recently exposed.
But in the privacy of ones home, smoking is not a crime.
i have thr same problem with cigarette smokers as neighbors, it comes through the wall, the hallway is horrible. Myself and another neighbor take turns putting in one of those plug in glade things, and i added one on the wall the smoke is coming through. It works well,but your smell may be stronger,but i doubt they smoke as much. The flame-less things that you heat scented soy cubes works well too, gives a nice smell ,but uses too much electric for my taste, i need to find a way to get it down to 3 watts, now it is a 25 watt lightbulb.

http://www.queensdefense.com/marijuana.htm
for the write up from a criminal defense attorney. It actually has stuff in there i didnt know that makes conviction of the violation even harder if not impossible. MJ is no longer classified as a controlled substance in NYS.

funny that i just saw this post because the other night i had my terrace door open and was inundated by the odor of pot. by any chance is your coop downtown manhattan near the brooklyn bridge?

The President of our Board has a son whom lives directly across from my apartment. He smokes pot day and night, the smell comes into my apartment and permeates throughout the hallway. He not only smokes but, he sells it as well. He has been arrested three times for pot possession and weapon possession. The President knows all this and she allows it to continue. She has been present when his customes visited him, I have a peep hole that looks right at his door so I see what transpires. His customers ring my bell in error throughout the night and the traffic goes on from early am to late pm. This is what we have to live with.

Continue to call the Police and continue to have him arrested. Also state that you are in fear of your life due to the weapon possession. Explain to the Police that this selling and buying of drugs is impacting on your life since they are coming to your door. After 3 arrests for this behavior I don't understand why the police, since there is a record, do not do something more drastic. Is he on probation? At this point, this should be a legal issue. Possibly his mother doesn't seem to be able to control him and looks away. Keep hounding the law.

...telling other board members, the managing agent, and most important, the board attorney -- who as an officer of the court has a duty to bring illegalities to the law's attention? How about the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol & Firearms (I believe it's called) if there have been arrests on illegal weapons.

Wait -- if there have been arrests for illegal weapons, then how is it here's still there? Is he on bail? Were the weapons confiscated?

Is your landlord a sponsor of the building or an individual shareholder? If the landlord is a sponsor, you may persuade the sponsor with a responsible conduct that you are a good tenant (e.g., making timely payments, responding to the toilet overflow and paying for the damages, showing respect for house rules, etc). If you are the tenant of an individual shareholder and the pres. says you must go, then pack your bags and go! Your lease may not be renewed.

AdC

AdC-
Our landlord is a individual shareholder, we are glad to leave but we will not do so until our lease is up in April. We dont want to renew.
We pay our rent timely and do response to issues in a timely manner.
How easy is it for the board to evict us based on soley that one person doesnt like us? They are putting the pressure on our landlord by having their Attorney send him a letter thretning that he should give us 30day notice of he will be taken to court. Can anyone tell me what will happen after he is taken to court?
Our landlord stands up for us by saying we are good paying tenants and never been disrepectful to him. Does the board have to take us to court also to evict us?

Start your EMAIL trail! Send Emails outlinging the events to all the Board, the apt owner and manangment. Be professional, and state that this boarders on harassment. Also, ASK in your Emails if this fine is in the Bylwas, lease or house rules -- all of which the owner of your apartment should have.
You can protect yourself -- but only if you follow up.
VP

Just keep taking the building to court, you don't need an attorney you can start a pro se order to show cause. First of all fines and violations are illegal there is no clause in the PL or black book or bylaws or BCL that fines and violations can be issued to coop owners, that easily can be beat. For harrassment of non repairs you call the HPD 311 and issue a complaint as long as it is the buildings responsibility you take them to court or if the don't fix the problem within 60 days the HPD will issue the building a fine and you can have your repairs fixed by a contractor and bring the invoice to court with the HPD complaint and your money will be refunded by the order of the court. Just keep taking them to court and paying for legal fees they will eventually stop when they see what it will cost the building for legal fees plus to fix your apt. and fines for not complying. Then I would send a letter to all shareholders as to what the super/president is costing the building to harrass shareholders. You can also collect proxies to start a special meeting to remove all you need is 25% of shareholders to sign a proxie and call the meeting to remove him as President. Look in your Black Book it will help you get rid of him it will illustrate clauses to remove an officer such as he. You also need the majority of the Board to remove him as an officer without cause, they could just vote him down. Remember, any decisions he makes the majority of the Board must agree with his decision. Good Luck!