In my experience, apathy starts at the top. The President needs to push the agenda - if they won't, who will? Stop patting yourself on the back. You need to institutionalize the new culture: raise up good & honest Board members. How are your reserves? How is your resale value (we had 2 record high sales this year). When was your Proprietary Lease amended?

Stop jabbing and get back to work ;)

Steve-Inwood,

You don't have a clear picture of our co-op. I care the most about the place and put the most into it. I'm the only person to have created Agendas for board meetings and open shareholder meetings that I am aware of. Our meetings are always on Power Point with the agenda clearly there. Every meeting is announced via e-mail, newsletters and posted in common places prior to the meetings which was never been done in years past. I have already raised a new culture here of honesty and good board members. In fact we had two dishonest members. The community finally became wise to what was going on and voted them off. Thats what started the turn for the positive in the community. None of our units have declined in value through this economic downturn and our reserves are as healthy as the have ever been. We effectively communicate weekly via e-mail to the community and quarterly for Newsletters. Residents are very informed with what is going on so that is one of the reasons they feel they don't need to attend out open shareholder meetings, since they are already informed. In addition our Board Minutes are posted on our website and in laundry rooms, so that shareholders have ready access to them.

Dear FW Board,

Perhaps you misunderstood the intent of my post: it is to keep YOU motivated. Sounds like you are doing great things there - keep at it :)

Steve

No problem. Misunderstandings can happen easily in a online forum due to lack of verbal and non-verbal cues. Just found this website, so I'm trying to be involved so I can share and learn from other board members.

It depends...but seems highly unlikely that what transpired is OK.

If you didn't reach quorum at the meeting, no business could be transacted & you didn't have an election. If you were told to submit ballots anyway, & if the meeting was properly "held open," it is possible a legal quorum was later reached & proxies counted.

HOWEVER--an amendment usually requires a supermajority, typically 2/3, voting in favor. If you had trouble reaching a quorum, & if, as you point out, many owners were opposed to the proposed amendment, management's claim sounds fishy.

Even more striking is management's statement that the incumbent board members were "automatically reelected," yet there were votes for the amendment. If people voted, they voted for board members, too...which means the "automatic" claim makes no sense. Was there a vote, or not?

More info is needed on what did, & didn't, transpire. If I were you, I'd press the Board to open the vote count on the amendment only & demonstrate that the required supermajority was attained. If they refuse, I'd immediately begin circulating a petition to call for a special meeting & election [which likely requires just 25% of owners/shares].

Once you have even one Board seat, you have full access to all records, can ascertain what happened & can report to owners.

If you're not willing to run for the Board yourself, stop reading these posts & take up knitting.

Well if the ran unopposed you don't actually need an election.

However in the situation they were running against someone and their wasn't a qourum you would need to check your proprietary lease. In ours we don't need to have a re-election and the Board would stay as is. However we actually have that issue right now and decided to have a re-election to avoid any controversy and do right by the new people running for the Board. However, we made it clear in the letter for the re-election that if there is no qourum again, the Board will stay as it.

NEED MORE DETAILS OF WHY THEY WANT TO EVICT YOU BEFORE YOU CAN BE PROVIDED WITH ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION.

You cannot sue individual board members, but you can sue the Corporation, I did for simular reasons. I won a large amount. What I would do is go to the court you are taking board to, and take out a supeona for the documents you are seeking using the same index number that you filed for.You must supeona the documents or you will never get them. If they don't provide the documents they either will be in contempt of court or will lose the case forthwith.

Dear DD,
Please give more details, such as where to see the case you had and the lawyer who was able to help you. According to a state senator's office..."You will not be successful suing a co-op unless you have a lot of money because of the BCL under which they, the board, usually get away with a lot of illegal dealings."

The board can and should seek counsel from their building's attorney. They can demand that the building be put back to it's original layout, unless the current owner can produce permits thats the work was approved by the Department of buildings. Usually when you have a board member who is hell bent on everyone following the rules, they usually are the ones who break them and seem to think that everyone else is also breaking the rules.

Non-structural changes do not need Dept. of Buildings approval. However, I'm afraid the daughter almost certainly WILL have to produce documentation saying that the board approved the renovation.

I gather permission was never even applied for, let alone exists, so most likely the daughter will have to return the apartment to its previous state.

But that might work out for the best. It sounds as if this apartment would need at least a modest renovation to be in any sort of shape to be sold. She might not get much for it in this condition -- so, as some other buildings have done, perhaps the board should buy it, renovate it and flip it at what could be a windfall profit.

I think being realistic is important, after all, the unit is sold in "as is".

I do not know what you mean by functional obsolescence. I would say that if a small refrigeerator is a problem to the potential shareholder, this is not the co-op's problem. The new shareholder may wish to do renovations and will then apply to for alterations as per policy in place. If an interior non-bearing wall was taken down to make a closet smaller or larger, the new shareholder will have to re-evaluate the space according to need.

I would only be concerned as a co-op as far as violation to code. If none were made such as making a room without appropriate ventilation or adding plumbing where nothing existed w/o board approval or making a full electrical upgrade, it would be pointless to make life miserable to daughter and buyer. As a co-op you may demand inspecting the unit in order to note deviation from original as you may only wish to maintain as a co-op those areas that were original to the building v. those that were added that could change the responsibility of co-op /shareholder.

Selling a unit without carpet is not a sin nor anyone demand it. Just make sure the new shareholder installs one when it moves in or escrow at closing the money to install one.

Even after you purchase the apartment you need Board approval for any renovation you want to do.

You no longer need to update the certificate of occupancy if the number of apartments changes but you still must file alteration applications with the building department.

THAT'S A BUMMER. I would hate to buy the neighboring apt just to be not approved for the renovation. Can I make this a condition of purchase with seller? It would be similar to condition of sale of old house for purchase of new house.

You should first seek a "preapproval" from the board.
Then, hire an architect or an engineer who will determine if the two apartments can be merged. They will make sure that there is nothing behind those walls that would interfere with your project. ( i.e plumbing, steel beam etc ... )

Then you'll be able to submit your project to the board for final approval, before the sale.
The architect will then fill the paperwork with the DOB.

The first two steps can be achieved fairly fast.

What are reasons a board would refuse a shareholder from combining apartments?

cvbn

Hi Debra,

You can check out an informative article in the cooperative about By-laws.... http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/2004-01-09/bylaws-how-strong-your-co-ops-foundation

Thank you! I'll read through this...

To change By-Laws don't you need a certain percentage of shareholders? I thought you did? It would then have to be ratified by the AG or an attorney. Are you in a co-op or condo? Also if either, wouldn't it be favorable to have shareholder majority?

I'm in a coop. It's a very lacksidaisical building with mostly uninformed, uninterested, uninvolved residents... and hence the need to flesh out the bylaws. The bylaws have to go through the AG?

The current By-Laws should dictate how to amend them. Some By-Laws can be amended by a majority of the Board Members and some need a certain percentage of shareholders to agree to the proposed changes to the By-Laws. Be aware that their may be certain sections of the By-Laws that can not be altered. I would recommend reading consulting with an attorney.

Get your co-op counsel involved. You must have specific issues that you wish to change; these should be discussed in detail with counsel. This document is not the House Rules that you can rewrite anytime depending on the needs of the time. Also, you should bring an open mind when amending documents as fees, etc. are now in question and this is the time to bring real change.

Also, there are sections, as pointed out, that the Board may change; others can only be amended by vote of shareholders (supermajority or just simple majority) depending on the current ByLaws.

AdC

Read your bylaws.... Our ByLaws map out how to change a bylaw. For us, we did not need a lawyer. A group of Shareholders in our building sent a petition around, got the specified number of signatures, presented it to the Board, and as directed in the ByLaws -- the Board was forced to call a special meeting and we voted to change a bylaw.
VP

Thanks!

It's the same position that the building would be in should a Shareholder in the building hire someone who does not carry insurance or have a license to do the work if it is specialized and requires it. Should he get hurt on the job, he would probably sue the building, and your insurance provider more likely than not requires that all contractors and vendors who come into the building carry insurance and workman's comp, etc.

In addition, if this is a pre-1978 building, all work that includes demolition and/or scraping and painting in an area greater than six square feet must be done by an EPA certified Lead Safe firm. Food for thought.

This is a risk that is unnecessary in the building and only contractors with insurance and licenses should be working.

Hi David,

My Co-op was invested with almost $1 million in reserves in short-term US Treasuries. However, with the US at its debt ceiling and the potential for near maturity bonds to be defaulted, we are holding all investments as cash. We rejected Money Market accounts for the near term too as they are also heavily invested in short-term US Treasuries. Also, with the FDIC fund in the shape it is in (it is currently negative), the US guarantee of “full faith and CREDIT of the US” rings a little hollow so CD’s are out. The FDIC fund’s own projections do not call for a positive balance until 2012 and will not reach the statutory minimum until 2017 as per here: http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/insurance/memo3.pdf

Let's be honest, I don't believe that even if the US defaults, that the funds would never be repaid. However, getting access to the funds could be delayed - and my Co-op needs those funds this year for Capital Projects. My Co-op can’t afford to delay a roof project while Congress debates the broader issues.

My Co-op has decided not to reinvest until the debt ceiling debate has been answered. To us, a lousy 1% return or even a 4% return is not worth the current risks.

Sincerely,

$50 per apartment he owns, which is our standard late fee.

The power and terms to implement a late charge is normally stated in the prop lease. Please review and understand your options. If your prop lease states interest charge, the fee would have to match the acceptable level of interest. If your governing documents don’t allow for a late fee or place restrictions, I would approach with caution.
We just implemented a late fee in our building which is based on interest rate – we took the lowest maintenance and came up with a standard fee – though it’s relatively low of $15, it’s what our governing docs and the law allow for in our building.
If your sponsor is paying late, this may signal a potential issue, my suggestion would be (1) meet with them and reinforce that your trying to work to improve the building and need the funds on time in accordance with the governing docs (2) ask for the latest sponsor amendment – in fact your bylaws or prop lease or offering plan may require them to provide it. This will display the income vs. maint expense.
I hope this helps.