Yes,it is common to purchase terrorism insurance. Ask your broker for a quote.

Consider National Cooperative Bank (NCB) offices in Washington DC and NYC

Please contact the National Cooperative Bank NY office at (212) 808-0880. They will put you in touch with a Loan Officer.

Our mortgage is with JP Morgan/Chase.

It is fully amortized/self liquidating. This was done before I bought my unit but the full amortization was a big selling point to me and increased share value

Thanks for all your feedback.

I am aware of NCB but their restrictions contained in their loans make it very unattractive.

I will check out JP Morgan but, in general, a 30/25 year self liquidating underlying mortgage tends to carry a huge prepayment penalty that one really needs to exercise alot of caution before going down that road.

Thanks again,
Dom

If a self-amortizing loan is desired and you are able to obtain it at a low rate, a credit line for the term of the mortgage becomes imperative to avoid poor decisions relating to refinancing.

AdC

Hi Dom;
How did your refinance go? My building is considering refinancincing as well. What suggestions do you have? Do you recommend using a broker?

Thank you,
Huang Chen

The upcoming contract was discussed at a recent NYARM event and they were estimating a 3% increase. As to the likelihood of a strike, no one knows what will happen and no one wants that outcome, we will be going through strike preparations just in case.

Prepare in advance rather than pin one’s hope a strike is avoided. Consider what needs such as security, mail, garbage, etc.... require planning. Securing and scheduling volunteers and and/or possibly contracting for allowable hired services involved to ensure for uninterrupted building operations even if on a diminished scale. T-

Union Contract ,most building pay someone to represent their coop at the contract negotiation with the economy soso today the climate for a strike is close to zero , unless the union would like to cease.The porters and super are well paid for the job they are doing they get health care some of us dont get haelth care or we cant afford it .That is why we need Board people familiarity on these subject in my coop they know jack crap but talking about traditionrather than what to expect.We live in a world of expectation not tradition,my coop is running yearly deficit here at Sherwood village B we have a secretary giving bonus of one to two pay check as bonuses .I worked hard and provided the best to my boss, I get no bonuses, I get a card and I am still at work,here in my building it is call tradition and that need to stop.the former super in my coop who now resided in the coop was getting five thousand dollars a year as bonus from the coop funds withoutthe shareholders knowledge today he is a member and he dont even care.The current board uses him to tell other shareholders who to vote for just before the election our system is like a third world country. THEY won't strike and we must insist on good service delivery we are paying for it.

Do you have a removal clause in your by-laws?

Seriously, maybe they think they are helping. Maybe a quiet word about collective work would help.

Thank you - I appreciate your input. Oh, but if it were so that this person thought he/she were being helpful. It seems to be more of a control drive. Still, your suggestion to speak about collective work is a very good idea. At least I'll have tried. The latest is that this director will have nothing to do with Board matters on the weekends -- makes for a pleasant 2 days for me.
Thanks to you and to Mark L. also for your welcome advice.

I would suggest that the Board set up a special meeting to discuss this and make motions in this meeting that prohibit these actions by individual Board members and place them in writing. Should this Board member go and break these rules once they are set forth as motions for Board policy, then you can bring this to the Shareholders for removal, if your bylaws call for that type of action..and if it is bad enough to warrant that.

Someone else may want to take minutes as well as there may now be an incentive for the minutes to reflect a personal thought and not the Board's discussions.

Having your legal representative draft a cease and desist letter so that you have it on record will help as well. Document everything so that in the case of having to remove this person you have it all ready to go.

Thank you for your very good suggestions. I'll talk the situation over with the other directors and have minutes taken ata meeting with all of the board.

Steve's advice, too, is helpful, to talk about collective actions, and I'll try as also. This is a tough one and I appreciate all the objective input.

We had a similar problem with a previous board president who frequently acted unilaterally and without consulting the rest of the board: major capital improvement projects, sales of apartments, interviews with potential buyers, meetings with the managing agent, posting public notices supposedly from the board but drafted entirely by him and without feedback from fellow board members … basically a disaster that frankly our building is still recovering from. Check your bylaws. They should outline the responsibilities of directors and should also allow for removal of a problematic officer. Remember, too, that in many of not most corporate structures officers are appointed by their peers on the board. That means that someone’s peers can also re-appoint an officer to a different position whose responsibilities may be more limited.

It is not a healthy situation for one person to make decisions unilaterally for a group of people. Take your fiduciary responsibility to heart and make every effort to check this behavior ASAP. Your shareholders, whom you were elected to represent, are not being well served by such behavior.

There has been at least one article about this either here or over at the Cooperator. The word “renegade” was even in the title of the article, if I remember correctly.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your reply. This director has told me she wants to fully air directors' "duties, rights and responsibilities" at the next meeting. I replied that directors don't have "rights" & suggested she read our by-laws. Believing she has "rights" might be at the root of the problem. I'll keep you all posted.

This behavior is not only detrimental but is also illegal by NYS law - "It is the board, not an individual that makes policy" I understand the problem because unfortunately it has existed in my coop for many many years, one person decides everything and that is it, which has been very destructive to our coop - she does not get board vote or even discussion - however our problem is that the majority of the board think she can do no harm and don't care - If that situation does not exist in your coop than I would contact the lawyer - read the law books - McKinney - Consoldiated Laws of NYC BCL - Book 6 Section 600-820 - Section 701-720 which discusses the laws that pertain to the board and with this and enough backing from the rest of the board vote the person out

This is messy and potentially very damaging to the co-op. As an officer, this renegade has the power to cause more serious problems than if she were simply a director. What if she were to sign a contract or other legal document on behalf of the co-op without consulting the rest of the Board?

I agree that an informal but firm talk with the officer should be your first step. From your description, however, it sounds like things are well beyond that point. Changing bank passwords and refusing to show drafts of minutes to the president and VP goes well beyond "helpful" experiments with lobby furniture arrangements.

The good news is that many co-ops' By-Laws allow for the removal of an officer by a simple majority vote of the Board. Our By-Laws contain the following clause: "Any officer may be removed at any time, with or without cause, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the then authorized total number of directors."

That will eliminate the worst exposure. A director who is not an officer does not have the power to sign documents on behalf of the co-op (unless you have very unusual By-Laws). However, if you want to remove this person from the Board, that will probably require a special meeting of shareholders. Boards usually don't have the authority to kick out directors, except in exceptional circumstances. For example, the last revision to our By-Laws allows the Board to remove a director who "fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Board or five meetings in any twelve month period ... or who is more than two months in arrears in paying maintenance and assessments."

Best of luck with this awkward and difficult situation.

Bronx Coop together in Queens here we are facing the same situation, we have been having these problems for years at Sherwood Village B ,now it's progressing because the new moron have not read their by law and have never invested in our Coop they were giving their share upon death of a family member so they have no idea what it takes to invest into a Coop but we have the smae problem as you, that is why we need the politician involvement to stop the corrupt practices at these coop,the plot-icians some of them are too busy making money for themselve and their family rather than tackle the issues affecting decent citizen, they make money on our backs it's a shame to look at these councilman these assemblyman the state senate office holder and we all should ask ourselves are these people taking care of our business or their personal piggy bank as they said get it while you can. Go to the seminar and you will learn a lot, I have been intimidated by our management company past and present of my Coop because of my concern about the spending plus the financial irregularities in addition to having no coop records on hands combinewith the poor quality of work done on our behalf but I know full well they can try intimidation only if I let them. Keep talking and engage your elected official. My case have been at the Queens district office for over twenty years and I refused to give up,today we all can say thanks to the former District Attorney of Manahttan Mr Morgenthau, Board members, management company and super can all go to jail if found liable for misusing and abusing Coop funds.Coop also received tax abatementfrom the City so we need to put the pressure on the politician to take care of the voting masses,the taxpayers.

Your policy should have a coverage known as Ordinance or Law. Ask your broker if you have it and if so, how much? You can increase that amount if necessary.

Thanks!

Hi,

A $500,000 limit on "Ordance or Law, ICC & Demo" coverage for three building complex built in the 1950's doesn't pass my initial sniff test as generous. Rather, it sounds like a lot of risk exposure. Would you agree?

Thanks!

Can't help you there. I imagine that to get an accurate number, you'd need some professional (architect, contractor etc) help.
Perhaps you should ask your broker for the cost to increase that coverage to $1,000,000, and if reasonable buy it as "sleep insurance".

If the three buildings are stand alone, i.e., not adjacent to each other, what is the likelihood that the three buildings will catch on fire at the same time or will be leveled by a bomb or a plane? Again, $500,000 may be enough or not enough according structures, etc.

AdC

Interesting question... Insurance coverages are predicated on partial losses not total losses of a structure. Therefore, a building that requires $20 million to construct from the ground up, according to square footage may be covered by a policy of $10 million.

In doing your risk analysis and whether you should take a much larger value, you may wish to consider your structure: fireproof v. fire-resistant, general layout, etc.

To find out the cost of your total replacement and what would be the adequate amount of coverage that you are willing to pay for, you should know the current cost of construction per square foot and the square footage of your building f or a rough calculation. Your engineer should be able to provide the current cost of construction per square foot.

Hope this may help you.

Better make sure you won't be subject to a coinsurance penalty by underinsuring.
Speak to your broker.

Well,

I want to thank everyone for their comments: as I understand more, the better questions I can ask.

Our fire insurance policy has a $5 million ordinance/law coverage limit but our boiler insurance has only $500k. So I am inquiring on increasing the limit on that policy until I can get better information on replacement costs. I would imagine that a boiler ‘issue’ might cause damage to surrounding buildings too (ugh – reaching for the Advil).

We are masonry/steel constructed with wood studs between units (both vertical and horizontal).

Working in the real estate insurance business for many years, I’ve never heard of taking 50% of the replacement cost. And there is 2 main reasons for that. #1 most insurance companies require you to have at least 80% replacement, and if you don’t then you have a co-insurance penalty. #2 what if your building suffers a catastrophe and the building is completely destroyed, who is gonna carry that 50% loss???

?

No new boilers, but you will be paying more for a gallon of oil.

Well,

From my perspective, buildings that still burn #6 have been polluting my air and the air of my shareholders for long enough. I mean really, how did you sleep at night with that much pollution coming out of your stacks? NYC shouldn't have to pass a law before we all act on improving our surroundings.

We use Natural Gas on Co-Ed’s interruptible rate and burning #2 when it gets below 18 degrees. Sometimes doing the right thing costs more. I would recommend hooking up to Co-Ed’s Steam service if you are in their range but their network doesn't come up this high for my complex. Come on folks - these should have all been converted decades ago.

Could not agree more, Steve.

Not sure about the timetable, though — I thought that the city was planning to phase out 4 and 6 over the next several years (rather than over the next couple of months).

Here are a couple of relevant articles:

http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=10068&redirect=dirtybuildings

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/science/earth/01pollute.html

Celebrate!! This should have been done when coal was eliminated.

I use to just shut down the oil burner for a couple of hours per day/night. Just making hot water, it saves some money.

There are a llist of things that need to addressed. Is the boiler being operated at peak effiecency. Is the boiler maintined regularly. compare month to month bills if one month is out of whack then you know.

there are so many things that most buildings can and should have done but are overlooked...

Below is a link to a site that holds a comprehensive list of areas to investigate and utilize.
The company is not accepting clients.. this was a business Idea that I had but never persued getting it off the ground...

http://reapconsultingllc.com/energy_Home.htm

You should get alot of good ideas from it.
Also.. One good thing that we were doing is to lock in on a gas price at a low rate (with a company that does not require minimum or exclusive gas usage) then play the market and use oil when its cheeper and the gas when its not, etc... most of the buildings saved at least 8% on thier fuel bill with this tactic alone.

Possibly I will post a more detailed list later...

Best
~AR

Hi,

We currently have a 1970 era boiler serving three buildings in a 111 unit complex. Since 2005, we have saved 40% per heating degree day (HDD) on natural gas usage. Tracking is a must since natural gas prices fluctuate so much. We replaced all air vent valves in the complex (so that we have no ‘steamers’ – making sure the boiler shuts down early as possible). We use the "Windows Open" test to see if we are over-heating. If we see a lot, we turn down the boiler (we are currently at the lowest boiler setting). We use a natural gas interruptible rate from ConEd - we therefore have to burn oil when the outside temp gets below 18 degrees or so. We track our usage for the last 5 years monthly to see if we have a systemic problem. We insulated steam pipes. We replace all windows with double glazed however we saved a lot before this by following the above steps.

Our next savings idea will be building insulation and/or boiler replacement to a hot water system.

I hope these ideas help 

While I agree with some of your suggestions I am of the opinion that the best way to decide is to approach the super to find out what his priorities/what would best suite his needs/lifestile. Of course you will always have those who will bitch afterwards. Also you may have to put all this in writing.

Rafa

These are very good questions that we are now asking,,, if anyone has experience/answers please chime in... We have about 90 apartments, and approx 10 people have lost their jobs, or are now on reduced incomes... and are looking for ways to reduce our cost.
VP

A difficult financial period - especially an extended one - is precisely the WRONG time for a corporation of any size to cut services, and I'm talking cleaning, maintenance, painting, repairs, and upgrades - all of which are labor-intensive. If you think about it, keeping your property value UP, as compared with other buildings in the area, is always a good investment... for the corporation and for its shareholders.

Before cutting staff, I suggest your board brainstorm things the co-op could do to raise money. Ours, for example, has twice-yearly building-wide tag sales, a quarter of the profits kept by the co-op. And ways you could cut operating costs. Are all your lights energy-efficient?, heating pipes wrapped, windows and doors sealed from drafts? Is your insurance policy worth what you're paying, or could you negotiate a new contract at a lower cost? Are other service contracts worth what they're charging? Do you scour resources such as freecycle.org, Build It Green, and craigslist for things the building needs?

May I also suggest that your board discuss ways in which to expand services to shareholders without a large cash or credit outlay by the corporation? For example: a borrowing closet, to which all residents can donate, and which all could use, with tall and short ladders, hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, painting tools, leftover paints (EVERYONE has at least one can that's still good), all available when signed out by one of your volunteer residents. Or a workshop in the basement that residents can use, with supervision, to refinish a door or other messy work. Neither would cost you much, if anything - and could provide out-of-work residents with an environment to keep them busy with something constructive.

Or start a bridge club or host speakers from local businesses specializing in employment issues. Contact broadband carriers for package deals for residents, which could save them money each month. Take a look at your sublease policy to see if you can expand it to include vacation rentals during July and August so residents going on vacation will be able to save money by renting it (obviously, with legal stipulations....) Find out if your labor contracts can include furloughs.

If your board and your residents and your staff can all work together to make capital improvements - planting a garden, or painting a fence - you'll find it will pay off in higher share values once this financial downturn trends up. And your corporation won't be one of those laying people off, too.

Have a happy holiday season, everyone. Keep a positive attitude.

You can find the 32BJ contracts here:

http://www.seiu32bj.org/cd/list.asp

I am going to throw out a somewhat controversial answer... this is based on experience and not opinion.

You have a contract with 32BJ/670 or whomever to employ union workers and abide by the union rules of play with regard to this contract. So long as the contract is in force, so are its terms and conditions.

Not all contracts are not the same. Go through the contract and find your out. During the time of your Collective Bargaining and Labor Contract Negotiations is the time to ensure that no adverse terms survive the term of the contract and that Arbitration obligation expire after expiration of the union contract, etc...
Typically the contract will spell out rules for this and it will also address economic hardship layoffs...
(here’s a good article: http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/laws-government-regulations-employment/280842-1.html )

Also, if there are other reasons during contract times to lay the employee off, do so... insubordination, etc...

Always consult your attorney, or an attorney experienced in Labor Law before following any labor related advice, signing and/or negotiating any labor contract or laying someone off

After successfully ridding 2 of my buildings from the union in entirety, I can say that their tactics are extremely rude, pressing and borderline intimidating, but as long as you have the case, the b#!$, the cause and justification, you will win! Especially now as many unions are having issues.

Best
~AR