You are right to identify potential legal and other issues involved with collecting a debt from a shareholder. I would contact the co-op's attorney to get their opinions and recommendations. Engaging a debt collector might create more problems that it solves because of NYC tenants' rights laws, and there are other less draconian ways to resolve an overdue maintenance issue with a shareholder.

If your co-op has a managing agent try asking them what the GFA is. In fact, they should be handling the LL97 issues for you as part of their MA responsibilities.

Gross floor area for Coop is listed on Notice of Property Value for your property in NYC Dof.

Use can use address to search for Borough Block Lot. Also you could use digital tax map to locate your property.

Look for the Notice of Property Value for January of this year as only the January notice has square footage on it.

Then you can look for your building in Dob Now or Building Information System to check for size of building.

LL 97 should not count the area on the roof.

Their is also an online tool called Energy Snapshot the will have basic information on your building such as square footage and energy usage.

Roy

Gross Floor Area for LL97 is the
GFA used by Department of Finance.

The square footage is listed on The Notice of Property Value that is released in January.

Gross Square Footage is also listed on your Building Energy Snapshot.

Roy

We had that situation. A sign won’t work because the type of person who would do this will not be scared off by your sign.

You need to catch them in the act and then threaten them with legal action.

The best way to catch them is with a security camera in the laundry room.

Many times, most often, are the shareholders, residents themselves giving keys to those they know nearby allowing them in, caretakers too.

Thank you for your input.

I heard it might be a staff member’s relatives that live near by which makes no sense if you talk about security. Who really are these people? It’s still private property. So one minute you can’t sublet without permission but you can allow random people on our property and give them access? Now I understand why the Super wasn’t concerned.

Oh the other point I wanted to make was our laundry room isn’t extremely big for all the units we have and we can’t expand it but I would need to wait to do my laundry because a relative of a staff member is using it? That’s not right.

I believe you also have legal liability and face a potential negligence lawsuit if a non-shareholder is injured using the washers or dryers on your co-op's private property. Check with your co-op's attorney to see if you have any legal exposure.

Who's name is on the stock certificate? If the parents name is on both then in my opinion the parent should be the only vote. We have that type (sort of) of situation in my bldg. The parents name is on both, so when the adult child constantly is in arrears, we send notice to both. In fact the parent is responsible for both apts. All correspondence should be sent to both.

We are a condo, not a co-op, so owners do not have stock certificates. Our management company has whatever document shows that the parent purchased the apartment; I'll reach out to them.

Nothing specifically about selling or renting.

Before you sell or rent, be aware there are certain DOB regulations and codes that mandate a super has a physical residence in your building or lives within a couple of hundred feet from your building if the building has 10 or more units. In the future, this could have a problematic impact on your compliance if the super's apartment is not available for the super to live in.

The Proprietary Lease governs the privileges, rights, and obligations of the *shareholders*.

The Bylaws lay out how the *board* governs the co-op corporation and conducts co-op corporation business.

Two entirely different documents with entirely different purposes.

Before making *any* changes to either, especially the one the board is contemplating, contact the co-op's attorney. Without consulting your attorney for expert legal advice you could dig a hole deeper than you can imagine.

Full Stop.

You should check with an attorney, but I'm almost certain the board does *not* have the authority to prevent non-resident shareholders from voting their shares. That would create two classes of stock within the corporation, and the board does not have the authority to create such classes. In fact, it's unlikely that *anyone* - including the full set of shareholders - would have the ability to do this. But again, ask an attorney for a definitive answer.

- Carl Tait

Very simply, if they own shares, they have a full vote. No exceptions I can think of (IANAL). Unless your Proprietary Lease has a special carve-out (which I highly doubt), *any* share dilution can land your board and co-op corporation in very hot water.

I'm not even sure the restriction on becoming a board member or officer would hold up.

There may be special rules for sponsor-owned shares, so best to check with your co-op's attorney.

Steven, I completely agree with you that disenfranchising non-resident shareholders is almost certainly not allowed, while echoing your IANAL.

One point I can state with certainty is that non-resident shareholders *can* be barred from serving as directors. That's straight from our co-op's attorney. In fact, he's the one who suggested we limit the board to residents.

- Carl Tait

You say that management has been told and nothing's changed. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it sounds like the Board hasn't been told - only management.

If so, notify the Board about the situation. Regardless of who you notify, it helps your cause if you can document names and dates for when the doormen treat shareholders differently. A paper trail is very important in these types of situations.

Good luck and keep us posted.

They are part of the problem.

Since the Board and mgt have done nothing after being notified of the situation, then I suggest making a list of dates and times when these events take place, along with a description of the infraction. Email this info to both the Board and mgt. You might also want to include the co-op attorney in the email.

At least it's now in writing and on record. As I said earlier, the more documentation that you can submit, the less the issue can be avoided.

Another important reason for documenting everything in writing is if the doormen are Union members (32BJ), a very detailed written record will be essential if you find you need to take any action against them.

Do you know if the individuals in question have received any sort of official notification that their behavior will not be tolerated? An official write-up? Repremand? Discussion with your MA? These will be essential as you put together a paper trail

I completely agree with Marty that you need to involve your co-op attorney. In fact, I would talk to your attorney before having any further contact with your board or MA. If both have been notified and nothing has changed, this problem may be deeper than just bad doormen.

Actually - I did find this article about fiduciary responsibilities from prior posts, and it answered my questions. Very handy reference: https://www.joindaisy.com/blog/whats-the-fiduciary-responsibility-of-board-members

In my building, a mid-size co-op, residents really appreciated getting thank you notes from the super (especially since many residents did not provide any gifts).