I'm assuming that you are the sole name on the lease and shares for your cooperative apartment. If so, you should politely but firmly stand your ground. Do not consent to a background check or any related fees. The only money you should have to pay is a move-in fee, if your fiancé is moving in furniture or similar goods. Send a certified letter (return receipt requested) to the managing agent with a cc: to the board president. It should say something along these lines:

"I was very surprised to receive your request for a background check on my fiancé. I was also taken aback by the implication that board approval is required for him to move in. To be absolutely clear, my fiancé is not applying to have his name added to the proprietary lease. He will be moving in under the terms of NY Real Property Law Section 235-f (the "Roommate Law"). This requires only that "The tenant shall inform the landlord of the name of any occupant within thirty days following the commencement of occupancy by such person or within thirty days following a request by the landlord." With this letter, I am complying with that requirement by letting you know that his name is Joe Fiancé. I understand that this may be a simple misunderstanding on your part, but I must insist that you make no further demands for background checks (and associated fees), and that you refrain from further claims that board approval is required for this move-in. Naturally we will pay the standard move-in fee charged to anyone moving into the building, but we will not provide any additional fees or paperwork, as those are clearly barred by the Roommate Law. Please consult your attorney if you have any questions."

To stress: I am not a lawyer and this is not intended as legal advice. It's simply the letter I'd send myself if I were in this situation.

Thank you so much for your thoughts. They are greatly appreciated.

When you say "you are in a coop". What does that mean? Do you own the coop or rent the coop?

If you own yes you are protected under the "roommate law". However, as a board member that means you are "splitting" the "rent" and costs with your "roommate"

A finance is an imaginary term. There is no legal rights. Sometimes boards are worry you are going to run a rooming house or the AKA "roommate" is not a roommate at all. But a sublease at a mark-up.

It is a fine line. We had a women in my building who had a "roommate"., but it turns out she had the ad still up for more "roomates". She claimed it was going to be one but our lawyer made her take down her ads to prove it.

Additionally, she has no mortgage. Maint is low in my building. She was bragging that the "roommate" was going to cover all her costs and she was living free.

In the end we let her keep one roommate, sign and agreement she would keep it to one. We also let her slide on her living free.

Personally I owned a coop and two weeks before my wedding date my finance moved in. But I knew a girl on the board, she chatted with me and knew I was engaged and she knew my wedding date so I felt no obligation to tell the board anything. A wife is not a sublease.

Now as a board member I would not want to know at all what you are doing. But if you sent me an application. I guess unless this is a real engagement. I mean ring on finger and you are giving me a wedding date. I guess I want to know more details. I would rather not know nothing at all.

And remember he is a "second class citizen" in your building. Cant vote at a board meeting or even attend a board meeting. And causes a second set of issues to board, Unmarried room-mates who date are usually trouble for landlord. If they break up, call off engagement it brings whole building and board into your personal life

When you say "you are in a coop". What does that mean? Do you own the coop or rent the coop?

If you own yes you are protected under the "roommate law". However, as a board member that means you are "splitting" the "rent" and costs with your "roommate"

A finance is an imaginary term. There is no legal rights. Sometimes boards are worry you are going to run a rooming house or the AKA "roommate" is not a roommate at all. But a sublease at a mark-up.

It is a fine line. We had a women in my building who had a "roommate"., but it turns out she had the ad still up for more "roomates". She claimed it was going to be one but our lawyer made her take down her ads to prove it.

Additionally, she has no mortgage. Maint is low in my building. She was bragging that the "roommate" was going to cover all her costs and she was living free.

In the end we let her keep one roommate, sign and agreement she would keep it to one. We also let her slide on her living free.

Personally I owned a coop and two weeks before my wedding date my finance moved in. But I knew a girl on the board, she chatted with me and knew I was engaged and she knew my wedding date so I felt no obligation to tell the board anything. A wife is not a sublease.

Now as a board member I would not want to know at all what you are doing. But if you sent me an application. I guess unless this is a real engagement. I mean ring on finger and you are giving me a wedding date. I guess I want to know more details. I would rather not know nothing at all.

And remember he is a "second class citizen" in your building. Cant vote at a board meeting or even attend a board meeting. And causes a second set of issues to board, Unmarried room-mates who date are usually trouble for landlord. If they break up, call off engagement it brings whole building and board into your personal life

My advice to you is to gather up all of the documents you have regarding your practice space and consult with an attorney. You need to talk with someone who can interpret the contents of your agreements with the co-op to determine what you and the co-op can and cannot do.

Good luck!

My advice to you is to gather up all of the documents you have regarding your practice space and consult with an attorney. You need to talk with someone who can interpret the contents of your agreements with the co-op to determine what you and the co-op can and cannot do.

Good luck!

Thank you for your reply to my inquiry. I was hoping to get another response rather than to have to contact an attorney. Before i contact someone, do you or anyone would know of any similar case(s) that i could look at.

You could start by sending a letter, on behalf of XXX many people, to the HOA and legal counsel (that are planning to drop the class aciton) advising them that homeowners are being asked to appear at a public hearing (to which I presume you all want to go), however, none of you have the benefit of all details. Can they provide details by DATE? (and allowing yourself time to review anything they may send). The HOA and/or legal should respond to you.

That's an interesting question and one that you should be consulting with your legal on.
Personally, I don't believe you are required to indemnify the purchaser. In other words if you have disclosed the violations to the purchaser, then they are making the purchase fully aware of the violations. However, you may lose the sale because of it.

On the other hand, it you did indemnify the purchaser, FOR THESE VIOLATIONS ONLY then you better make sure you address them and get them fixed. You can't indemnify them for every violation that may occur in the future; but you could for the ones open.

Again, I think you should consult with legal so that you know your options and impact.

I actually wrote a blog post on this a few days ago and just saw this question here now, if you want to check it out:

http://ebmg.com/2015/10/indemnification-and-hold-harmless-letters-why-banks-should-be-named-and-not-the-shareholder-unit-owner/

Can a condo board demand signed letters of indemnity from a unit owners and the person they hire to do work on their unit

Is he a union member? if so, be sure of your rights by checking the latest agreement.

You said corporate space, indicating the you know the space does not belong to the super. We had similar situation, staff was sent a letter with designated removal by date and if items not removed they would be disposed of. After some push back and extending date, items were removed and locations which were being used by the porters locked. Super does not own the location where he is employed. Be firm and execute.

Hi Andy - Sorry to hear abut your predicament. My first bit of advice is that you realize any sort of legal opinions or advice you receive in these forums is worth exactly what you pay for it. :-)

That being said, the first step I would take would be to find an attorney who specialized in these kinds of construction and noise issues. From the way you describe the situation, and especially since the HVAC unit belongs to a different building, you will not have any practical recourse other than through legal negotiation which hopefully will not morph into litigation. I doubt the HVAC unit owner will voluntarily remove it simply because you request them to, no matter how strongly you feel the noise and construction regulations are on your side. You need to know if you have a legitimate cause of action against the HVAC owner, and only attorney can tell you that.

Good luck!
--- Steve

It would be on a scale so if you are sending them a letter and starting with most recent, I would indicate the month in arrears/amount interest charged and total:


August 2015 $300 + $3.00 = $303.00
July 2015 $300 + $6.00 = $306.00
June 2015 $300 + $9.00 = $309.00

etc. up to 1st month of arrears, August 2014
August 2014 $300 + $39.00 = $339.00

and with a note indicating "Arrears interest calculated at 12% per annum or 1% per arrears month".

Ned, thanks for your reply.

If I do it your way, it appears to me that almost nobody would pay on time since the interest on past due balance would be too small. So again, after lengthy research online, I still could not find how it should be correctly calculated. The search continues...

But if you do it the way you are proposing, you are double charging them.

We charge a flat $25 per month. It makes it much easier to administrate - and collect. We also use it as leverage to collect, i.e. "if we receive your arrears by X, we will waive the late fees". It seems to work except for those 1 or 2 that simply cannot pay due to financial circumstances. In my opinion, you are long past the letter stage other than 1 final letter to advise them that you will be pursuing legal action if the arrears are not paid by "X".

I think simple interest is exactly that, straight interest.
1% on $300 July 2014 unpaid maint) is $3 for each of 12 months ($36) if it were paid on Aug 1, 2015. Unpaid Aug 2014 would be $3 month for 11 months $33) if paid on Aug 1, 2015. Unpaid Sep 2014 would be $3 for 10 months $30) if paid on Aug 1, 2015, etc. Add it up, total $234. if the $3600 were paid Aug 2015.
Compound interest would add the interest to each balance, so after the first month, $303 would be due, then 606.03, then 912.09, then 1212.18, etc. It would come out to another $2-$3 dollars.
A flat late fee could be considered punitive, and unless you can show a cost to you for processing the late payment different than an on-time payment, it might get thrown out in a court. A % charge could be justified by lost interest or the cost to borrow money to pay coop bills if the mmaintenance wasn't received timely. Just my opinion..

Flat fees are acceptable; you have to ensure it is reasonable
For example, if you're paying $750 per month and the late fee is $75, that's a 10 percent fee. Although that high percentage may be legal in some states, it's higher than the standard 3 to 5 percent.

JG, I think you are correct on the calculation of interest. It does make sense although the interest is very low. Thank you.

There is little you can do in the immediate and I know from experience as we have the same issue in our building and I am on the board. Many owners have upgraded their unit and have not adhered to the by-laws. Sometimes we don't even know that renovations are or have happened until after the fact. Are we a negligent board? No. The problem is much bigger than us. I think instead of accusing the board of wrong-doing, approach them on the basis as "what can we do, together, to address this situation". Understand that the board pursuing legal will cost money and especially to go retroactive and in the end, as the reno's are already done, would probably lose as "x" amount of time has passed. Even if the they were to get more pro-active with planned reno's, is it fair to those individuals that now want to upgrade their unit and are not allowed to but others have done it (think of yourself; would it be fair to you?). You raise an interesting point regarding maintenance fees; should these owners now pay an increased fee? I think if you were to write a letter to the board and signed by a group of like minded owners and asking to meet with them in a non-confrontational/accusatory way, they will want to meet with you. In addition to your complaints, come with solutions to be considered including offering board assistance as a "special board committee" to evaluate the situation, number of units that have changed, potential impacts to the building (electrical, plumbing), hiring a engineer to assess renovation structural impacts,if any, maintenance assessment scenarios etc. It's a big problem and I assume your board are volunteers like us. As I said, the problem is bigger than us and needs a plan in order to address to it.

Sounds like everyone but you is doing unapproved renovations. Have you made any complaints about construction without a permit to the Dept of Buildings? (I'm assuming you live in NYC, but if not, your town must have some similar department). I'm not clear why the other units are larger than yours and you state that they are paying 1/4 of the maintenance. Usually maintenance charge has something to do with square footage, available amenities such as a yard on the first floor or a balcony, or the floor of the apartment (higher has better view).
You also say that the board won't allow you to be on the board, it's usually up to the other owners to vote you on, not up to the board. What are you offering to bring to the board?

Yes the monthly maintenance is PICE - percent to common interest elements where the square footage is the #1 factor. Our bylaws state that we cannot change the PICE without 100% approval...despite having so many folks noncompliants with bylaws. I am still shocked that the bylaws carry no weight. I have gone to the building inspector who said they are in need of building permits and I can have a code enforcement officer inspect. BTW - they had to rewire the fire alarms last week because many units forgot to connect after they did their improvements...

SO BUMMED.

Thank you for your response. I have 10 years worth of letter writing and complaints...the issue is that many folks have put in HUGE elaborate lofts that are functioning as bedrooms - complete with doors and electrical. As stated against bylaws with no building permits...The monthly maintenance on these units is $250 (they are only legal 2 bedrooms and mine is $630 because I am the legal 3). The condo's calculate monthly fees by PICE - the square feet as built is the #1 calculation. By allowing units to construct square feet they have APPRECIATED these units because they are newer with significantly lower monthly costs and DEPRECIATED mine. This is a HUGE problem...I am not alone but there were FEW 3 bedrooms built to keep them "exclusive" - there are 3 families fighting against 16=20 who do not want change the system because they are getting over by not paying - they could care less about safety, building permits, or unlicensed work. I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME RESPONDING. I am so desperate...and attorney will cost us so much $$$...we are getting hurt from every angle....
Thanks again....

Thank you for providing more detail; I now have a better appreciation of your concerns.

Here's what I would do: Write a letter to the board and from all of the FEW 3 bedroom unit owners identifying 1. the issue; renovations have been allowed to units impacting structure, electrical, plumbing (in some cases) and usable square footage thereby increasing live able space/bedrooms. 2. as an owner, you would like to know if the maintenance fees have been adjust accordingly to that of a 3 bedroom unit. 3. this issue has been raised before with little success in obtaining any answers. 4. give them a deadline such as 30 days to respond otherwise, you intend to contact the Attorney General's Office to file a complaint and request an investigation.

If they do not respond, then you call the attorney general's office.
http://www.ag.ny.gov/contact-attorney-general

I appreciate your time! I will keep you posted...fingers crossed.

I would also ask them if when the units are renovated and electrical impacted, do they engage an electrical engineer to ensure that the buildings grid has not been impacted / overloaded and for (fire) safety reasons.