As AdC points out, there are many ways to run a business, especially when that business is a co-op.

On our board, the managing agent works hand-in-hand with the board. Together we watch arrears very closely because maintenance fees are more than 96% of our corporation's operating income. When someone stops paying her maintenance, it affects every shareholder: bills keep coming in and we have to pay them; if we're short on cash we have to borrow money; the interest on that borrowed money is payed by every single shareholder.

Income (specifically, cash flow) is important to our co-op, and financial matters are among the most important that any board member oversees.

While board members do not need to be involved at every step of recouping arrears, there is no reason for them to be excluded.

As the treasurer, I examine the monthly statement of accounts closely. When a shareholder is two months behind, I inform the board and instruct the managing agent to send a letter (which says we notice you're behind, if you need extra time please contact the managing agent).

If the shareholder does not respond and does not pay his/her bill, I inform the board. We may then choose to have someone from the board approach the individual, or we may write a letter from the board.

When a shareholder is three months behind, and if she has a mortgage, the board sends a letter informing her that the mortgage contract she signed with the bank obligates us, the board, to inform the bank of arrears equal to or greater than three months. (Banks are not pleased when a customer does not pay her bills -- and one's maintenance is connected to your mortgage, according to the contract you signed.)

With one exception, we have not had to inform a shareholder's bank because shareholders respond to that letter.

As a side note, those shareholders who appreciate a board that holds down costs appreciate this approach because it keeps the lawyers out of the process (and they're not cheap -- we just interviewed a firm that charges $2000 to be an arrears shark for one shareholder; I kid you not).

Perhaps there is a personality clash involved in the case D&C brings up. I can sympathise with that, but the reality is that a co-op is a business; board members have a fiduciary duty to run it in a financially sound way. Some board members have abrasive personalities (we're New Yorkers, after all!), but as long as they're seeking what the corporation is owed, they're acting in the interest of every owner in the building.

Steve W