liar and managing agents are often synonymous. board members are easily bamboozled unless they are sophisticated enough to probe and include architects, people in the construction business and others with business awareness. in my building the lawyer and managing agent, craig lamb, support each other’s use of my co-op as a cash cow for themselves.
the real estate industry lobbies against restraints on co-op boards because it’s totalitarian control would be disrupted by laws favoring co-op shareholder rights.

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you both got it right .So called professionals, the lawyers, even a i assime rockie architrct can be so easy BS by managing agents. It is amazing, how little they know about the real world. You need people that know construction, people in trades, home inspectors that know who runs the cash cows, and who runs a tight ship on the maint part. Plus you need financial interested people, on and off the board, whether the board /managing company likes it or not to check the financials , a lot more deeply than the audited report , which is just a check on math, no check on the accuracy of the info submitted. Many people think a conman personality, giving them the answers they want to hear and making them feel important, like they are really smart, while they are being nose ringed led into schems that make the MA extra money .
Time for another round up like in 1998 by the nyc DA. Also there is a 2 page memo , i think from the DA office , but pertaining to boards and safe guarding of funds . Make sure that the board is following that, it calls for every board member to be involved in the fiances and switching every couple of months of duties , so no 1 person has total control. If they refuse to follow it,start a paper trail so that they are personally responsible due to their refusal to perform due diligence and fiduciary responsibilities already drwn up by coop fraud pro's znd tailored to their coop board member responsibilities.
Go to your local counties online data base and look for the convictions page, . Put in your managing agent and companies name, coop name,
and check out the lawsuits and convictions. For a small fee you can get 2 days of full downloads of cases, or go to the court house and get them for free.I'll post a link to the 1998 case when i get a chance, i am sure habitat has it in their archives.
your right the real estate companies have been blocking the ombudsman law for coops, Wonder Why? i mean they work for the shareholders right?
CASH COW protection, os what they are about, They used coops to beat rent control,and turn it into a unsupervised industry.
we need to know who these lobbiest are, and work on them, air their laundry, as in court cases and convictions. I need to learn twitter, it is a good tool to quickly keep people informed and let others know of the scams discovered and how to check for them. Plus start a photo share site more like ungar,instagram, to show the real conditions of neglect,
Use social media it is powerful.cc your legislatures, and the AG office to show what a worthless tool they are.This is what they approved and created but refuse to go after all the fraud, which is a violation of NYS laws. Maybe we can find a fed angle, to bring the heat on..get involved, Lawyers that work both side of the fence, another scam and should not be allowed

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thank you, ‘escapefromyonkers’, for ideas for shareholders to overcome the white collar crime rampant in our co-op’s.
i know for a fact that the real estate industry lobbied the new york city council to block a bill requiring the co-op board to provide reasons for rejection of applicants. btw, christine quinn is in the pocket of nyc real estate power.
we haven’t posted about the problems with co-op lawyers who make real money representing the co-op in suits against shareholders that they instigate.
liz kreuger, state senator, who works for co-op shareholder rights, needs support for her shareholder ombudsman bill. i also suggest calling alice in sen.kreuger’s nyc office for guidance in how to fight for the bill.

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Escape from yonkers - we need to put pressure on our local council people for this ombudsman legislation, find out how far along it is, push hard. Election time is around the corner, for those in co-ops this is an important issue for everyone that reads this blog. Each of us, push for Ombudsman.

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