I will not get into the general physical fitness of your grandparent or if the person walks alone or under supervision in the event the person were to fall. My questions would be directed (1) How long does the grandparent tend to walk in the hallway to exercise? What floor does the person live in? Does the person get the mail or throw the garbage or does the laundry to allow the person to be visible by other residents and in other areas of the building? Is there a chart of fines used by the condo in which walking, playing or running in a hallway would be fined? Does the condo have a gym where your relative can exercise?

I would try to address the Board with a request. Mention to them that the grandparent be allowed to walk the hallway as a way of exercise for X amount of minutes, she is more confined than other residents and you would be asking for their consideration.

Fines are illegal Management or the Board cannot issue fines, nowhere in the Black Book, or the Proprietary lease does it allow for fines to be issued. As for her walking on her own property nobody can stop her, it is her constitutional right to walk on her own property, no Judge would stop a senior citizen of 91 years of age to have her constitutional walk where it would be safe for her to walk. I would respond registered mail, return recipt to Mgmt. and the Board advising them to stop harrassing your grandmother or a legal suit will commence.

Good luck! If you don't fight back these mongrils will take advantage.

sue them. This is stupid. After you win the case, move out.

Something seems to be missing from your intial post. For example, what is it that the Board and/or Management find so offensive about your Great Grandmother walking in the hallways with her walker?

Is she inappropriately dressed when she is walking?
Is she walking late nights or very early mornings and making noise that is disturbing to others?

The letter that she was sent by the managing agent should have outlined what about her behavior was so egregious that they are contemplating issuing her a fine.

If it is only simply her walking the hallways (which I really find hard to believe that a managing agent would send such a ridiculous letter - but then again stranger things have happened), she would have an action against them under the Americans with Disabilities Act because she uses a walker. The age thing may not apply so much because she was already living there; but most definitely they would be discriminating against her disability if it turns out their issue has to do with her using the walker, which she obviously needs to get around.

You need to get clarity on what the real issue is behind their letter and also make sure that your grandmother is not violating any house rules or rules stated in the proprietary lease.

It doesn't sound reasonable.
But before you waste time and money on legal fees, try to get an explanation from the managing agent or the board. A lot can be achieved this way.
My first take on this might be that the board is concerned your grand mother could hurt herself by tripping or falling, in which case the condo bears some responsibility.
Is your grand mother walking alone or is a nurse with her during those walks.

My great grandmother is coherent, fully dressed, quiet, does not smell offensive, walks for short while about 10min in the afternoons with her caregiver. its very wide hallway so she's not blocking anyone and no one except those living on that floor would see her. nothing bothersome at all. no gym in building so no where else for her to walk. Hard to believe any board can be so cruel, heartless... I wrote to the Board and am waiting to hear back from them... thanks again for the advice

Sorry to hear of your situation. Sad to say these situations are becoming all too common. The board must have very little on their hands than to worry about someone taking a walk on the hallway. Is there a board member living on your floor (that may have an issue and is hiding behind the board to get the message out?) Again shame on your board. They surely have bigger fish to fry.

MRM.

Who is policing this situation? Should they be fined for using the hallway for purposes other then entry and exit to their unit? In fact, could it be possible that your grandmother as a concerned resident actually walks the hallways to ensure that her building is safe? I think Grandma is being very proactive and in looking out for the safety of her neighbors should be commended. Who knows what illegal activity has been thwarted because of her presence. After all, she is walking the halls because of her security concerns...right?

Why on earth are you being sarcastic? This a serious issue involving the bullying of a senior citizen. God forbid you should ever get old and want to leave your apartment.

No No No Not being sarcastic at all! I apologize if that is how you read it. I was ridiculing the board and offering a humorous way for your grandmother and you to defend her harmless activity. What she is doing is something alot of elderly wouldnt do...make the best of a bad situation. She is getting up and moving regardless of the physical limitations. I absolutely WAS being sarcastic, but in your grandma's defense. What the board is doing is despicable and they should be ashamed. And it their actions define bullying. I am so sorry if I came across the wrong way.....

EM, I understand it was directed at the board , it was another reader who was indignant on my great grandmother's behalf. Which I appreciate, I can't tell you how much the support and advice from this Forum has meant to us. I know she will smile when I tell her a group of lovely strangers are rooting for her. For now, still waiting for the Board's response, will report back.

My apologies, EM, for misreading your comment. I guess this horrible board's actions have got us all rightfully outraged.

May I ask who the management company is and if they have gotten involved with this?

Rather not give the name of the management co yet, they are involved from the very beginning and the ones that sent the letter to us. The property manager was unsympathetic when we called their office.

Sadly to say most management companies are "spineless" when it comes to board policies. You see management get paid a fee to carry out the boards wishes. While your agent may not agree with the board on this one they still sent you a letter. If they do not adhere to what the board requests they can/and will be replaced. I would be looking at the board president who is hiding behind this issue.

Best of luck MRM

I'm a board president and I can tell you that even if we as a board decided that we didn't like something, our Management office would not send out a vague notice to a Shareholder, nor would they simply send a letter out to a Shareholder because we wanted them too. The Management Company has to be very careful in letters and notices that they send out because they can be sued by Shareholders for a variety of reasons. Once a Management Company puts something in writing, that gives a lawyer enough ammunition to file a suit against the corporation.

I've seen situations where Board members have wanted to institute certain policies in the co-op and we were told point blank by our Management Company that it would be improper and were encouraged to even discuss a couple of items with our attorney and learned that they would expose the corporation to liability.

Even Board minutes should be carefully worded for the same reasons.

It would be a good idea to identify management firms when referring to them so that it can be determined if a pattern exists and to be better able to distinguish the good from bad.

you should give the name of the management co. so that other coops and condos would not use them for aiding and abetting in violating their fiduiary obligations to shareholders. If mgmt does not know the laws of the building and of the BCL they should not be allowed to manage any building.

Andrea you have a good management company -unfortunately in our coop there have been many instances where management has sent letters to shareholders and some were also board members that accused the shareholder of somethings that were completely unsubstantiated and not true, and when questioned about this was told that they were told to do so by the President of Board and thought it was board decision when it was not

We also had a lousy one... so much so that we ousted them because the Property Manager was stealing from us, but they also were very cautious in anything they put in writing, especially to a shareholder because they did not want to be exposed to any lawsuits.

I think your Management Co. is very nobel to do the right thing regardless of the consequences. I would love to know who your Management Co. is. We are currently being represented by Cooper Square/Wentworth Corporation. I have a 589.00 credit on my maintenance which has been there since I sued the building in 2004. Wentworth Mgmt and the Board were refusing to collect my maintenance so that they would claim I was in default, in which they did. Ever since I sued the building and won, I have kept that amount on account so that they could never say I am late with my payment or didn't receive my payment. Well last month that amount disappeared and they put a late charge on my statement. They never gave any explaination, nor are they answering my emails or certified letter. So back to court I go and open up my index number to sue the building and managment. I also have a stimpulation in place since I won my case and they have violated that as well. Our Board is corrupt and so is the management co. Cooper Square/Wentworth.

Having worked with 2 Management Companies, I think there are pros and cons to just about all of them. You will have some good experiences and some bad. Just like hiring a contractor to work in your home, you have to due your due diligence and check these management companies out and find out how quickly they respond to shareholder issues/complaints. Are the residents & boards of the other buildings they manage happy with them? Do you have someone from their office regularly visit your building to know what is going on?

Put simply management will get back to the board president and other baord members right away. The rest in his/own time and others never. And should management forget to return a call they have a whole list of reasons as to why someone else screwed up. Management 101

MRM.

The individual visiting our building is as corrupt as the Board and the management co. We had fired this company a couple of years ago when we voted a new board, now the corrupt board got elected and brought back this Cooper Square/Wentworth corruption again. The last mgmt. Co. we had Aris Properties was honest, but they refused to go after shareholders illegally and issue fines illegally so they were fired.

It's astonishing to me what some Boards will think up to make people's lives miserable. I had to read your post over again to make sure I was reading right. I recommend contacting the NYC Commission on Human Rights by phone -- they are always very helpful and will give you straight advice. Good luck, and please keep us on Board Talk posted. Please tell your Great Grandmother that we're rooting for her!

I'm appalled but not astonished. Some people get on boards just to throw their weight around.
And the only way to defeat a bully is to stand up to them.

Your gg rocks for keeping mobile at her age!

Given the case of the Staten Island Seniors that Habitat was been covering, where a judge found that owners have a right to use their own common area for ordinary purposes -- and hallways are for walking -- I wonder whether the board has a legal leg to stand on.

The judge negated all the fines the board tried to impose on the five seniors who gather a couple times a week in the spacious lobby to chat.

If someone were to physically touch your fragile grandmother to make her turn around, say, I think you'd have a major lawsuit.

What kind of horrible, awful people, with no sense of humanity, are on this board? A bunch a petty dictators. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE NEED THE OMBUDSMAN BILL.

HAVE THE NAZIS RETURNED TO POWER? ELIMINATING THE SICK,INFIRMED AND DISABLED.
I CURSE THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD WHO AUTHORIZED THAT LETTER TO BE SENT AND I FURTHER CURSE THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY FOR SENDING THAT LETTER TO THE POOR WOMAN.

"PAX VOBISCUM"

It's always heartbreaking when outrage reaches the level of this analogy. It's heartbreaking because the analogy should never have to be employed, ever again, and would not, if we all treated others as we would like to be treated. (Such a simple rule, constantly being broken.)

I, too, am outraged that a Condo Board of Directors would a) instruct; b) allow a management company to treat a resident, let alone a human being, in such a fashion. Evidently, someone somewhere looked at the bottom line in an insurance suit that could arise from her falling; listened to a kvetching neighbor who doesn't like her; or listened to a hypervigilant lawyer who felt that legal exposure could ruin the condo financially. Or this is one of those "elite" condos that tell you everything but the shade of toilet paper you need to display. There are certainly a lot of people who serve on boards who see their duties as if they were all counting beans or "impacting" real estate values... not affecting people's LIVES.

That's the world we seem to live in today: bean-counters, sociopaths, moralists, elitists, profiteers. Sometimes, they're the only ones who step up to the duty of a Shareholder to serve on the Board of Directors... and that's more than unfortunate, it's dreadful.

If WE want change, WE have to step up and make it happen. And maybe it starts with saying, "I am running for the Board, and I'd like your vote because..." or it starts with educating oneself about the condo or co-op and the laws that regulate them, so you won't make a mistake like this even if you're only looking at the "bottom line." Hopefully, no one here is in that category, either; maybe we're a 'business' but we're much, much, much, more than that.

I would very much appreciate either a) an update from the original poster, or b) an in-depth article on this from Habitat. Thank you.

I agree with the person who asked "what is it the building finds objectionble" about Grandma in the hallways? Grandma has a right to walk in the hallway, home attendant, walker and all. If she wants to move ten feet, rest, and walk back, it's nobody's business but hers. But is there more to the story? Is she leaving her walker in the hallway? Find out exactly what the issue is. But on the face of it, as a long time board member and occupational therapist, I think the board is leaving itself open to discriminating against someone based on age/disability. You reach a certain age, you have to stay inside? i don't think so.

No she doesn't leave the walker outside. We did asked the Board what their objections were. Still haven't heard from them... I don't think they can come up with one so they are dragging this out and hope we will just let it drop.

Who is the management company?

Contact "Help me Howard" Channel 11 and he will stop it making a nice public TV show.
Best Regards.

I want to shout the management company's name and each of the board member's name from the rooftop but right now G-grandmother doesn't want me. Let me see if I can convince her. But I do worry that they might make life difficult for her, they lack decency and common sense who knows what they might resort to.