NEW BUILDING, NEW BOARD

Start with this simple but crucial commandment: Thou shalt organize right now.

"It's so critical for new-condo owners to get organized quickly," says Kathleen Schmidt, bboard treasurer at The Lenox, a new condominium rising 12 stories above the intersection of Lenox Avenue and 129th Street in Manhattan. A 15-year veteran of boards in various co-ops and condos, she points out that, for instance, in a new building "you have a one-year warranty with the contractor to present your grievances" – and so the quicker you act as an organized body, the better.

Get Organized

A new condominium's bylaws and offering plan spell out when the first annual meeting is to be held, and how long – or whether – the sponsor will retain control of the board. C. Jaye Berger, an attorney with 30 years of experience in co-op / condo law, notes that most boards don't feel truly "liberated" until they wrest majority control from the sponsor. "In years past, sponsors tended to linger forever," Berger says. "Now, there's been case law that makes sponsors more proactive in selling their units and giving up control."

Schmidt, a financial consultant, began organizing almost as soon as she and her husband moved in, taking the first step new condo owners should always take: she got to know her neighbors. Attorney Marc Luxemburg, a partner at Snow Becker Kraus, concurs that the very first order of business in any new building should be this simple act. "Ring doorbells and say hello," Luxemburg advises. "You're buying into an unknown situation and you need to meet your neighbors, get acquainted, [and] find out who's capable of serving on a board."

When the 35-apartment New Theater Condominium in Manhattan's East Village opened four years ago, residents interested in serving on the board pooled "resumes" listing their qualifications, recalls board-president Chris Wilson. But, "If I could have done it differently, I might have cast a wider net and gotten even more input [and] tried to encourage more people to get involved," he notes. "If you do that, it will help you avoid the inevitable specter that the board is some secret agency."

Trust Fund

Sandra Greer, president of Sandra Greer Real Estate and manager of six new condos, says establishing trust among new residents is also a crucial precursor to forming a board. To this end, she distributes a welcome package to new arrivals that explains how to contact the manager, the rules on altering apartments, the super's duties and other important information.

After a board assumes majority control from a sponsor, the first challenge is to evaluate the managers, accountants, attorneys, supers and others working for the property. Sponsors hired them, and boards often want to fire them. But attorney Theresa Racht, a partner at Racht & Taffae, advises that boards should carefully evaluate these people before rushing them to the exit door. "Boards need to determine where the professionals' allegiances lie – and also determine if they're competent," she says.

At the New Theater Condominium, board-president Wilson joined with those who wanted to fire the super, but he dissuaded them from sacking the manager. "I was able to show, in the minutes of our meetings, that the manager was unbiased and tough," Wilson says. He also kept up good relations with the outgoing sponsor, noting, "That's better than locking horns with him."