Sounds like you need a new managing agent. You can also seek your Legal Adviser. Our house rules deals with common spaces, noise issues, roller bladding in hallways, smoking in common areas, nothing in hallways like carriages, shopping carts. No kids playing in hallways, illegal occupant and the rules can go on and on depending on your building. Also with each complaint from share holder tag on a fine for each rule being broken. The best way is break it down step by step from front to back yard to the whole building. Did I mention consult with your legal adviser. Good Luck

i believe anytime you try and word in a punishment such as fines to house rules, your proprietary lease and by laws has to support it.
i believe i have read a number of times of coop owners having years of fees returned and not paying fees and fighting them+winning, since the the proprietary lease didn't call for them.

I agree with "peoples choice" response. Also you should really look into the quality of life issues you have and how the buildings image would change in a positive way by drafting "new rules". Begin by waking the property and make notes. Then apply a little bit of common sense. There is no point in making a rule if it is impossible to implement/follow.

Bob

I do not mind giving you our House Rules. Send me your email address and I will email it to you. This can be a starting point.

Thanks. I do not want to post my email address in public but you can email them to our board address at surfair_equities@yahoo.com. Looking forward to seeing them.

On its way.

Write rules to manage situations, not control people. Everything you write, you will need to enforce at some point. There will always be shareholders who break rules because they are just going to do whatever it is that they feel like doing, but everyone else will be governed by a rule written to control the few. try to not write too many. House rules are for the management of enabling people to live together in a balanced, fair and respectful way, and to protect the property for the benefit of all.

Thanks for the heads up, we are in Riverdale and Con-Ed is not able to support any additional applications for nat gas. We have working through clean heat.org, but alas everyone agrees Riverdale is out of luck until at least 2013.We will see what happens. But for those thinking of converting, the cost to upgrade the burner, tank, boiler, and chimney vary and I advise everyone to solicit proposals from reputable companies.

Remember, if your triennial CO is still in effect and not set to expire you still have time to change from #6 to another source of heating fuel. Don't stress over the expense of converting if you don't have to...I would however at least do your homework now and have a plan in place for when you have to convert.

is he union? if so does the contract address this issue. Does the union contract state that you are required to provide all the amenities such as cable?
If he is a union super is he suppose to be on callland aailable, as most are, that is why the apartments were provided in the building, You dont want him in pennsylvanoia at his other house every weekend , and you have emergency s, that he should be nearby to coordinate or help with the problem. Seems like a lot odf stuff, like what happens if he gets divorced and the wife gets the place , or its his girlfriens place and things go sour.
good to ask questions and to read the contract,or speak to a labor lawyer who is familiar and also not partial.

In our building the Supers apartment is perk... and we have discussed eliminating this perk. As for the cable and phone -- with cell phones and wireless internet connections -- its no longer necessary. A few years ago, we also canceled the supers ($300) parking perk... Elect may also be a perk... Bottom line, is that we have Shareholders who are living on a sting, and we have had to cut back... As for not attracting a good super -- we have a great super who loves our building. VP

You mentioned that the super "doesn't want to occupy the unit in the building". What are the terms of his employment and did you discuss this with him in the past. I would be very cautious about this. I know of a luxury high rise where the super moved on to take another position. The Coop gave the position to the handyman (live out position) and rented the apartment. In the early AM hours in winter a riser burst (frozen pipe), super called on his cell phone and has to make it in from Jersey. End result major damage which could have be avoided by having a live in super. The shareholders were up in arms, board members were trying to cover the decision they made. I recently heard that the building reverted back to a live in super. Just be careful what you wish for..
Bob

look in your local ordinances and your condo/coop docs

How do I find those?

call your county government...and the condo/coop docs ( they may or may not mention it

Your county government would have the info, if they have established one.
I believe NYC requires 80 sq feet per occupant, not counting hallways, kitchens or baths.

A "rule of thumb" is roughly for an 80 square foot bedroom, 2 people, smaller, one person. Again,this is just a rule of thumb and a general guideline.

This is not legal on many levels...such construction first requires board approval (and if folks did not ask you, then they are in the wrong), which is likely not to be granted because of DOB regulations (a studio is a studio for a reason)...fire and construction otherwise. If the DOB were called in for an inspection, these units would be found essentially breaking rules. I would say the owners were blatantly ignoring a set of co-op and DOB laws. Time to set everyone straight.

Does your Coop have an alteration Agreement policy? The is a legal definition for each type of apt and what a room constitutes under the housing code. I would have to wonder about the legality of sales and listings, misrepresentations of fact, etc. in calling a studio a 1 or 2 bedroom apt. A loft is not an over-sized studio as such. I would hope that no architects are involved because to fail to apply for a new C of O for the unit would be a problem for them, and a renovation that didn't meet code would be as well. But, this also affects the share distribution and valuation as well. IF someone has a 2 bedroom should they be paying higher maintenance than a studio? Given the fact that occupancy regulations are specific as to how many adults, and minors can occupy a space rated as a studio, one, two bedroom etc. the amount of square footage, windows etc. In NYC a room has to have at least one, to be counted as a legal room.

While my co-op has not allowed putting up walls, we have allowed 3/4 high partitions on a temporary basis to further divide space (say for a home office). The partitions have to come down when the unit is sold and the space cannot be marketed as an ‘extra bedroom’.

It only takes a few S/H who are determined, to change things. Most S/H just go along for the ride, Its not easy, but we began with two S/H, who eventually lead the movement to take back our Coop from a very powerful group of S/H and Management.
Get an Email list of S/H.
Send business-like emails EVERY week to EVERYONE concerned, listing the problems/issues. The Board and MangCo do not want this Email trail to accrue because it will be a powerful witness supporting your case before a judge.
Keep personal attacts out of the emails -- and stick with the facts -- do not RANT -- do not give up.
EMAIL POWER WORKS!
I agree that we need to exchange info between Coops -- A group of us has now reached another impass with our Board. We are now being taken by the Contractor Engeneer who has ordered work we dont need and is in the process of laying a system of pavers on our terraces, that is guaranteed to damage the building-- we have reached a dead end with the Board -- who likes these guys and wants the job finished no matter what -- so we intend to call the DOD to audit the work -- AND notify the rest of the Shareholders.
We have exhausted all other avenues, and have a substancial Email train documenting the issues ---
After this is over, we plan to publish the names of the Contractors and Engeneer -- unfortunatenly other Coop owners complain, but dont share or follow through..
Good Luck, VP

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/realestate/new-york-real-estate-question-answer.html

there is a lot more to this but that is my question to tjay romano and i have the 50% owner occuopied that they are telling banks and buyers and sellers its 90%. i have been here prior to conversion it has never been 90%.
As soon as i can find a good lawyer, since it is more than co-op and bcl violations such as bcl 624a , they have been refusing me on and they have been refusing me the terms of my proprietary lease, which is to see the financials as long as i give a reasonable notice. When they do not want you to see the financials , that like waving a flag in front of me, toro , toro time.
media time . It is about time that this co-op scam gets shown for exactly what it is. if you do not have good accountants and outside craftspeople as advisors in your building, and you have a bldg manger who is unsupervissed, it s a game callled delayed maintaince equals a huge payday. when you had a bldg owner and he saw the forescape door and pain peelins i had pictures of, plus the thousands it cost to replace, probably close to 5k, all because the manager hadn't looked at the emergency exit in years, plus the FD fine that may have been 1k. The owner would give the bum the boot. In coops you give them a raise and a holiday bonus and probably they get gifts from the contractors too,,

Definitely need to do something about the illegal sublets in our buildings. Our corporate documents as others allow subletting with board approval-Unfortunately there has been this person on the board forever who says subletting is not allowed and enough board members to agree with her without ever having a vote, thus at least 50% sublets with no doc umentation or any legal papers for the coop and one of which owed 7 years maintenance - I have brought up this problem for over 20 years at meetings - and I am completely ignored by our ex lawyer who always agreed with the board member and our new lawyer who ignores what I say although everything done is illegal, especially when this board members allows her people to sublet without saying anything but tries to take another to court for the same thing - this is very illegal - Definitely need help but it would help if there were enough people to get together and bring it to the proper authorities

You can try contacting Scott Kamen of KamenTall Architects. We've had a lot of great successes with him in the past, and he can work on big or small projects, efficiently.

www.kamentallarchitects.com

We have used Ralph Sobel, Architect for these kinds of projects, and we have received very thorough and good service on mixed critical Architecture/engineering type projects which involved astute problem solving, solution process design and supervision. he can be reached at 212-228-4001. Ours involved extensive local law 11 work on our Coop built in 1928 with terra cotta facade and steel strapping corrosion issues that requires the careful removal, repair and replacement of sections, along with the usual lintel, sill, mortar and parapet work. He has done this work for us a few times. He is thorough, knowledgeable and fairly priced. Worth a phone call.

(above)

Give everyone a break here. Two people trying to make a living in a tough economy.

Bob

Sorry Bob - that is not a realistic answer.

It is a realistic answer but not the one you were hoping for. You would prefer if I had mentioned what if the person fell on premises and liability etc. This is a very minor issue when you think of all the other activities going on in the real estate industry. I am sure your building has far greater issues to worry about.

Bob

Gee, and I was wondering why your Super has so much scrap metal to sell out of your building and where is it coming from? If it is from your building then it is the property of the shareholders and the money is theirs, i.e. the Super is selling your property out from under you, hope it's not copper wire and piping!. If that is the case, then you real liability is your super. THis actually is the realistic question, what on earth are they doing steady business on, and if your Super is out collecting it locally while he is paid to be in the building doing your work, that's a problem, if he is storing it on your property from the outside, it's a problem, if it's from your building it's a problem. SO, I think you need to have a very detailed and thorough chat with your Super about this and get to the bottom of it. It's fine for people to make a living, and on his own hours his time is his own, but if he brings it into the building it now, rightly becomes an involvement for you, whether he or you like it or not. there is a difference between Real Estate industry issues and the issues that a building, personally has to deal with. I would also posit, that depending on the truthful answers to the questions, it might not prove to be so minor at all. Not to be a stiff about it, but if in fact the material is coming from the building itself, without your prior knowledge and permission, which would be the case, then this is also the person with the keys to every apartment, and the charge account at the local hardware store. So,...? potentially an issue, and then again, maybe all is fine, it just begs the question doesn't it?

i was going to say the same as the other poster, if the material is coming from your building it is the buildings property and they should get the money. If it is a small amount of stuff that is not worth the time to go to the scrap dealer, since your still going to have pay someone, why not leave it out near the garage in a different colored bag and let the person know they need to pick it up that night.. Or if there is room to store it until it is saleable, like it sounds like he is doing, continue, but let the bldg get the money. I am sure there are plenty of pick up salvage yards.
I worked for a company that dealt with a lot of 24 gauge copper wire , and even 30 yrs ago, the bags of left over trash wire were weighed and accounted for by the company Even back then a great percentages of firings were due to someone trying to bypass the recycle room and bring it home to sell..
Also if he is doing it on his own time, and not the buildings material, and deals with moving heavy stuff,the building may risk work comp claims for non work related injuries.

Our building has a parade of food deliverymen all day every day, as well as the usual mail, UPS, FedEx, and residents guests. Any one of them could injure themselves in some way. Do your best to provide a safe environment for all, at all areas of the building, inside and out. Accidents are just that, accidents, and occasionally someone will get hurt.
We dispose of lots of metal, besides the normal tin cans, foil pans and pots and pans. Steel bed frames, metal chairs, tables, appliances, vacuum cleaners, CRT tv's and computer monitors, to name a few. Does the super remove the steel frames from sofa beds? He should be discarding the wood frame separate from the steel.
Is the staff (super/porter?) just putting these metal materials to the side, and letting the scrap guys come and pick it up weekly, saving himself the trouble of hauling it to the curb? Some of this stuff is awkward to carry or to bundle for sanitation. Is he getting any money from the scrap guy?
We have a local entrepreneur who picks up our deposit containers, gives us $.06 per item, and the porter sorts and bags them on our time. We split the proceeds with him. None of the resident children/teens have any interest in cashing them in for the deposit.
You need to look more carefully at what's being done and decide how you want to handle it. Maybe you're coming out ahead since the super/porter is not spending time hauling it out.

Dear dsi and yonkers, where did you come up with the notion that the super was out collecting scrap and bringing it back to the building to sell. The original post said occasionally the super has someone come by to see if there is scrap metal. Please stick to the facts. Your imagination is running wild here.

Bob

Sorry Bob, it doesn't say that, it says 'coming into the building to collect metal from the Super on occasion'. Our response is germane to querying the source - internal or external. Each has a different factor attached to it, that impacts liability, and employee's time. it extrapolates from there. Nothing was mentioned otherwise by Nina as to how the visits are arranged or occur other than the timing which was occasional.

anytime a contracor enters your premises, you are liable. That is why ,when a repair or work is done in an apertment under the ownership of a shareholder , they have o furnish the building with a copy of the shareowners insurance for work conp and liability.
usps,fed e telco have their own plans ince they have regular work in your building, however if you have a vicious dog, or uncorrected loose banister or a trip and fall you will be sued by them or by workers comp as a third party. Sellling scrap metal is a busness and the super would be working as an independent contractor, however , the co-op would most likely eat the WC and medical if an injury happened. I dont know how much more clear i can make it, In most co-ops, at least in the one i am in, the owner is responsible to bring the material to the recycle area in bundles that are easily moved

Also it is called due diligance of the board members and fidicuary responsibilty to the co-op. Items Board members are accountable for, sometime with zero o and B ins coverge.
Plus if a shareholder wrote a letter stating the situation and worried about the possible problems.
Then there is an injury, the shareholder provides the insurance company with the letter, the board may be on theor own dime,and cant , or should try and get compensated bt the co-op. It is the shareholders right to look out for his money, especially when the board members refuse to. If it is tour moay do what you want, mess with my money, i will use tactics to protect myself. I tried to explain this to some board members and they didnt hve the spins to do it and it looks like it will be costly to them.