Hi Ken,
Thanks for the heads up. We are in the process of planning a facade and terrace renovation - expensive to say the least. We are in the process of updating our house rules, can you email me what you added that protects your terraces, we want to update accordingly. Proper maintenance always improves the durability of the property – especially terraces.
Can you share any of your experiences – we are also looking to replace our metal railings with glass.
My email david_gassman1023@yahoo.com.
FYI - we are leaning to L&M, but won’t make that decision until we can confirm funding for our project.
I appreciate your feedback.
David

coop not condo.

If you haven't done so already, forward your complaint to the board and management company.
The property lease states that all residents have the right to a peaceful, quiet and healthy enjoyment of their unit.

Your last option is to hire a lawyer.

coop not condo.

I know what you mean as we had a sublet on top of us. Notify them first as they are liable for any damage cause in you apartment from the vibration; then talk to your management company. They did to put a heavy duty rubber cushion under it -- or just go to the gym!

I would think that as a board member you should be permitted, in fact responsible to, see these contracts. Something is fishy here!

Thanks, Jeff Lee. I'm smelling something as well. I've looked into NYS laws and find that BCL 701 says: " the business of a corporation shall be managed under the direction of its board of directors." I also know that I have taken on a fiduciary duty to protect the interests of the shareholders. I am unable to see how I can full those 2 duties if building-related contracts are withheld from me. I intend to make my case to the board. I've also engaged an attorney on the question of whether board permission may legally be required. I'll post the results. Thanks again.

There was a question like this in the comparator mag within the last 2 years i believe. They have a question and answer section, but only pick about two.
The board member has the absolute right to see every document concerning the co-op from the day the corporation was formed, was the answer provided by a co-op law firm in nyc. cooperator.com is somewhat searchable and you should be able to find it. I believe it even told the new board member what to do as far as getting a court appearance, without a lawyer, and they said every case they knew of like this the member won and in some cases the judge ordered the board to provide the new member with a copy of everything from day one, for pulling this stunt, at their cost, not the co-ops. The other poster is correct as a board member you are responsible for everything that happens on your watch,even if you don't know about it, i guess if you did your due diligence you would be off the hook, but if you were a puppet or yes'm it's your dime, not the insurance company,you are not indemnified if you do not do your fiduciary duty to the building.

I suggest you keep fighting for your rights. Do not allow the management or the Board bully you into being blind sighted in your investment. You as a shareholder have the right to make sure your investment is handled properly. If contracts and financials are being hidden from you then something is wrong. Get an attorney to reveiw your black book and BCL, I am sure there is a clause in their that gives shareholders the right to inspect books at any time during normal business hours. If managment give you a hard time do yourself and the building a favor and take them to court, get an index number on file so if they pull anymore nonesense you can always open your case with the same index number and supeona the records you want. Good Luck, don't give up the fight or you will lose everything you invested in.

I don't believe it to be true...but I want to know why wouldn't the board give there permission anyway. Also remember the managing agent works FOR you, you do not work for them

Thanks you for taking the time to reply, Phyllis. It remains to be seen if the board will give permission. On our board, it seems that the managing agent is running the show. I ask a lot of questions and the managing agent doesn't seem to like that.

This is another example of why an ombudsman bill is necessary. I live in an upscale co op and our management company runs our board as well. We have major building dept violations, a restaurant that serves wine and beer without the permit required, the owner was not properly certified in NYC when he was granted the right to operate the restaurant, a golf course that is open to the public which is contrary to the permitted use, and on and on. Unless we the shareholders hire our own attorney and pay tens of thousands of dollars in fees, we are unable to fight the powers that be. We need a government agency to whom we can turn. Contact your local state senator and assembly member and demand an explanation as to why this bill sponsored by Sen Liz Krueger is langushing and was not acted upon promptly. We deserve protection from unscrupulous mangement companies and boards that do nothing.

Please get behind this bill so we can get the protecrion to which we are entitlted.

Big thanks, Diane Stomfield, for mentioning this bill. I googled it and, although I have not yet read the entire bill, I am very excited - as a board member and as a shareholder - about what I have read. I'm sure I'm behind the curve on this as my Google search revealed that Habitat has extensively covered the debate in earlier issues. I'll include the some of links I found below in case others like me are getting to the table a little late. The introductory text to the bill points directly to the problems I have already seen: the process of changing a board takes years; the alternative option, i.e., a lawsuit, is costly and intimidating to most shareholders. As a result our board ignores state law, the by-laws, and the proprietary lease (except the parts of it that they like) with impunity. Thanks again for helping me become informed. Here are the links I have explored so far: http://condocoopowners.org/ombudsman-bill-s-395/ AND http://www.habitatmag.com/Publication-Content/2010-December/Featured-Articles/Ombudsman-Bill AND http://condocoopowners.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Habitat-Mar-11-Ombudsman-Debate.pdf

PS: Do you know where one would go to learn which senators and assemblypersons are on record as being for or against the bill?

The Alliance of Condo & Co-op Owners is aware of essentially no circumstance in which the right of a board member to review contracts--or any other corporate documents--is legitimately constrained. Indeed, any attempt to impose such restrictions is often the 1st sign of serious trouble, & we advocate prompt action.

The apparent misapplication of a BCL provision which is, indeed, directed at shareholders would be comical if it weren't so serious.

We're not attorneys, but would like to discuss the particulars of your situation; contact us in confidence: advo@condocoopowners.org

Thank you. A million times, thank you. An email is on the way.

According to our Black Book, it specifically states that shareholders may review the financial books to the coop any day during normal business hours. It does not state you need an appointment, or what documents you cannot review. I would go to court and take out a complaint and summons and request that you be granted a supeona to review the documents of your coop that you belong to as a owner. I did just that and got the documents sent to our lawyer, you can go prosey.

Sorry, DD, but you miss the point. Yes--an SH can always "review the financial books" (though rules vary, e.g. appointments are often needed, & some buildings require that the SH sign an affidavit re: his/her intended use of the information).

...But there is no standard definition as to what constitutes a co-op corporation's (or condo association's) fiscal records. Documentation an SH is allowed to see tends to be extremely limited & general...& we've NEVER seen an SH gain access in this fashion to building contracts, which is what the original poster wants to see.

In sharp contrast, the right of a board member to review corporation/association records is without limits. We strongly recommend that "New Board Member" not get bogged down in misguided discussion of what records shareholders are entitled to review, & instead assert his/her rights as an elected fiduciary.

As a Board member you should be able to read all contracts and each month must get a monthly financial statement. All Board members must review and agree to all contracts before signed. You as a Board member will be responsible for any misappropriation of funds and misconduct in the building so how can the management refuse you your rights to the running and approval of all management tasks conducted, it can't and shouldn't. If I were you I would get other shareholders together and take the management and the Board principals to court and supeona the records. I did and won.

This is unheard of, don't know who your managing agent is, but it's time for a new one that is somewhat more aware of how to manage.

We have replaced all the chutes with the larger (14.5" w x 17.5" h) stainless steel units. They are lockable and have hydraulic closers so that they don't slam shut. We also have separate containers for newpapers and recyclables in each floor's service area. We've had no problems.

a number of people had asked this at our building. The answer was it was impossible or to expensive. I looked at it and i saw that it would be pretty simple to do, knock out some brick and make sure you have clearance on the far chiminy wall. put a new door on and be done, i think an air chisel or one of those carbide saws would do it quickly. This managing agent that says it cant be done also said it was impossible to stop the hallway stairway doors from slamming shut. i guess adjusting the closer or buying a new closer was impossible too.. Trouble is the rest of the building believes him, i guess they don't know which end of a hammer or screwdriver to hold either.i would be much happier with an andwer that is would cost $$$$ and we don't have the money . The door closers are not that expensive and i am sure salvage or rebuilt kits would work too. The same MA said the store room could not be made into lockers due to too many pipes. I can almost guarantee this is BS , since the self dealing president, has the room filled with 80% of his stuff and he has not even lived here for 5 years. I told him at this years annual meeting that he was seld dealing by doing this, since a coule years ago a 10 year shreholder was complaining of no storage space due to a couple people had it alll used up. The BOD pred said at the annual meeting that he ddidn'tcare , didn't know what self dealing was , and wwasn'tmoving anything. Of course the shareholder sheep said nothing. i wish there was some way i could prove that they never had a storage unit builder up for an estimate, but i am sure he has somone he works with that would give him a backded estimate if i pushed it. Maybe i can convince one of the new board members to call a locker company and get a couple estimates on his own. or even pull it off myself, take a bunch of pictures and mail them to storage builders, that is the only way to get the self -dealrs stuff out.. The way i look at it the pipes are unused space now. ski storage could be built around pipes.

We had old casement windows. We replaced the windows for our three building with double-pane argon filled R42 casements from Skyline. They seal wonderfully. Not only have we saved on heating costs (the shareholder/tenants pay for electric) but the sound reduction has been amazing and great quality too!

Be sure to withhold from your last payment an amount sufficient to induce them to stick around to work on any change orders otherwise it may take them awhile to get back to you

Your accountant should be able to help you.

The accountant was told not to talk to the shareholders of the building.

Our managing agent, maxwell kates, doesn't give us anything.

As the Treasurer of my co-op, I sign the returns and send them to our accounting firm to be filed. Our managing agent has no role in that process other than providing the information to the accountant. Neither board members nor shareholders have asked for copies, but we are happy to oblige. We do provide audited financials to all shareholders and the Board gets monthly financial updates.

i wot use the word audited since the auditing company just goes on what the co-op gives them. They don't check anything besdies that the numbers add up, if the numbers or documents are fraudulent, they would not know.
i caught my managing agent and board president in one total lie/fraudulent statement from last year. i asked about page 9 on the audit financial statement where it stated that the co-op exceeds the FICA deposit insurance from time to time. I asked this question at the annual meeting and the managing agent and board president both said they did not, the statement was incorrect. This year same thing, page 9. i called the accountant and he said yes that sometimes they would have 310k,290k, etc and gave me the dates. i brought that up at the annual meeting, they still tried to argue with me on it .i know damn well that banks close all the time, and if you have over 250k you lost the rest. Talk about fiduciary irresponsibility .
in your propriety lease in should state that every shareholder ,not bod, shareholders get a "audited" copy. I have to find out now how to initiate the court battle to see the books since incidental fees are like 14k,admin fees 20k no breakdown, Plus i want to see a couple other things , and it states i can in my proprietry lease, and they have refused

did you get the money back?

Correction, the DOS REVOKED his license. He repaid us $160K but told the DOS he repaid $218. The challenge is now trying to find out what happened to the other $58K because we certaintly never got it.

Can't do a credit line?

Our mortgage holder NCB won't do -

It seems you need to have a lucky lotto number to cover your $200K so that you may avoid borrowing without assessment or a maintenance increase.

Well... what about asking for one or more shareholder(s) as source of funding? What about a second mortgage with incrase in maintenance to pay your second mortgage whether contiguous with the first mortgage or not, depneding on the type of mortgage you have.

No matter what, shareholders' pcokets will have to be affected.

No matter what, good luck!

Hi,

We have found NCB to be accommodating. You may want to take a step back and examine your co-op's finances – perhaps there is a reason, other than size of the loan, that would prevent lenders from granting your request.

For example, do you currently put funds aside regularly for capital reserves? Do your maintenance charges cover your operating costs plus loan principal payments (both principal and interest)? Is the project frivolous or necessary in nature?

Just a suggestion, but this sounds like the perfect opportunity to perform a deeper dive on your finances overall. Here is my e-mail address: stephenvernon@yahoo.com in case you wish to explore this further. I am a co-op President of a 111 unit complex in Inwood/northern Washington Heights in Manhattan. We have done our last two major capital improvements totaling nearly $2 million without assessments. On a professional note, I work with a very large pension fund here in NYC which is in the top 10% of all US plans based on funding.

Sincerely,

Steve

thanks for your response. I may be calling you

Ignore her as long as she doesn't violate any laws and does not disrupt building operations.

i'd see if you or shareholders would go after her for self dealing and theft of the co-op monies for the repairs. As a shareholder i would, and i am. Dont steal my money or screw over my neighbors for your own quid pro quo. The rest of the board didn't do their due diligence and fiduciary responsibility to the building by letting her use the super for her personal contracting. The bod sounds very liable here . There should be a work log from the super.
Boards have to realize they have to perform due diligence and are liable to the shareholders/And they are not indemnified for self dealing, shareholders have to act like owners, we need a template on what to do with these boards to bring them to court, like a small claims court , without a lawyer.