My understanding is that shareholders in a Cooperative are financially responsible for paying to have window guards installed. Management can make arrangements but costs are the owners/shareholdes responsibility. One board member, who btw, served only one term, had self serving goals. The one year on the board this shareholder insisted window guards (and some other items normally billed to shareholders) were at the expense of the corporation. To boot, this shareholder had "custom designer" guards installed (triple the price of NYC mandated ones). The next term the board discovered the information given by this ex-board member was inaccurate. My question is, can the Corporation now bill this shareholder for the guards (two years later) stating board was misinformed?
> Join the conversation Comments (1)i cant make the annual meeting . so i wrote to the co-op board and asked them to send me the annual statement and the amount of taxs i could deduct and any other inportant info to me via us mail i was told that the board wants me to send them a stamped self addressed envelope. i told them i pay a $320 dollar a month subletting fee and they could deduct the costs from that. they told me if i dont attend the meeting or send the envelope i wont get any information. . for the past 8 years i have not recieved any info. i asked a freind who is a board member and buiding manager to help me she said she would get into trouble if the board found out she helped me. i am disabld and find it hard to attend. what can i do/
> Join the conversation Comments (2)
1. What do we know about the phase-in aspects of the legislation for coop owners whose coop residency is not primary?
2. How is the city going to determine whether a coop is owned as a primary or secondary residence? STAR Credits, Tax Returns, Mortgage Data, Shareholder Certification?
3. How come Coops have not received a Statement of 2012/13 Co-op Tax Benefits (normally received in December) that allocates Star Credits and the Coop Abatement among our units?
Thanks in advance for anyone's expertise in these matters.
After 5 of 9 board members were replaced in the last election after widespread dissatisfaction with the board, one new board member discovered irregularities in our monthly arrears report. We then learned such irregularities went back to 2006, that the board had been aware, and that our lien and foreclosure action were at a standstill because we had suspect arrears figures.
When one new board member sought to start a finance committee, the incumbents fought against it. When it was eventually formed, they refused to let the committee, made up of homeowners, see the building's financial records (which any homeowner, let alone a board member, is allowed to do once a month).
Finally, when four of the newcomers wanted a forensic accounting,or at least an independent outside regular accounting, the four incumbents and a fifth member who had previously served on the board staged a coup, deposing the newcomer president and reinstalling the previous board's president.
These four incumbents had, as well, during this term taken several months worth of unapproved minutes from the previous board's term and rewrote them to reflect their own spin, without any input from the five ex-board members, and voted among themselves to approve them.
What I'd like to know is: Are the other newcomer members and I crazy, or does there seem to be something suspicious here? Are the incumbents behaving unethically, possibly corruptly?
Now that the four incumbents and their ally have a five-vote bloc, they can push through anything they want without opposition, including preventing a financial investigation into the arrears irregularities. Is there anything we can do?
When four of the newcomer board members began seeking a finance committee, the incumbents fought against it. When it was eventually formed, they refused to let the committee, made up of homeowners, see the building's financial records (which any homeowner, let alone board member, is allowed to do once a month).
Finally, when four of the newcomers wanted a forensic accounting, or at least an independent, outside regular accounting (since the arrears irregularities had stopped cold all our lien and foreclosure actions), the four incumbents and a fifth member who had previously served on the board staged a coup, deposing the newcomer president and reinstalling the previous board's president.
As well, the four incumbents had taken several months worth of minutes from the previous board's year, which hadn't been approved, and rewrote them to reflect their own spin, without any input from the five ex-board members.
What I'd like to know is: Are the other newcomer members and I crazy, or does there seem to be something suspicious here? Are the incumbents behaving unethically, or are possibly even corrupt?
Now that the four incumbents and their ally have a five-vote bloc, they can push through anything they want without opposition, including preventing a financial investigation into the arrears irregularities. Is there anything we can do?
Does a shareholder have to inform the board and/or managemnt that they are putting their apartment on the market prior to receiving an offer of purchase?
I read through the new J51 law. It does not seem too friendly to coops/condos. Firstly, to be eligible for J51 benefits work must be completed within 30 months instead of the previous limit of 36 months. Next, a private coop with an average per apartment assessed value above $30,000 would not be eligible for J51 unless the work in financed through a govt program which are usually reserved for affordable housing projects.
If the average AV is less than $30,000 it looks like the building is eligible for J51.
Does anyone have a different take on these new laws?
We are a board of seven, and are historically divisive.
At a board meeting last week, one member was absent and another had resigned that same day. This made a meeting of five.
Although it was not on the agenda, a motion was made to assign the now-vacant seat to the next candidate who ran in the last election. Incidentally, this candidate lost by an extremely large margin of shareholder votes, an indication that they did not want her to serve. This person had served previously and conducted herself in an extremely hostile and negative manner. Nevertheless, the motion was voted on and approved 3-2.
My question is this: Since this was not an agenda item and was not time-sensitive, was it ethical to conduct a vote on the subject without input from the full board? Please note I did say ethical, as apparently it was legal.
Thanks for any help from the coop community.
Can Management / Board of Directors modify terms in the shareholder's Occupancy Agreement without notifying the shareholder's? And if not; what recourse can we take? I reside at a Mitchell Lama New York State Limited Profit Housing Cooperative and was threatened with eviction for refusing to sign an unconscionable agreement. Thank you for your time*
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My sister and I own a co-op 50/50. I occupy it and my sister resides out of state. I have recently filed charges against the MA & board for their egregious behavior. One problem is that they called my sister on 2 seperate ocassions. I sent them a ceise and
desist letter and refered them to our attorney. I also inquired if they had bothered to send my sister any ammendments, notification of anual shareholders meeting and elections or the video of the super ranting like a stark raving lunitic at me. I got the usual silent treatment so I mcacalled my sister. It will soon be 3 years since our initial investment and they have not sent her anything. Should she be receiving updates?
our pre-war building has a wonderful and beautiful manned elevator which in fine condition. it also has an automatic elevator. Unfortunately, a former board member has been pushing for years to demolish the front elevator and install a second automated one. Sadly our board spoke to elevator consultants hwo convinced them they need to spend about 500k because the old one is "obsolete." I have spoken to several knowledgable elevator mechanics (managers) and they all say - "No don't do it - if it is not broken why fix it?" They all say that managing agents push for consultants who then push for the big replacement as they - well let me just say this - they benefit financially. Plus they push for a service contract. This is really sad and I urge Board members to really, truly do their research and to not be naive. Why touch a wonderful well made elevator when the new ones cost actually cost more to maintain and do not have the long lifespans of the older ones which are made with more solid materials and simpler mechanics.? Wake up everyone!!
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If that ex-board member acted alone, without board approval (see minutes), the answer is yes.
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