Who`s Who in Co-op/Condo Management

Transcription

WWW.HABITATMAG.COM Serving new York Board MeMBerS & ProPertY ManagerS of Co-oPS & CondoS jAnuAry 2014 $3.95
Who’s Who
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07 East 57th Street 939 Union Street 101 West 12th Street The Orion 105 East
5th Street 110 East 87th Street Millenium Tower Residences The Lausanne 137
ast 66th Street 160 West 86th Street 160 East 91st Street 165 East 72nd Street
66 Duane Street 176 West 87th Street Alwyn Court 200 Chambers Street 200
ast 58th Street 60 Remsen Street 1 and 2 Northside Piers Strivers Gardens The
ucida
236 East 47th Street
2nd Street
247 West 12th Street 269 West
270
WEA
279 CPW
he Atelier 301
East 48th Street
055
Avenue
Park
ast 49th Street
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treet 321 West 78th Street 345
West 55th Street
West
309
55th
345 East 56th
treet 40 Sutton Place 40 West 72nd Street 123 West 23 Street 45 East 62nd Street
00 East 70th Street 415 East 80th Street 430-440 East 56th Street 445 East 86th
treet The Channel Club The Setai 527 - 541 East 72nd Street Gramercy Park Towers
85 Park Avenue 88 Central Park West 800 West End Avenue 91 Central Park West
17 East 37 Street 350 West 50 Street (Worldwide Plaza) 360 East 88 Street (Leighton
House) 120 East 87 Street (Park Avenue Court) 1919 Madison Avenue (Maple Plaza)
Paul R. Gottsegen, CPM®, President
[email protected] t: 212.508.7272 f: 212.508.6230
HalsteadManagement.com
2 HABITAT january 2014
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Contents
January 2014
Writers & Artists
dAle J. degensHeIn is a special
counsel at the law firm of
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan.
lIZA dOnnellY, a contributor
to Habitat since 1982, is a
6
cartoonist at The New Yorker.
She is the co-author, with her
husband, cartoonist michael
maslin, of A Cartoon Marriage.
VAlerIe HAYes is a board
member at her harlem condo.
It Takes a Team
a strong leader is a good thing –
until it’s not.
by Bill Morris
10 Green Grades Revealed
they’re public. they’re online. and
they matter.
by Jennifer V. Hughes
JennIfer V. HugHes has written
for The New York Times.
26 Trial By Fire
a white Plains cooperative
gets scorched.
by Bill Morris
32 The Broker Is In
when the go-to
sales agent is also
a neighbor, conflicts
could arise.
by Ronda Kaysen
rOndA kAYsen writes about real
estate for The New York Times.
BIll MOrrIs, a reporter for 34
years, formerly worked for the
16 Business of Management
Exclusive business stats from more
than 40 management companies.
Daily News and currently writes
for The New York Times.
rIcHArd sIegler is of counsel
at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan.
he teaches a course in real
estate law.
22 The Curious Journey
of a Bill...
rOBerT d. TIerMAn is a partner
in the firm of Litwin & tierman.
36 2014
Source Guide
why does one
invoice get paid
immediately while
another is stalled?
by Ronda Kaysen
a special advertising
supplement of suppliers,
contractors, and
professionals in the co-op
and condo community.
Columns
4 Publisher’s Note
by Carol J. Ott
Projects Around town
48 Ask the AttorNey
Deadbeats and devils.
by Robert D. Tierman
50
My turN
the integrity of ownership.
by Valerie Hayes
51
CAse Notes
may the city install bike share
terminals in front of your building?
by Richard Siegler
and Dale J. Degenshein
60
FroM the editor
the wonderfulness of a specialist.
by Tom Soter
www.habitatmag.com
62 sPotlight oN
Briar Oaks,
4525 & 4555 Henry Hudson Parkway
64
CrossWord Puzzle
a socialist, a zebra & rS.
58 ManageMent
transitions
59
Building loans
59
advertiser index
january 2014 HABITAT 3
Publisher’s note
Well, let’s see. Sixty-three East 9th Street did well. They got a grade
of A. Whoa, look what Bay Terrace got. They scored a D. Do you know
what your building got?
Do you even know what I’m talking about?
leading property
It’s Local Law 84, dear readers, and it’s all
management companies. From number of
about energy benchmarking. If your building is
buildings managed to fees for administering your
more than 50,000 square feet, it files a mindproperty, this survey offers you an inside look
numbing, eye-glazing report with the city
into how management manages itself. It’s framed
detailing its energy consumption. The point of
with a story about how bills get paid, or more
the law is, first, to make you aware of the energy
importantly, how the process can go awry.
you are using. Second, to measure it. And third,
Reminding us that it’s the simple things in our
to motivate you to reduce it. And now that the
co-op/condo lives that are important.
scores are public – enough said.
Enjoy the issue. Both in print and on your iPad.
Speaking of public, look through the results
of our annual Business of Management survey
to find out all sorts of details about New York’s
publisher and editor - in - chief
serVIng new YOrk BOArd MeMBers & PrOPerTY MAnAgers Of cO-OPs & cOndOs
JAnuArY 2014 VOluMe 33 nuMBer 305
publisher and editor-in-chief
FounDED 1982
Carol J. Ott
[email protected]
web content editor
Frank Lovece
[email protected]
editorial director
Tom Sober
[email protected]
contributing writers
Kathryn Farrell
[email protected]
Dale J. Degenshein
Jennifer V. Hughes
Valerie Hayes
Ronda Kaysen
Bill Morris
Richard Siegler
Robert D. Tierman
proofreader
art director
Dave Baker
Michael Gentile
[email protected]
associate editor
Aparna Narayanan
[email protected]
editorial assistant
contributing artist
Liza Donnelly
contributing photographer
Carol J. Ott
advertising director
Stephen Hanks
[email protected]
operations manager
Jennifer Wu
[email protected]
collections supervisor
Bill Hoover
habitat® (iSSn-0745-0893; uSPS 681510) the magazine serving new york co-op/
condo board Directors & building managers, is
published monthly except for a combined issue
in july/august by the carol group Ltd., 150
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Periodical postage paid at new york, ny and at
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© 2014 by the carol group Ltd. all rights
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a strong leader is a good thing (until it’s not).
It Takes a
Team
by bill morris
m
ost residents of co -ops and condos in the city yearn for a strong leader
on the board of directors. A catalyst. A spark plug. Someone who
gets things done and is willing to do the thankless, often tedious, work
required to keep a building fiscally and physically fit.
Well, having is not the same as
approved at a special board meeting
wanting.
on June 16, 2006 – a gathering Harvey
By all accounts, the Antoinette, a
Goldman did not attend and at which
58-unit co-op just around the corner
he did not cast a vote. Tellingly, the
from the Empire State Building, had a
board also agreed that “no additional
strong president. For a decade, Harvey
monthly charges such as maintenance
Goldman led a board that could boast
and/or assessments would be charged
of many impressive achievements. It
to the apartment.” The final alteration
negotiated with labor unions, resulting
agreement, signed the following May,
in annual savings of $120,000
further stipulated that the board would
in staff wages. It held the line on
not allocate additional shares to the
maintenance for six straight years. It
Goldmans’ apartment.
persuaded the super to move from a
It wasn’t until late 2010, when
two-bedroom, two-bath apartment
the Goldmans decided to sell their
into a one-bedroom, one-bath, then
expanded apartment, that two new
sold the former, adding nicely to the
board members began to question the
co-op’s bottom line. Residents agreed
alteration agreement. On June 8, 2012,
that Goldman was a forceful leader.
an executive committee decided to
Nonetheless, the assessments of his
allocate 400 additional shares to the
personality were a bit more uneven,
Goldmans’ apartment.
ranging from “very strong” to “bully.”
The times were changing.
Then Goldman and his wife, Judith,
had an idea. Wouldn’t it be nice, they
a new Day
thought, to enclose our private rooftop
Sharon Roush moved into the
terrace and create a master bedroom
building in 2007 but didn’t get
suite and an additional bathroom? The
involved in board matters until
proposed alteration was unanimously
Goldman approached her to sign a
petition calling for a special meeting
to rescind the new shares on his
apartment. She was startled. “His own
agenda,” she says, “was to throw out
the directors.”
Roush, who used to work in private
equity, started to ask questions.
She was told the minutes of board
meetings were not available, and the
managing agent refused to discuss
his conversations with Goldman. Her
unease deepened.
A few people felt that some board
members were complacent, says
Roush. Goldman, she adds, “disclosure
was scant – that was the culture. We
thought it was time for a change. New
blood and new ideas invigorate a
building.” So, last November, in what
they now call a “coup,” Roush and
five like-minded shareholders won
election, ousting all but one former
members (who had replaced Goldman,
who resigned in May 2012).
Shari Laskowitz, a real estate
lawyer, was elected vice president.
“We saw that something wasn’t right,”
she says. “I don’t think the former
board members knew what was
going on, or what their rights were.
Everybody had questions about who
www.habitatmag.com
knew what and when they knew it, and
how the board allowed this to happen.
As a lawyer, I’ve had experience
with entrenched boards, and they’re
very difficult to [remove]. It takes a
community effort. In our building,
we had to enlist proxies and votes.
People were waking up, and they were
thinking maybe they needed to give
their support to somebody new.”
The freshly minted board members
got busy. They cleaned house with
their professionals, hiring a new
managing agent, attorney, and
accountant. They refinanced the
mortgage, signing a 10-year loan
agreement at 3.4 percent and securing
a $500,000 line of credit. They are
undertaking a conversion from an
oil- to a gas-fired boiler, and are
planning to install storage lockers in
the basement to boost revenues. Every
contract, from cable TV to the laundry
room, is under review. But perhaps the
most important change is the arrival of
that elusive thing called transparency.
“Timely and transparent
communication [are] very important
to this board,” says Roush, now the
president. “The lack of those things is
what got the old board in trouble.”
The new directors also demand
candor from their professionals.
“We’re using high-integrity
professionals who have some
backbone,” Roush says. “I want my
legal counsel to tell me not to do
something. I want my managing agent
not to do something if it’s shady.”
To enhance transparency, the board
uses BuildingLink – a web-based
property management platform – to
communicate news, track maintenance
payments, and monitor package
shipments.
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the Lawsuit
While all this change was underway,
the co-op was busy on another front.
In a lawsuit against the corporation
and four board members, the
Goldmans contended that the original
alteration agreement was valid and
the board was wrong to rescind it and
assess the additional shares. They
sought compensatory and punitive
damages of at least $100,000.
The defendants countered that the
lawsuit should be dismissed based
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on Goldman’s “undue influence and
breach of fiduciary duties/self-dealing
by which he procured a vote by a coop board to not allocate additional
shares.”
The case hinged on the board’s
contention that it was unaware that its
managing agent and lawyer had both
concluded that it was proper to allocate
additional shares. Instead, for reasons
that remain unclear, they heard only
from Goldman’s personal attorney,
who advised them that the original
alteration agreement was proper. At
trial, a cache of e-mails came to light
that showed Goldman was “aggressive
and manipulative” in advocating his
position to the board’s attorney and
managing agent, as well as a fellow
board member. The board claimed
they had been duped into believing
that the opinion of Goldman’s attorney
was shared by their own attorney and
managing agent.
In a recent 20-page decision, the
Supreme Court of the State of New
York ruled in the Goldmans’ favor.
Judge Peter H. Moulton declared that
the board “cannot demonstrate fraud
because they cannot show that Goldman
had a duty to disclose to the board the
opinion of their own agents.” The court,
however, denied the Goldmans’ request
for monetary damages.
So, in a sense, both sides lost. But it
was more embarrassing for the board:
what the court was saying was that, in
layman’s terms, the board members
weren’t “duped” by a clever con man.
They were asleep at the wheel.
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It was a wake-up call, a reminder
that a board can’t just go on the word
of one person. That’s the reason,
experts assert, why a board has seven
people: everyone should weigh in. All
the directors need to pull their own
weight – and keep some people in
check. As Theresa Racht, the attorney
who now represents the Antoinette’s
board, notes: “This case shows what
can happen if you don’t pay attention
– you can lose a major lawsuit and a
major source of revenue.”
Gary Ehrlich, one of the co-op’s
lawyers in the lawsuit, adds: “I
understand how board members fall
into the trap. If one person is willing
www.habitatmag.com
to do the dirty work, it’s natural to
allow it. Sometimes they make good
decisions and do a lot of good things
nobody else wants to do. But you have
a responsibility and you have to check
up on what they’re doing. You can’t
turn the other cheek.”
Goldman, meanwhile, says the legal
“victory” is one in which he takes no
pride. “I feel very, very upset,” he says.
“This never should have happened.
If the board didn’t get the opinions of
their counsel, I don’t know why they
didn’t. This was a terrible matter to
live through. It divided friends and
it divided the building. And it was
totally unnecessary.”
The big question is, why did the
board, made up of responsible people,
go along with Goldman? An answer
comes from Lola Gellman, the only
current board member who was
serving when Goldman secured the
alteration agreement in 2006. She had
won election shortly before that – and
immediately sensed that Goldman
wielded immense power.
“Whatever he said, they believed,”
says Gellman, a retired art historian.
“We never saw the letters or e-mails
from our attorney, and the managing
agent never said a word. He seemed to
agree with Goldman.”
Such scenarios are not unheard of.
“I don’t want to say it’s common for
someone to overstep the boundaries
of their position, but it can happen,”
says Arthur Davis, a management
consultant for corporations, including
co-ops. “If someone’s in power long
enough and they are respected, there’s
an assumption that they are doing
what’s best for the building. If other
board members turn their heads, in
effect they are endorsing that person’s
behavior.”
Gellman agrees with the Supreme
Court’s decision that the board failed
to do its job. “It’s true that the board
should have investigated,” she says.
“But we didn’t because we believed
what Goldman said. Since the
managing agent didn’t contradict him,
we assumed it was the truth.” She
adds: “Everyone on the board thought
he was great – and in many ways
he was. Board members respected
him and assumed he wouldn’t put
something over on us. But he did.” n
www.habitatmag.com
green grades
revealed
they’re public. they’re online. and they matter.
s
by Jennifer V. hughes
ylVIa SHapIRO’S cond-op scored an “A” from
the city for its energy-saving practices. But Shapiro
to change.
is underwhelmed. “We know the circumstances
In an e-mail, John Lee, deputy
of our building and it’s just not terribly relevant,”
director of Green Buildings and
she says. The 229-unit property,
Energy Efficiency at
at 63 East 9th Street, received
the New York City
what is nYc local law 84?
the grade as part of an energy
Mayor’s Office of
under the law, signed in 2009,
benchmarking initiative
Long Term Planning
every building in new york city
mandated by Local Law 84 of
and Sustainability
more than 50,000 square feet
2009 (LL84).
(LTPS), points out
is required to submit an annual
Under LL84, large buildings
that the goal is to
energy benchmark report.
also included are properties
must record and keep track of
educate the energy
with two or more buildings that
their energy and water use –
users. “There are
total over 100,000 square feet
and then the city posts the results for all to see. The letter
costs associated
and are on the same lot or
grades are linked to a numerical score called the Energy
with higher intensity
under the same condo board.
Use Intensity (EUI), which measures the energy used by
energy utilization,”
a building per square foot, per year. The median EUI for
he writes, “and the
multifamily buildings in New York City is 132.1. Score a 109
consumer’s decisions
or lower and you earn an A; higher than 160 is a D.
should be afforded that information.”
Shapiro’s building scored an 84, far better than the average. No matter the
The most recent benchmarking
score, the cond-op board knew it would pursue an oil-to-gas conversion, an
data, collected in 2011, was released
ongoing process that has been stymied by issues with Con Edison. “You do this
this fall. (Condos and co-ops were
benchmarking because it’s required by law,” says Shapiro, a board member, “but
required, in 2012, to report their
it has zero impact on us to date, and it has just spawned an industry of energy
energy usage from data collected in
service providers.”
2010, but those results were not made
Others argue that critics of the program, like Shapiro, are short-sighted.
public.)
The results of LL84 are not meant to stand alone but are part of a grand vision
The aforementioned letter grades
intended to make the Big Apple a healthier place to live. According to the
are just one component of the 56official city website (www.nyc.gov), 75 to 80 percent of New York’s carbon
page city benchmarking report
emissions come from buildings, compared with 39 percent nationally. That has
issued in September under LL84,
www.habitatmag.com
When Sandy
came to New York,
New York
came to Castle.
which applies to buildings of more
than 50,000 square feet. The report
– available online (see box below) –
also highlights city-wide statistics and
trends on how multifamily buildings
use energy.
kinks: state of confusion
The bottom line is this: now you
know how well your building has
Greener,
Greater Buildings Plan
this new york city program
includes information collected
from: Local Law 84 of 2009
(benchmarking energy and water
usage); Local Law 85 of 2009
(energy conservation code); Local
Law 87 of 2009 (energy audits
and retro-commissioning); and
Local Law 88 of 2009 (lighting and
electrical upgrades).
according to the city’s official
website (www.nyc.gov/ggBP),
“the intention is to transform
the building market in nyc for
both lease and sale properties by
attempting to measure, diagnose,
and develop an informed capital
plan.”
boards may ask: why should
we benchmark? the city’s reply:
“because you can’t manage what
you can’t measure.”
you can see the city’s report,
check your benchmarking score,
and search for other buildings’
scores by address here:
http://on.nyc.gov/19jh8mB
been doing for two years, and you can
see how other buildings are doing too.
But energy experts say there are still
kinks to be worked out, the data is
not always accurate, and it’s difficult
to access. It’s also too early in the
game to judge whether a building is
improving.
Some critics argue that letter
grades don’t currently taken into
account vast differences in building
design. A complex with three
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entrances and three elevators is
very different from a tower with
one entry and one elevator, observes
Stephen Vernon, president of the
board at a 111-unit, three-building
co-op in Washington Heights. The
letter grades don’t factor in whether
a building has a commercial tenant
that might be using a lot of power,
and they don’t consider the type of
resident – he may be a renter who
cares little about the building’s longterm financial health, or she might
be a senior citizen who is home more
often and therefore uses more power.
The city is aware of the problem.
“It should be understood that this is
a very rough comparative measure
and does not normalize for the vast
differences in building types and
mixed uses,” Lee says. The problem
may be solved, he adds, when the
Environmental Protection Agency
makes major changes to create a
multifamily scoring system for its
Energy Star ratings. That move is
expected early in 2014.
Cliff Majersik, executive
director of the Institute for Market
Transformation, an energy-efficiency
think tank, agrees. His group advises
the city on the ratings system, and
he describes the letter grades as
a work in progress. “The city is
moving toward an apples to apples
comparison,” he says. “Right now all
buildings are compared against each
other, so you have a luxury high-rise
on the Upper East Side compared
to a two-story walk-up in the outer
boroughs.”
Problematic data?
Mitchell Ingerman, president of
Aurora Energy Advisors, an energy
consultant company that is on track to
do 1,500 LL84 submissions this year,
says EUI scores are important but
some of the data is problematic. For
example, he claims that thousands
of buildings have probably underreported energy usage because they
only benchmarked common area
energy usage, not common areas plus
the energy used inside apartments.
At the management company
FirstService Residential, energy
experts used the LL84 data with
www.habitatmag.com
their own internal benchmarking
to discover trends and problems.
One client condo was found to be
performing exceptionally well when
it came to common areas, reports
Aaron Mehta, director of energy
information for the company. But
the official benchmarking score
made it one of the worst performers
in the firm’s portfolio. Mehta says
they realized that almost every unit
in this condo had large wraparound
balconies, and the likely cause of
energy loss was owners leaving
windows and doors open.
Overall, FirstService’s multifamily
buildings are performing seven
percent better than they were in the
first year of benchmarking, according
to Mehta. “It’s very early in the game,
and we’re just getting the chance to
look at this data and see what we can
do with it,” he says.
One of the clear benefits of the
LL84 program is that it brings the
issues into focus. “The true value
of the entire process is to start a
conversation among board members
and residents and their managing
Kipcon…
Decades of Experience
For generations, clients have put their trust
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where we proudly provide a complete range
of engineering services including:
• Structural/Mechanical
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• Capital Needs Assessments
• Energy Supply Opportunities
• Local Law
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• Life Cycle Costing
• Reserve Studies
5 Penn Plaza | 23rd Floor | New York | NY 10001
Call 800.828.4118 to learn more or visit www.kipcon.com
NY Cooperator 1/4 page.indd 1
6/20/13 7:21 PM
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www.habitatmag.com
agents,” says Ingerman. “It’s about
taking a look at the score, whether
it’s good or not so good, [and
saying,] ‘Let’s talk about our energy
consumption and what we should do
about it.’”
Warren Schreiber, board president
at Bay Terrace Co-op Section 1, a
200-unit garden apartment complex
in Queens, says he was not surprised
by the “D” his co-op earned with
an EUI score of 248.2. The board
is now considering submetering,
which would require unit-owners
to pay for the power they use,
hopefully convincing them to use
less. Schreiber notes that retrocommissioning of the heating system
is also under consideration, but the
board isn’t ready to pull the trigger on
a major job right now.
A greener future
Not all building conditions are visible.
Infrared thermography uncovers hidden problems
that could threaten your property, including:
Water penetration under
roofing membranes
Heat/cooling loss caused
by missing insulation
Leaks behind walls
Overloaded electrical circuits
Blockages in pipes
Structural defects
RAND’s Certified Infrared Thermography Team performs detailed
surveys of interior and exterior conditions, enabling us to devise
effective repair programs tailored to your building.
For information on how infrared thermography can
benefit your property, contact RAND at 212.675.8844;
[email protected] or visit randpc.com/infrared.
We’ll show you your building’s true colors.
Some are optimistic about what
the LL84 program can achieve in
the future. “Automated utility data
uploading would be great,” says
Laurie Kerr, the former deputy
director for Green Buildings and
Energy Efficiency at the LTPS.
Kerr, who is now director of the
City Energy Project at the National
Resources Defense Council, adds:
“Right now, it’s a pain in the
neck, but if they hear it from the
co-op and condo community that
they want it automated because it
improves accuracy, that would do a
lot. Everyone has always admitted
that this is a work in progress and
two things need to happen for this
to really get traction: the data needs
to be more accurate and more
accessible.”
But some think that the whole
program should be reconsidered.
Bob Friedrich, the board president
of Glen Oaks Village, a 3,000-unit
cooperative in Queens, questions the
law itself. He argues that it is a clear
case of the government interfering
with the rights of individuals to
make their own decisions. “In an
ideal world, we would all have new
boilers,” he says. “But we don’t live
in an ideal world. We have finite
resources, and co-ops have to make
decisions [about where to allocate
www.habitatmag.com
those resources] every day. Unlike
the city, we can’t borrow unlimited
amounts of money to do these things.
To say we need a new boiler when
what we really need is to put in new
ramps for our seniors [is wrong].
That’s for an elected board of
representatives to decide.”
Others say such criticism misses
the point of the program. Majersik
believes the best thing a board can do
with the benchmarking information
is to engage in what he describes as
“coopitition,” both cooperating and
competing with similar buildings.
“Work with a neighboring building
or a building that you know is similar
to your own, and reach out to their
board,” he suggests. “Tell them, ‘I’ll
give you my numbers for two years if
you give me yours,’ and throw down
the gauntlet to see who can improve
their scores more.”
Concludes Aurora’s Ingerman:
“It’s about taking a look at the score,
whether it’s good or not so good [and
saying], ‘Let’s talk about our energy
consumption and what we should do
about it.’”
n
www.habitatmag.com
Watching over you
for 35 years!
Business of Management
w
hen it comes to running your
building, there’s almost
nothing as important
as having the right
management firm.
the size and age of
your property, the
caliber of your staff,
the amount in your
operating budget, and
the special challenges
you face all dictate
what type of manager
you need. and to get
the right fit, you need
information.
welcome to the
2014 Business
of Management
survey.
if you’re looking
to hire – or just
want to compare
your management
company with others
– the charts on the
following pages offer
an information goldmine.
you’ll find crucial company
stats on fees, properties
managed, technology used,
and much more. this section is
the who’s who and what’s what of the
management business, an essential
guide to the costs of being managed.
2014
Download the energy benchmarking
chart at: bit.ly/boMenergy2014
www.habitatmag.com
2014
METRO AREA
WESTCHESTER
STATEN ISLAND
QUEENS
BRONX
BROOKLYN
MANHATTAN
ALL OVER THE MAP
Who’s Managing What and Where
Lost/
Resigned
Properties By Size
Location of Properties
135
24,500
0
0
12
2,200
1
10
32
32
33
28
116
8
0
10
0
1
50
84
6,643
5
0
5
312
2
6
56
12
4
1
14
0
0
6
0
64
1
1
6
75
7,670
2
0
8
1,800
3
14
25
22
11
3
12
6
Andrea Bunis Management
28
70
7,200
3
3
4
400
2
10
40
17
2
1
50
11
Blue Woods Management Group
18
47
3,900
46
1
4
150
1
6
22
12
7
1
41
1
Buchbinder & Warren
55
51
2,500
67
7
0
0
1
40
76
9
Carlton Management
30
31
1,850
12
1
1
20
0
2
29
Century Management Services
42
77
11,000
5
0
8
900
1
5
21
CFA Management
29
50
1,000
5
0
2
20
1
47
7
0
Delkap Management
21
58
5,850
2
0
1
58
1
16
16
19
Excel Bradshaw Management Group
19
42
3,000
1
0
3
135
2
13
19
9
2
Fairfield Properties
39
65
7,370
75
12
2
146
0
35
17
10
3
FirstService Residential
28
510
75,000
96
143
158
112
38
Garthchester Realty
32
54
5,500
1
1
4
29
18
3
0
2
54
5
2
5
51
7
11
43
0
0
55
3
4
0
0
10
59
244
0
0
47
Gerard J. Picaso Inc.
31
49
4,650
0
0
2
100
3
12
23
10
1
3
Gramatan Management
25
60
6,000
2
1
7
500
1
8
35
15
0
2
Grogan & Associates
32
29
1,650
0
0
3
150
2
10
6
2
0
1
HSC Management
36
111
3,365
31
4
7
865
6
90
15
4
2
Impact Real Estate Management
17
78
4,700
69
9
9
644
1
18
29
19
5
John B. Lovett & Associates
28
65
11,500
3
5
600
1
Jordan Cooper & Associates
18
40
3,000
8
2+
3
0
18
12
8
2
Kaled Management
92
31
3,747
28
2
2
202
2
1
14
12
3
Lawrence Properties
88
66
6,800
6
1
1
100
1
42
17
3
Majestic Property Management
40
13
1,239
0
150
2
168
Maxwell-Kates
27
151
14,892
5
55
2
23
33
7
5
3
8
10
6
4
0
45
0
9
12
3
10
3
5
123
20
58
48
17
0
9
0
0
45
10
2
63
2
4
56
31
78
10
19
11
21
7
18
1
46
0
25
3
3
16
5
32
4
1
2
0
3
60
4
5
0
1
8
2
0
1
6
0
0
4
1
18
57
45
21
10
138
9
2
2
35
1
0
4
0
3
1
5
23
15
33
750
2
0
2
25
2
25
10
0
0
0
MGRE/Mark Greenberg Real Estate
33
43
8,000
75
20
4
585
1
0
12
16
8
7
14
5
2
17
Midboro Management
50
100
9,689
4
10
7
1,107
1
17
61
10
7
5
92
2
2
2
NAI Long Island
32
27
3,405
7
55
2
228
0
3
11
7
4
2
0
0
0
2
2
New Bedford Management
28
106
7,000
16
7
8
500
1
28
81
13
3
4
50
50
13
15
1
Orsid Realty
58
103
11,700
46
0
11
1,250
0
6
59
26
5
7
89
1
1
12
Pride Property Management
21
36
4,255
2
13
17
3
1
28
3
2
2
Rudd Realty Management
29
35
6,000
30
4
1
150
2
4
15
13
3
0
35
SAM Management
24
48
4,310
13
0
1
0
12
16
16
2
3
48
Sandberg Management
19
60
1,250
2
0
4
1
40
12
56
2
Sandra Greer Real Estate
43
20
450
25
30
19
1
44
1
18
1
Siren Management
20
23
1,800
12
1
1
80
1
9
12
2
Stillman Property Management
36
100
~10,000
97
7
6
700
2
5
50
35
6
4
Tudor Realty Services
23
95
11,230
0
0
5
519
5
53
26
6
5
Veritas Property Management
7
77
3,100
13
7
105
1
31
43
2
1
Vintage Real Estate Services
17
24
2,218
3
1
216
0
3
15
4
1
Weber-Farhat Realty Management
27
23
498
20
3
84
1
17
6
0
0
www.habitatmag.com
4
1
16
4
Merlot Management
60
Other Metro Areas
Queens
31
Alexander Wolf & Company
All Area Realty Services
Staten Island
Bronx
Brooklyn
Over 300 Units
Manhattan
201-300 Units
101-200 Units
31-100 Units
Under 30 Units
Properties
Units
Commercial
Properties
Residential Rental
Properties
Units
Akam Associates
Company
Properties
Years in Business
Added Properties
Business Profile
2
2
4
1
3
1
100
79
13
3
50
1
25
1
1
11
7
3
3
0
22
0
1
2014
THE COST OF EXPERTISE: Fees & Extra Charges
Bank Charges
Management Fees
Building
Checking
Account
None
✓
✓
ABCDE
F
Annual
$30,000
✓
✓
A
F
Annual
$20,000
✓
✓
ABCDEF
Buchbinder & Warren
Annual
$30,000
✓
Carlton Management
Monthly
$15,000
None
CFA Management
Annual
Delkap Management
Annual
Einsidler Management
Annual
$15,000
✓
Annual
$20,000
✓
$25,000
✓
✓
ACDE
✓
$14,400
Yes
Sliding scale
ABCDEF
Yes
Sliding scale
Yes
Sliding scale
Yes
Sliding scale
Yes
Sliding scale
✓
Garthchester Realty
Annual
None
Gramatan Management
Monthly
Grogan & Associates
Annual
HSC Management
None
None
Annual
None
Kaled Management
Annual
$33,000
✓
✓
Key Real Estate Associates
Annual
$25,000
✓
✓
Lawrence Properties
Annual
$30,000
✓
None
$325
✓
A
✓
✓
✓
✓
$26,000
✓
A
ABCDEF
✓
✓
No
BCDEF
No
ABCDEF
BCDEF
✓
Yes
ABCDEF
No
ACDE
No
ABCD
✓
✓
✓
Annual
$40,000
Midboro Management
Annual
$36,000
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
$18,000
✓
✓
Orsid Realty
Annual
$45,000
✓
✓
Annual
$25,000
✓
✓
Annual
$36,000
✓
SAM Management
None
✓
✓
Sandberg Management
None
✓
✓
Annual
$18,000
E
Yes
Sliding scale
Yes
Sliding scale
Siren Management
Annual
$15,000
CDE
Yes
Sliding scale
Yes
Sliding scale
ABCDEF
Yes
% of job cost
BDF
Yes
% of job cost
Yes
Sliding scale
ABCDEF
No
ABCDEF
A
ABCDEF
No
BCDE
No
ABCDEF
No
ABCDEF
✓
Yes
CDE
ABF
EF
Annual
$20,000
✓
✓
ABCD
Annual
$45,000
✓
✓
ABCDEF
Annual
$18,000
Annual
$22,000
Annual
$12,000
✓
No
ABCDEF
✓
✓
✓
% of job cost
ABCDEF
ACE
✓
✓
Yes
No
ABCDEF
A
✓
$400
BF
ABCDEF
✓
$650
No
ABCDEF
ACDE
Sliding scale
A
ABCDEF
Monthly
None
BCDEF
BCDEF
✓
✓
Merlot Management
Annual
A
No
ABCDEF
Maxwell-Kates
NAI Long Island
✓
BCDEF
No
A
Annual
No
BCDEF
✓
None
$20,000
% of job cost
A
✓
% of job cost
Sliding scale
✓
$24,000
Yes
Yes
No
BF
A
✓
Sliding scale
Sliding scale
Yes
ABCDEF
✓
Yes
Yes
No
ABCDEF
✓
✓
BCDE
Fee Method
Fee Charged
BF
ABCDEF
✓
$1,250
Additional Flat
Fee
Included in
Mgmt Fee
Per Unit Charge
ACDE
✓
Project
Management
Filings
Included in
Mgmt Fee
Building Pays
Included in
Mgmt Fee
None
Building Pays
None
Monthly
Minimum Per
Unit
Akam Associates
Annual
Minimum Per
Building
Minimum Fee
Company
Lock Boxes
A
✓
A
✓
ABCDEF
Sliding scale
No
Yes
Sliding scale
No
BF
CDE
Yes
BCDEF
No
Yes
Sliding scale
Sliding scale
KEY
A = 1098 Forms B = Smoke Detector C = Window Guard Notification Letters D = Fire Safety Plan Notices
E = Lead Paint Notices F = Carbon Monoxide Detector Notices
www.habitatmag.com
2014
PROFILES: Manager Salaries, Gender & Other Stats
Compensation & Benefits
Personnel
Employee
Benefits
Senior
Level Salary
Range
Entry Level
Salary
Range
Fired
Hired
Male
Managers
Female
Managers
Principal
Manages
Company
Akam Associates
Yes
16
22
4
1
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ABCDEFG
Yes
2
7
2
0
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ABEFGH
No
2
9
3
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
AEF
Yes
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
ACDEFGH
Yes
7
1
0
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ABDE
Buchbinder & Warren
No
8
5
1
1
$56K - $75K
$66K - $95K
ACDEG
Carlton Management
Yes
3
5
1
0
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ABDEI
Yes
5
7
2
0
$76K - $95K
$131K - $150K
ABCDEFH
CFA Management
Yes
3
1
0
0
$56K - $75K
$131K - $150K
ABD
Delkap Management
Yes
4
2
0
0
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
BEG
Yes
Varies
Varies
ABEH
Yes
1
7
2
2
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
AFI
No
13
10
2
0
$76K - $95K
$131K - $150K
ABCDEFHI
No
74
72
$56K - $75K
Over $151K
ABCDG
Garthchester Realty
Yes
1
6
Yes
2
8
Gramatan Management
Yes
3
7
Grogan & Associates
Yes
0
HSC Management
Yes
3
No
4
7
2
Yes
4
8
1
Yes
2
2
2
0
Kaled Management
No
2
5
0
0
Yes
2
3
Lawrence Properties
No
7
6
No
1
2
0
Maxwell-Kates
Yes
10
20
1
Merlot Management
Yes
5
Yes
2
Midboro Management
Yes
14
Yes
Orsid Realty
Yes
8
22
Yes
2
5
Yes
3
SAM Management
Yes
Sandberg Management
1
0
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ABCEI
0
0
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ABDEH
4
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ABCDE
6
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
ABEF
$56K - $75K
$66K - $95K
ADEFH
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ABCEFH
$36K - $55K
$131K - $150K
ABCDEFGH
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ABCDEFGH
1
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
ABDEGHI
1
$56K - $75K
$66K - $95K
ABCDEG
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ABCDEH
$36K - $55K
$131K - $150K
ABCDEFGH
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
ABCDEFG
0
1
0
11
1
0
8
1
$56K - $75K
$131K - $150K
ABEGI
Varies
Varies
ABCDEF
$56K - $75K
$66K - $95K
ABDEF
Varies
Varies
ABCDEF
5
1
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
ABDEFGH
5
2
1
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ABEFGI
0
4
0
0
$56K - $75K
Over $151K
Yes
2
3
1
0
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ABDEF
Yes
3
2
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
DI
Siren Management
Yes
0
4
0
0
$56K - $75K
$96K - $130K
ACDEFG
Yes
7
20
3
0
$56K - $75K
$66K - $95K
ABCDEFGI
No
7
10
0
0
$36K - $55K
$96K - $130K
ABCDEF
Yes
2
6
1
2
$36K - $55K
$66K - $95K
ADEHI
Yes
2
3
0
0
$56K - $75K
$66K - $95K
ABDE
Yes
2
0
0
www.habitatmag.com
KEY
A = Medical
B = Retirement
C = Life Insurance
D = Disability
Insurance
E = Cell Phone
F = PDAs
G = Comp Time
H = Car
I = Other
2014
COMMUNICATION: Tools & Technology
Website
Time Spent with Clients
Accesible
Information
Upon Log-In
Special
Yes
ABCDE
30%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABC
25%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ABCDE
50%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ABCDE
ABDF
75%
95%
20%
70%
10%
Yes
Branding
Yes
Buchbinder & Warren
30%
55%
15%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
No
Carlton Management
25%
50%
25%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABF
30%
60%
10%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABCDE
5%
110%
20%
No
50%
20%
20%
Yes
Branding
No
CFA Management
Delkap Management
50%
Residents
5%
Log-In for
55%
Yes
and Boards
40%
20%
Primary
Use
30%
25%
Website
40%
Face to
Face
35%
Texting
E-mail
Akam Associates
Phone
Company
10%
Yes
Branding
10%
75%
5%
10%
Yes
Branding
No
25%
50%
5%
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
F
35%
50%
Yes
ABCDEF
Garthchester Realty
20%
50%
15%
Gramatan Management
Grogan & Associates
HSC Management
25%
60%
Impact R.E. Management
30%
40%
F
15%
Yes
Branding
25%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
No
65%
20%
Yes
Branding
Yes
35%
35%
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
No
20%
60%
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
No
5%
10%
Yes
Branding
Yes
F
10%
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
F
A
5%
30%
60%
10%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
25%
65%
10%
Yes
Branding
No
Kaled Management
25%
40%
5%
30%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
A
ABCD
Key R.E. Associates
20%
65%
5%
10%
Yes
Branding
Yes
A
Lawrence Properties
20%
20%
5%
55%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABCDE
50%
25%
25%
Yes
Branding
No
Maxwell-Kates
20%
75%
5%
Yes
Branding
Yes
Merlot Management
40%
60%
10%
Yes
Branding
No
MGRE/Mark Greenberg R.E.
25%
45%
30%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABCDE
Midboro Management
35%
40%
5%
20%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABCDE
NAI Long Island
20%
15%
5%
5%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
AD
40%
40%
1%
19%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ABC
Orsid Realty
20%
60%
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ABCDEF
5%
80%
15%
Yes
Branding
Yes
ABCDE
20%
65%
0%
15%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ABCDEF
SAM Management
10%
75%
0%
Yes
ABE
Sandberg Management
10%
80%
Sandra Greer R.E.
10%
30%
Siren Management
10%
85%
20%
60%
50%
30%
20%
60%
Vintage R.E. Services
40%
55%
5%
No
10%
80%
10%
Yes
15%
Yes
10%
Yes
Branding
No
20%
40%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
No
3%
5%
AD
2%
Yes
Branding
Yes
CDF
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ADF
15%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ABDE
20%
Yes
Branding, Brokerage
Yes
ACF
Branding
Yes
ABD
KEY
A = Documents and Forms B = Building Financial Information (Audited Statements, Tax Deduction Letters, etc.)
C = Current Financial Information for Building (Board only) D = Staff Contact Information E = Building Newsletters F = Other
www.habitatmag.com
2014
RESIDENT TRANSACTIONS: Options & Fees
Maintenance Payment
Options
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Buchbinder & Warren
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Carlton Management
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
CFA Management
Management Office
Yes
Delkap Management
Management Office
Bank Lock Box
Alteration
Plan Review
Yes
Yes
Sublet
Application2
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Other
Yes
Transfers
Bank Lock Box
Financing
Akam Associates
Applications
Transfer Agent
Charge Card
Pay Online
Automatic
Debit
Send To
Company
Processing Fees
$500
Varies
Varies
$450
$200
$500
$350
$150
$300
$300
$650
$300
$300
$500-$650
$400-$600
$500-$600
$400-$500
$300-$400
$250
$250
$800
$350
$500
Yes
$500
$300
$600
$500
$500
Yes
Yes
$500
$500
$700
$500
$350
No
No
Yes
$500
$500
$600
$500
$500
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$350-$500
$100
$500
$350
$100
Yes
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$450
$250
$450
$250
$250
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$450
$250
$800
$450
$0
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Garthchester Realty
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$300
$75
$450
$300
$200
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
$350
$350
$650
$350
$350
Gramatan Management
Bank Lock Box
Yes
No
No
Yes
$300
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$450
$450
$600
HSC Management
Management Office
Yes
Yes
Yes
$100-$250
$100-$250
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$350
$250
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$400
Grogan & Associates
Varies
Varies
Varies
Varies
Yes
$300
$0
$450
$500
$500
$100-$250
$0
$700
$350
$0
$250
$700
$400
$250
Varies
Varies
$600
$200
$450
$600
$500
$250
$250
$400
$300
$0
Recognition
Agreement
Fee $350
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Kaled Management
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Bank Lock Box
Yes
No
No
Yes
Lawrence Properties
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Management Office
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Maxwell-Kates
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Merlot Management
Management Office
No
No
No
Yes
$350
$300
$600
$350
$300
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$500
$300
$600
$450
$500
Midboro Management
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$350
$250
$700
$300
$350-$500
NAI Long Island
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$125
$75
$425
$250
$0
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$500
$150
$350
$250
$100
Orsid Realty
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$600
$300
$300
$400
Varies
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$425
$200
$675
$425
$200
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$400-$650
$300
$750
$300
$500-$750
No
Yes
No
Yes
$450
$400
$850
$450
$600
Sandberg Management
Bank Lock Box
Yes
No
No
Yes
$350
$150
$500
$350
$350
Management Office
No
Yes
No
$250-$450
$150-$300
$600
$150-$300
$500 & up
Siren Management
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$350-$450
$0
$600-$700
$350-$450
$150-$500
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$150
$200
$400
$150
$150
Bank Lock Box
Yes
Yes
$750
$300
$750
$600
$250
Management Office
Yes
Yes
No
No
$200-$300
$100
$500
$150-$250
$150-$300
Bank Lock Box
Yes
No
No
Yes
$350
$250
$600
$350
$250
Management Office
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$750
$100
$500
$200
$200
SAM Management
www.habitatmag.com
Varies
Yes
Credit
Check
$100
t
n
e
m
y
a
p
Why does one invoice get paid immediately while another gets stalled for weeks?
E
by ronda kaysen
very day, hundreds of bills
intended for the city’s condos
and co-ops arrive at the back
offices of property management
firms. Delivered in unassuming
envelopes, they request payment
for goods and services as varied
as the buildings themselves. From the price
of a new light bulb to a plumber’s fee to the
staggering cost of a new roof, the demands that
the bills set forth must all be met to keep the
wheels turning.
But it’s not easy being a bill. Management
firms employ a complex processing system
to ensure that vendors are paid correctly.
Nevertheless, the room for error is vast.
Invoices can get waylaid on the desk of a
distracted co-op or condo board member;
a check can be cut from the wrong account
or, worse, paid to the wrong vendor. In some
cases, a building doesn’t have the cash to cover
its costs, a predicament that leaves property
managers doing a juggling act: holding checks
that can wait while paying only the critical
ones.
For vendors wondering why one invoice
might get paid immediately while another gets
stalled for weeks, the curious life of a bill is as
much a story about co-ops themselves as it is
about banking.
www.habitatmag.com
“When you’re generating 10,000
checks a month, anything is possible,”
says Alvin Wasserman, director
of asset management at Fairfield
Properties. “There is no foolproof
system and mistakes can be made.
But when there are half a dozen eyes
looking at every check that goes out
for payment, it minimizes the chance
for errors.”
All Eyes on Deck
In general, bills fall into two
categories: recurring and nonrecurring. The vast majority of bills
are recurring: they arrive at the same
time every month or every quarter
and offer few surprises. They cover
costs for utilities, insurance, taxes,
and mortgage payments. These bills
are paid immediately and with little
fanfare.
But the process looks very different
for a non-recurring bill. These one-off
statements – for salt delivery in the
winter; for the electrician who fixed
faulty wiring in the hallways; or for
elevator repairs – require far more
oversight from management and the
board. This is where the great machine
of paying the bills comes to life.
At Orsid Realty, which manages
over 100 properties, dozens of nonrecurring bills arrive at its Manhattan
office daily. Andre Kaplan, the
company’s chief financial officer,
and Neil Davidowitz, its president,
sign between 2,000 and 3,000 checks
a week. But long before any check
is signed, the invoice begins its
circuitous journey to approval.
Here’s how it works: when an
invoice arrives with the mail, it is date
stamped and placed in a basket. An
employee sorts the invoices, makes a
copy of the document, and enters the
information into the computer system
– assigning the bill with a vendor
code, invoice number, and building.
The bills are then placed in folders
for the property managers to review.
Once a week, a property manager
takes his folder to his building and
sits down with the superintendent to
discuss the details. Did the plumber
really stay for two hours? Did he
really have an assistant with him?
Was the problem with the boiler
www.habitatmag.com
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resolved? Is the hourly rate correct?
For many, involving the super
and the property manager in the
billing process is critical. “Even if
it is as innocuous as the recurring
exterminator bill, it opens up a
dialogue regarding what was done
and what needed to be done,” says
Steve Greenbaum, director of
management at Mark Greenberg
Real Estate. “It really makes for
much better communication. That
way if a client calls, you’ve had that
discussion.”
The Board Steps In
If a bill is large enough, a board
member must also see it and
sometimes sign the check too, adding
days or weeks to a process. If the
treasurer is traveling, for example, he
may not review it until he returns. Or,
if the board wants to review bills at
its monthly meeting, it could further
delay the process. Sometimes, board
members receive a PDF of the invoice
by e-mail, but in other cases the
original is handed to them.
“We encourage boards to sign
their own checks because ultimately
it’s their property,” says Wasserman
of Fairfield, which both owns and
manages properties. “It’s their money
and if the president and the treasurer
sign checks, they know what’s going
on at the property. They can see what
is happening in the life of the property
by the bills that are getting paid.”
Once the bill has been approved,
it returns to the billing office where
a check is cut. Timing is key. If an
invoice arrives on the second day of
the month, for example, but the board
meets on the first, then the invoice
has to wait an entire month just to be
approved by the board. And, if the
unfortunate invoice makes its way
back to the management office a day
after the company cuts checks for the
week, the process could be delayed
even further.
“Sometimes there’s a hang-up in
the situation,” says Stuart Halper,
a principal at Impact Management.
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“Some boards are real kooky about
this.”
What’s In a Name?
For the most part, the process is
a streamlined machine with dozens
of employees working in the billing
office to make sure the bills are
processed and paid correctly. But
with scores of apartment buildings
and hundreds of vendors, there is
always room for error. On occasion,
a bill intended for one property is
accidentally paid for by its neighbor
with a similar street address. In these
cases, property managers simply have
one building reimburse the other.
But when the wrong vendor is
paid – perhaps a check went to
Superior Cleaning instead of Superior
Plumbing – the resolution is trickier.
“It’s a little embarrassing,” says Seth
Kobay, president of Majestic Property
Management. “Even though it’s
going through this four-step process,
[accidents have] happened.”
When the wrong vendor is paid –
or if the invoice is mistakenly paid
twice – the only solution is to call the
vendor. At Impact, a contractor was
recently paid twice for a $2,000 bill.
“We have to be on our toes,” says
Halper. “They don’t call us if there
are mistakes made [in their favor].”
Sometimes, vendors send improper
invoices. They might make a bill out
to the property management company
or the building address and not the
building corporation. Or they send a
work order instead of an invoice. Or
they don’t include an invoice number.
In these cases, property managers
return faulty bills, restarting the
entire process before it even begins.
“Very frequently vendors screw it
up,” says Greenbaum. “They get it
wrong even when you tell them five
times.”
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It’s an open secret that many co-op
and condo buildings operate on the
financial edge. An unusually cold
winter can send oil bills through
the roof and put a building’s cash
flow at risk. Winter is so tough that
an invoice that arrives in July has
www.habitatmag.com
Phone 631-595-9100 Fax 631-595-1975
a much better chance of being paid
quickly than one that arrives in
January when oil bills are cutting into
a building’s cash flow.
But other problems can also drain
finances. An unexpected elevator
repair at the beginning of the month
before maintenance checks arrive
can spell chaos. For the bookkeepers
toiling in the back offices, reconciling
the bills with the balance sheets is a
constant headache.
“A lot of these boards run tight,”
says Steve Birbach, chairman of
Carlton Management. “They don’t
have any fluff in their budget for
unexpected capital expenditures.”
Sometimes a vendor will make
concessions just to get the business.
One contractor recently allowed a
Manhattan condo to pay its $200,000
elevator repair bill over a period of
two years – without interest – because
the building didn’t have the cash to
cover the cost. Patience on the part
of a vendor can pay off. The city’s
property management firms manage
scores of buildings and, even if a
co-op’s cash flow is tight in the dark
days of February, they will continue
to bring in maintenance fees to pay
their bills. Says Kobay: “It pays to
be loyal to some of the vendors, and
hopefully they are accommodating.”
Slow as the process may be, it
is much faster in the digital age.
Before office scanners, PDFs, and
smartphones were commonplace,
companies used to send urgent bills
to board members over fax and wait
for a faxed approval to return. Now,
companies like Carlton Management
scan the incoming invoices and
e-mail them to board members for
approval. A treasurer can review the
document on her iPhone and respond
within minutes. Carlton uploads
property-related records onto its
secure website, so board members
can review them online.
Concludes Greenbaum, the
manager: “I think people take for
granted that these things get done
automatically and correctly.”
n
www.habitatmag.com
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_Hercules_(C)_0513.indd 1
9/26/13 11:
by bill morris
it all Began
on a
cold December afternoon in 2008
at the Broadlawn, an elegant Jazz
Era compound that houses 121
co-op apartments in White Plains.
Workers were repairing the slate
roof and repointing the brick façade,
and, though the contract stipulated
that no acetylene torches were to
be used on the job, one worker with
the subcontractor
was using a torch to
speed the drying of
mortar before the
crew knocked off
for the weekend.
The flame ignited
the roof. Soon the
blaze was spreading
out of control and a
dark black cloud was
boiling into the cold
winter sky.
This is the story of
that devastating fire,
which wound up testing the residents,
educating them, and, finally, making
their co-op stronger than ever.
Trial by
Fire
Impelled to Act
By the time the fire at the
Broadlawn was extinguished, the roof
and top floor of one of the complex’s
16 buildings were destroyed.
Firefighters had pumped 500,000
gallons of water into the blaze. Seven
apartments were uninhabitable, and
three had suffered significant water
damage. An ordeal that would drag
on for more than two years was under
way.
Even before the fire trucks left
the scene, the co-op’s seven board
members were coming together in full
crisis mode – and making their first
mistake. The board’s insurance agent
arrived, along with an insurance
adjuster he had worked with in the
past. The agent assured the board that
this adjuster was the ideal man for
the impending negotiations with the
insurance carrier, Greater New York
Insurance Company (GNY), and its adjuster. The directors, feeling pressured to
act quickly and decisively, hired the recommended adjuster on the spot.
“There’s a lot of panic and fear at a time like that,” says Chris Vescio, an
accountant who was then the board’s president. “I felt responsible for dealing
with it... But if I had to do it again, I would take time to talk to [more candidates
before selecting] an adjuster.”
On the Monday after the fire, the board met with the shareholders whose
apartments had been damaged or destroyed, as well as the co-op’s managing
agent, attorney, architect, insurance agent, and the new adjuster.
“The first thing we realized was that communication was going to be the key,”
www.habitatmag.com
says James Glatthaar, who has been
the board’s attorney since 1992. “We
called that meeting to reassure people
that we were all over the situation and
we would get them back into their
apartments as soon as possible.”
People who attended the meeting
describe it as “hot,” with worried
shareholders asking questions about
what was covered by insurance –
both the co-op’s policy and their
own homeowner policies – and two
shareholders revealing that they
had not renewed their homeowner
policies, as required by the house
rules. The news was unsettling. The
shareholders learned that the coop’s insurance would pay to restore
apartments to their condition at the
time of the co-op conversion, in
1982. Any modifications made since
then would have to be covered by the
homeowner policies. The games were
just beginning.
One factor that would turn the
games into a chess match was the
workmanship of the Broadlawn. Built
in 1928, the co-op’s buildings are
blessed with architectural details that
speak to a past when elegance and
artistry mattered — brass hardware,
plaster crown moldings, lath-andplaster walls, and solid wooden doors.
On the downside, the 80-year-old
electrical wiring and plumbing were
archaic by contemporary standards.
The board was determined to
preserve the building’s integrity and
charm; it quickly became apparent
that integrity and charm were not
covered by the policy.
One thing working in the coop’s favor was that the contractor
doing the roof repairs admitted his
subcontractor caused the fire, and
wished to continue on the job and
make the building whole. The board,
which had been happy with his
performance until then, decided to
keep him on rather than hire a new
contractor or use one recommended
by their insurance company. It was
a question of control. The board
had a working relationship with this
www.habitatmag.com
A long and illustrious history
working with housing developments
Norris McLaughlin & Marcus (formerly Szold & Brandwen)
offers full service representation of cooperatives and
condominiums, based on over 85 years of experience,
including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Construction, professional and service contracts
Commercial, retail and professional leasing
Litigation
Landlord/Tenant proceedings and actions
Corporate governance
Shareholder disputes
Special expertise drawn from other areas of practice in the firm
The firm’s cooperative and condominium clients range from
smaller buildings to large multi-building developments. All
receive timely and responsive service from our team of
experienced attorneys.
Cooperative & Condominium Law Group
Ezra N. Goodman
Burt Allen Solomon
Michael T. Reilly
Dean M. Roberts
Karol S. Robinson
Danielle M. Wanglien
875 Third Avenue • 8th Floor • New York, NY 10022
t: 212-808-0700 • f: 212-808-0844 • e: [email protected]
www.nmmlaw.com
In THe AfTerMATH
contractor – and no knowledge of the
insurer’s contractor.
“The board didn’t want one-stop
shopping – the insurance company’s
adjuster bringing in a contractor
he’d worked with in the past,” says
Jeffrey Stillman, the co-op’s property
manager.
The insurance company and the
board were soon wrangling over
their widely divergent cost estimates,
the scope of the work, what was
covered under the policy, and when
the settlement would be delivered.
Eager to get the job moving forward,
the board announced it was going to
begin repairs in July 2009 with the
money offered by the insurer – but
would continue to fight for a larger
settlement. Here, a bit of luck worked
in the co-op’s favor.
“We were sitting on a $1 million
line of credit and we had a $500,000
reserve fund because we had
refinanced the mortgage in 2008,
before the fire,” says Vescio. “That
meant we had the wherewithal to
What should a board do – and not do – after a disaster? board
members, insurance brokers, managing agents, and lawyers
who have had experience with calamities offer advice:
• though there is
pressure to act quickly and
decisively, it’s advisable to
weigh all options before
making a decision. once
made, decisions can be
difficult to reverse.
• don’t price-shop when
looking for an insurance
carrier. An AAA-rated
company will be more
expensive, but it’s probably
worth the extra cost.
• Make sure your
insurance policy has
unlimited coverage for
“loss of use,” so that
displaced residents will
be taken care of for the
duration of repairs. And
check that it allows you to
hire your own contractor,
so you have control of the
repair work.
• similarly, don’t hire
professionals unless they
have some experience
dealing with disastrous
events. “it’s easy to pay
bills,” says one board
member. “it’s not so easy
to deal with an issue like
this.”
• keep detailed records
of every invoice, board
meeting, e-mail, and
inspection report. these
can be invaluable when
negotiating with your
insurer.
• Make sure all residents’
homeowner policies are up
to date.
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www.habitatmag.com
move forward on the path we
wanted to move on – hiring our
own contractor, and exceeding what
the insurance company wanted to
pay for – without the insurance
company’s money.”
Glatthaar, the attorney, says that
allowed them to play hardball with
the insurance company. “It gave
the shareholders a better rebuilt
apartment than they would have
gotten if we didn’t have those
resources,” he adds. “That built up
some good will with the shareholders
and gained their support in our fight
with the insurance company.” At this
point, the board, after disagreeing
with the adjuster’s advice, fired the
insurance agent and started shopping
for a replacement.
The co-op’s architect drew up
plans that brought the damaged
apartments into compliance with
contemporary building codes. The
rebuilt apartments have state-of-theart electrical wiring, hot and cold
water lines, and waste and gas lines.
One sticking point, which
illustrates the fraught nature of the
negotiations, was the walls. The
board wanted the insurance company
to replace them with the original
lath-and-plaster. Too expensive, the
company argued, offering to pay for
Sheetrock walls covered with plasterlike spackle compound.
“The biggest issue was getting
materials that were satisfactory to the
shareholders,” says Stillman. “The
building was built one way, and the
insurance company wanted to rebuild
it another way. It was an everyday
battle for months, the hardest thing
I’ve ever had to do. It consumed me
for several hours every day for a
year.”
Eventually, the board settled
on double-thick Sheetrock walls
covered with the spackling
compound previously recommended
by the reconstruction contractor,
which turned out to be even more
soundproof than the original walls.
The affected shareholders agreed to
accept this.
“The important thing is that we
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When laundry means business.
gave the shareholders the best
product we possibly could,” says
Glatthaar.
After all the wrangling and
delays, residents finally moved back
into their apartments in the summer
of 2010 – a year and a half after
the fire. The shareholders’ claims
against the insurers of the contractor
and subcontractor were settled
in September of that year, and
payments were made the following
month. In the end, GNY paid $1.8
million, while the co-op kicked in
about $200,000. Settlement of the
co-op’s claims did not occur until
December, and it was paid, at long
last, in March 2011.
lessons of the Blaze
What were the primary lessons
that the Broadlawn’s board and
professionals took away from the
experience?
“You have to have a healthy
degree of suspicion over all
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the companies that work with
your insurance company,” says
Glatthaar. “I found that they all
have relationships and they’re not
going to risk those relationships for
one co-op.” He called that web of
relations “incestuous,” adding, “We
were optimistic as we went in, but
we became pugilistic.”
A spokesman for GNY
Insurance declined to comment.
But insurance broker Barbara
Strauss, executive vice president
of York International Agency, has
had extensive dealings with GNY
and gives the insurer high marks.
“No insurance company is going
to pay a loss that may be deemed
unreasonable,” she notes. “GNY
has contractors who can do the
work and provide more favorable
pricing when adjusting a loss. It’s
very common.”
In the end, Strauss advises,
boards can control their destiny by
choosing an insurance company
wisely. “You get what you pay
for,” she says. “If you’re going
to cut corners to save money,
you may get an inferior product.
I advise boards to make sure
their broker analyzes coverage
differences and knows their
carriers. There are some insurance
companies that don’t pay as well
as others.”
Another lesson in a time
of disaster is to expect the
unexpected – and get ready to pay
for it. “This is a hard thing for
co-op and condo board members
to understand,” says Glatthaar.
“Sometimes you’re caught in a
situation where you didn’t do
anything wrong and you think the
co-op or condo shouldn’t be out
of pocket. But you will be out of
pocket because your insurance
company simply will not pay for
certain things – the managing
agent’s time, legal fees, architect’s
costs.”
And the final lesson: don’t kid
yourself. If you think disaster
can’t happen to your building, you
need to think again. Right now. n
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The Broker Is In
when the go-to sales agent is also a neighbor, conflicts could arise. .
by ronda kaysen
MICHele KleIeR IS InTIMaTe
with the building. Really.
The president of Kleier Residential
and co-star of the HGTV reality show
Selling New York is trying to sell
Apartment 7A at 1125 Park Avenue.
She describes the unit in this prewar
co-op as “gracious” and “elegant,”
and the luxury property itself as
having great amenities and lovely
neighbors. She should know. She’s
lived in the building for 32 years.
So-called resident brokers like
Kleier can be a blessing. Because
the building they represent is also
their home, they know it well and
understand the quirks of the board,
and thus are more likely to deliver
buyers everyone will love. They have
been selling apartments for a long
time, frequently with few problems.
And your building may have one: the
broker who lives in a building and
has, over the years, become the “goto” salesperson for residents.
But what happens when this broker
abuses her trust? How, then, does a
board deal with the broker who is
also a fellow resident?
Residency Is Good
From a board’s point of view,
a resident broker with a rich and
intimate knowledge of the building
can help vet potential customers,
improving the odds of approval.
For instance, Kleier, who handles
80 percent of her building’s listings,
We would welcome your inquiry.
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has never had a rejection in all the
time she’s handled sales there. She
has sold 47 apartments in this 72-unit
Carnegie Hill cooperative. She is
known as the unofficial broker of the
house.
In addition, a building with a top
broker living there has the benefit
of a professional with a personal
commitment to its welfare. If the
broker is also a shareholder, she is
not likely to sell a unit to a difficult
person. “I have a stake as far as
who is going to be moving into the
building,” says Kleier. “I want to
keep the building at a certain level.
We want nice people. We want good
neighbors.”
For the buyer or seller, a resident
broker is more likely to ensure that
the deal passes muster. The individual
representing them can more easily
follow up on delays in completing
and delivering the package. In cases
where a sale can be derailed at the
whim of a board, a broker with
strings to pull can offer sellers and
buyers a measure of relief.
“I know people on the board.
So, if I see that the management
agency is going too slow, I get them
to help me,” says Amy Krischer, an
independent broker who only sells
listings in her condo, the Bromley,
a 300-unit luxury building on the
Upper West Side. “And they will
help me because, remember, I’m
also an owner in this building.” On
streeteasy.com, Krischer is listed as
the condominium’s top broker.
Although restricted by antidiscrimination laws from discussing
issues like schools, churches, and
local demographics, resident brokers
also can convey a deep understanding
of the building and the neighborhood.
They know whether the dry cleaner
down the street is reliable or if the
local pizzeria is any good. When a
unit is in disrepair, they probably
know enough to show a prospective
buyer a renovated unit in the same
line.
www.habitatmag.com
That Was awkward
That said, what happens when a
resident broker steps out of line?
Although not a widespread problem,
it can create an awkward situation.
The board must deal with the
uncomfortable task of disciplining
or – as a last resort – forbidding the
individual from doing business in the
building.
No board wants to restrict its
residents’ ability to work with brokers
they choose (some would – and
have – argued that it is a restraint of
trade). In fact, you should probably
bend over backward to work things
out. Attorney Robert D. Tierman, a
partner at Litwin & Tierman, advises
boards to give the offending broker
every opportunity “to clean up his act
before being banned.”
The reason is simple: forbidding a
broker from working in your property
will invariably lead to a lawsuit.
“You must realize that there is a
strong likelihood that [a restriction
on a broker] may be challenged in
court,” warns attorney Dean Roberts,
a partner at Norris McLaughlin &
Marcus. “A broker who just does a
little business in a building probably
won’t sue, but a broker who does
substantial business in a complex
might.”
So be prepared with the facts.
Roberts says that his client, a New
York City co-op, prevailed against
a challenge to a ban it had imposed
on a broker by having a clear
rationale for its actions. When
examined in court, the directors
explained that “it was to protect
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Boards can also become
uncomfortable if their rejection
of an apartment sale means the
broker involved (who is also a
neighbor) loses his income. “If
you reject his sale, it hits very
close to home,” says Dan Wurtzel,
president of property management
at FirstService Residential.
“You’re telling someone who’s a
shareholder, ‘I’m sorry, you’re not
going to get paid on this deal.’ That
can create some uneasiness within a
building community.”
That sense of unease intensifies
when a resident broker actively
lists in the building while also
serving on the board – even if this
individual recuses himself from
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shareholders, because the broker
was selling apartments at too low a
price, misrepresenting the property,
and speaking badly about the
building – really about the board. In
short, they said the broker was not
operating in the best interests of the
co-op.”
Forbidding a broker from working
in your building is an extreme step
to take – but one that many boards
don’t even realize is open to them.
Attorney Stuart Saft, a partner at
Holland & Knight, says: “The board
absolutely has the power to ban
[any type of] brokers from [doing
business] in the building. They can
ban for abuse, and any other reason,
except for self-dealing, bad faith,
or discrimination. The board of a
co-op has complete control of the
co-op.”
So, what are the areas of
discomfort that may force a board
to take some sort of action against
a broker? These include repeated
instances of incompetency or
dishonesty; constant breaking of
building rules; sending too many
e-mails to residents trying to get
them to list; and staging open
houses after being told to stop. In
short, anything that affects the
residents’ “quiet enjoyment” of their
apartments and the smooth running
of the property.
NyC
757 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
1/22/13 4:06 PM
www.habitatmag.com
the vote. In 2005, Corcoran Group
broker Bruce Robertson sat on the
board of his Washington Heights
co-op. When an applicant for an
apartment he listed appeared before
the directors, he recused himself
from the process. However, he
ultimately decided not to run for
office again and instead works
on various committees for the
building.
Moreover, if the building doesn’t
appear open to other brokers,
“then it becomes a fait accompli,
and it’s not right,” says Ellen
Kornfeld, a management executive
at the Lovett Company. The
arrangement “doesn’t allow for
much competition,” which means
sale prices may flatten out.
Residents could also get the
mistaken impression that the sale
won’t be approved if they don’t use
the broker who lives in the building
– the one that everyone uses.
“Somebody who is selling their
apartment may feel that if they
don’t give the listing to [the go-to
broker, a potential buyer] might get
rejected,” explains Robertson.
Boards should also be wary
of overreaching. In 2012, the
Link, a luxury Midtown West
condo, tried to ban a broker who
had sold multiple listings in the
building, accusing her of running
short-term rentals (otherwise
known as “illegal hotels”). The
broker, Katherine McFarland, had
previously lived in the building. In
response, according to The Real
Deal, she filed a $20.4 million
lawsuit. After the board lifted the
ban, she withdrew the suit. (An
attorney for the Link says the board
declined to comment.)
The unbearable resident broker
may be a rare sight, but if he
appears – and the relationship turns
sour – boards should realize that
they don’t have to let it be; they
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Habitat’s source guide reaches thousands of board decision-makers.
the directory is a powerful and efficient search engine for the co-op and
condo community, containing videos, PDFs and links to more information.
all this exclusive data is available Free in a fun, interactive format.
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special advertising section
Source Guide | 2014 | cateGory index
Accountants & Auditors
Lobby and Hallway Design
bollam, Sheedy, torani & co. LLP, cPas
cesarano & Khan, cPas, Pc
czarnowski & beer, LLP
Kane & company, Pa
marin & montanye LLP
mindy Eisenberg-Stark, cPa, cFE
newman, newman & Kaufman LLP
Prisand, mellina, unterlack & co. LLP
Falcon Engineering
Forbes-Ergas Design associates
robert cane architect, PLLc
Plumbing
calray gas heat corp.
Fred Smith Plumbing and heating
Property Management
mamais construction
akam associates
andrea bunis management
argo real Estate
barton management
buchbinder & warren
carlton management
century management
Delkap management
Douglas Elliman Property management
FirstService residential
gerard j. Picaso inc.
hSc management
impact real Estate management
Kaled management
Lawrence Properties
Lovett group, the
majestic Property management
mark greenberg real Estate
matthew adam Properties
merlot management
metro management Development
midboro management
new bedford management
orsid realty
Plymouth management group
Pride Property management
rudd realty
Stillman management
tudor realty Services
Veritas Property management
Consumer Services
Reserve Studies
Architects/Engineers
cowley Engineering
Falcon Engineering
Kipcon
rand Engineering & architecture
Attorneys
balber Pickard maldonado & Van Der tuin, Pc
braverman greenspun
c. jaye berger Law offices
gallet Dreyer & berkey, LLP
ganfer and Shore, LLP
hankin & mazel, PLLc
Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & gold, LLP
norris mcLaughlin & marcus, Pa
Porzio, bromberg & newman, P.c.
rosen Livingston & cholst, LLP
Schneider mitola, LLP
Smith, buss & jacobs, LLP
tane waterman & wurtzel, Pc
wolf haldenstein adler Freeman & herz, LLP
Boilers
calray gas heat corp.
Camera Surveillance Systems
academy mailbox co.
Chute Cleaning
chutemaster Environmental
Construction
time warner cable of nyc
Electrical Submetering
Falcon Engineering
Kipcon
Quadlogic controls
Security
Energy
academy mailbox co.
cambridge Security Services
Falcon Engineering
unitED mEtro Energy
Steam Heating Systems
Energy Auditors
g.S. Dunham
Falcon Engineering
Storage
Exterminators/Pest Control
bargold Storage Systems
Spaceguard
wirecrafters
team Pest control inc.
Finance
barrett capital advisors
First Funding of new york
hudson Valley bank
meridian capital group
ncb
Fire Safety
Insurance
mackoul & associates
Telephone Intercom Systems
academy mailbox co.
Water Cost Management
alan rothschild/Vantage group
new york water management
Water Tanks
Water Treatment
Internet/Telecommunications/
Computer Software & Services
ciraconnect
Laundry Systems
automatic industries
hercules corporation
hi-rise Laundry
SEbco Laundry Systems
wascomat
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Ask the Attorney
Q
by robert d. tierman
deadbeats & devils
My condo in Brooklyn has two unit-owners who don’t pay their monthly
charges. One seems to be having financial problems, but we’re not
sure about the other. Our property manager told us that we need to file a
lien against the units, but I heard from somebody else that this could be very
expensive and we still might not get paid. We are not a big condo, so we don’t
want to waste money, but we also can’t afford to have some unit-owners who
are not paying. What should we do?
a
Collecting arrears on condo units is problematic mainly because the
lenders holding first mortgages on condo units, as well as real estate taxing
authorities, have priorities over condos. That means that a condo will suffer
the time and expense of filing and foreclosing upon its lien on a unit in default,
but can sell the unit at foreclosure sale only subject to, at the very least, what
could be a very large first mortgage, plus
real estate tax arrears, on the unit. If the
amounts of those priority claims exceed
or even approach the market value of the
unit, then there will be little value left
to entice a purchaser to pay anything for
the unit. And that doesn’t include what
is necessary to satisfy the arrears to the
condo, as well as the legal and other fees
and expenses that the condo incurred
when it foreclosed.
As an aside, a co-op does not have
this problem because its claim to
the proceeds of a foreclosure sale
of an apartment has priority over
a shareholder’s lender. This allows
the co-op to sell the apartment at a
foreclosure sale not subject to what is
properly called the security interest
– not the mortgage – of the lender.
As another aside, the New Jersey
legislature perceived at least some
inequity for condos taking a back seat
to lenders in 1996 by establishing
a “super lien” of condos ahead of
unit lenders for six months’ worth
of arrears. But, given the time and
expense that it takes for a condo to
first mortgage lender and the taxing
bring a unit foreclosure lawsuit to the
authority) who have not yet caused
point of foreclosure sale, this provides
the recording of judgments or liens
little relief, or even leverage, to a
against the unit.
condo.
If the value of the unit substantially
The condo should file a lien against
exceeds the amount of any first
the unit without delay, and indeed
mortgage, about which the condo
the board is typically obligated to do
can get a good sense by searching
so under the condo’s bylaws. This
the public records for a copy of any
is not very expensive, and, at the
mortgage recorded against the unit,
very least, will establish the condo’s
then the condo should proceed with
priority over creditors (other than the
haste to foreclose. This will put
maximum pressure on the unit-owner
and best assure that, if the case is
not resolved, the condo will be able
to recoup the amounts due and its
expenses from the foreclosure sale
proceeds.
If the value of the unit does
not exceed the value of any first
mortgage, then the condo’s task is
far more complex because it has no
ideal options. The condo must reach
out to determine first hand precisely
why the unit-owner is not paying and
what, if anything, the unit-owner is
willing to do. The condo also could
try to induce the unit-owner’s lender
to prosecute foreclosure proceedings
because a default to the condo is a
default to the lender even if the unitowner is making loan payments to the
lender. The condo also could pursue
the foreclosure itself even if the loan
on the unit is close to or exceeds the
value of the unit. Then, there is at
www.habitatmag.com
least hope that, in the foreseeable
future, the condo could strip the unitowner of ownership and occupancy
of the unit, so that it can be sold to a
unit-owner willing and able to pay.
Q
At my co-op, we have a
shareholder who is wreaking
havoc in the building, making nasty
statements to staff and residents
alike, and loitering in the lobby. She
is quite unkempt, and we suspected
that her apartment was unclean
and cluttered. Then we had to enter
the apartment to repair a leak and
discovered that our worst fears were
true. We don’t believe that we can
ever get her under control. Is there
some way that we can kick her out?
A
There are two main courses
of action to consider, each
of which is potentially potent but
not without possible pitfalls. The
first is an “objectionable conduct”
termination of the offending
shareholder’s proprietary lease,
following the 2002 New York State
high court case of 40 West 67th
Street v. Pullman. If available and
done properly, this could lead to
eviction of the shareholder and
the sale of her apartment, with
the proceeds first applied to any
amounts due to the co-op, including
attorneys’ fees. Given the stakes to
the shareholder, however, the court
indicated that courts must “exercise
heightened vigilance” in examining
whether the board’s action meets
the standards of the “Business
Judgment Rule,” deemed applicable
to co-op board decision-making in
the ground-breaking case Matter of
Levandusky v. One Fifth Ave. Apt.
Corp.
Simply put, a co-op can terminate
a shareholder’s proprietary lease
by this route provided that the
shareholder cannot establish that the
board acted:
Outside the scope of its authority,
i.e., the typical proprietary lease
requires the co-op to send notice of
the “objectionable conduct” of the
shareholder, or those occupying or
visiting the shareholder’s apartment,
www.habitatmag.com
with the warning that, if it is
repeated, the co-op will consider
and vote upon a resolution to declare
the tenancy “undesirable” and thus
terminate the lease;
In a way that did not legitimately
further the corporate purpose, i.e.,
the co-op seemingly cannot just
choose some meaningless conduct,
like wearing a purple dress in public
areas, for objection; or
In bad faith, i.e., the co-op should
not have ulterior reasons for acting,
like vindicating a personal grudge of
a board member.
There are at least two additional
considerations. The Pullman court
seemingly decided to defer to the
co-op to make the lease termination
decision in part because the court
was impressed that all shareholders
in attendance at a meeting
(constituting shareholders owning
three-quarters of the co-op’s shares)
voted in favor of the termination.
That shareholder vote occurred
because that co-op’s proprietary
lease demanded it.
Most leases require only board
(and not shareholder) vote for an
“objectionable conduct” termination,
and a subsequent case of the wellrespected New York Appellate
Division, First Department, Trump
Plaza Owners, Inc. v. Weitzner, held
(though without discussion) that
this is good enough. I have some
reservations about whether New
York’s high court would agree, which
presents the vexing problem about
whether a co-op considering an
“objectionable conduct” termination
should seek shareholder approval,
even if the lease does not require it.
This would eliminate the possibility
of leaving the door open to an
appealable issue that could go against
the co-op after years of expensive
litigation.
The other consideration is that
it is well accepted that the co-op
must give the shareholder facing
“objectionable conduct” termination
a full and fair opportunity, with the
assistance of an attorney, to hear and
respond to the co-op’s charges. This
was implicit in the Pullman case,
because the shareholder was notified
of the shareholders’ meeting at which
the co-op conducted the termination
vote.
But for board-only terminations,
the co-op must make sure to properly
invite the shareholder to attend
the meeting, with an attorney, and
present a defense before the vote.
Indeed, even for terminations
requiring shareholder approval,
I believe that the board should
consider inviting the shareholder
to make a presentation first to the
board in advance of the board’s vote
to ask the shareholders to approve
the termination. They should then
meet again at the shareholders’
meeting before their vote.
If the co-op would like to avoid
a shareholder vote (assuming
one is required), it could
forgo “objectionable conduct”
termination, and instead declare
the shareholder in default of the
proprietary lease (including some
house rules) and provide the
shareholder with the standard 30
days to cure, in the absence of
which the co-op could terminate
the lease. One deficiency of this
route, however, is that, under New
York State Real Property Actions
and Proceedings Law 753(4), even
after the court awards the co-op
legal possession of the apartment,
the shareholder would have at
least 10 days to cure the default
and retain possession. One further
consideration is that, in some cases,
it might make sense for the co-op
to proceed simultaneously under
both the default and “objectionable
conduct” provisions.
The good news is that co-ops
have substantial power to respond,
as they see fit, to nuisance and
worse conduct by shareholders and
others occupying or visiting their
apartments. The cautionary note
is that the courts will hold co-ops
to high scrutiny in exercising those
powers.
n
My turn
The Integrity of Ownership
I
live in an unusual condominium.
Valerie Hayes
all moved in mid- to late
2004. I got on the board the second
year I was there. Many of us saw
that some of the units were bought
as investments – in our years there,
we never met the owners, only the
renters. As new renters moved in, we
realized we had no control over the
situation. I often thought, “We’re not a
Columbia University dorm,” although
it was beginning to seem like one,
with transient tenants coming and
going regularly. “What can we do?”
said the other board members.
The problem was that stipulations
and an agreement for a tax abatement
and other subsidies we were receiving
said that the condo had to be owneroccupied. Residents had to submit
annual certified statements to HPD,
swearing that they were owners.
We decided to try and change this
he or she could rent it out. There
would also be a fee.
We haven’t been able to get
approval of the plan (yet), but we
did manage to impose (with HPD’s
blessing) a $1,000 monthly fee on
any owner who rented. With common
charges ranging from $300 to $800,
that’s a fairly significant amount.
Since implementing the policy, we
have had about four apartments go
on the market. That’s a positive sign.
But we aren’t going to stop there.
We see this as an interim step. We
hope to do a lot more. Our goal is to
do something so that the building is
managed and maintained properly,
and has the integrity of ownership.
And to do that, we’ve got to get
control over who lives here. It’s that
simple.
n
www.habitatmag.com
carol j. ott
situation. We consulted with lawyers.
Consisting of two gut-renovated
They always said, “Well, if you were a
buildings in central Harlem, the
co-op, you could do something.” Not
50-unit property is in the city
taking no for an answer, the board
Department of Housing, Preservation,
has been working to develop a policy
and Development (HPD) portfolio
for renting. It would possibly limit
of affordable housing. It is designed
rentals to between 10 and 15 percent
for median-income residents. And,
of the property at any one time, and it
although we’re a condo, HPD rules
would require the owner to live in the
require the units to be ownerproperty for two or three years before
occupied.
That creates an
interesting situation:
we’re a condo – which
generally does not have
residency requirements –
but we have a rule that is
usually found in co-ops.
The problem? We don’t
have the enforcement
powers of a co-op.
I didn’t expect this
kind of problem when I
moved into the building
in August of 2004. I
was able to purchase
the apartment through
a lottery system, and
joined a group of firstboard member, Morningside Court, harlem
time homeowners who
case notes
by richard siegler and dale J. degenshein
hell on Wheels
M
ay the city install bike share terminals in front of
your building? That was the issue discussed in
Cambridge Owners Corp. v. New York City Department of
Transportation.
The facts of the case
map bearing that date.
A year later, in April 2013, a docking station was installed.
After receiving complaints from Cambridge, the DOT removed
an approximately 16-foot section of the station that was directly
in front of the building entrance.
no right to Install station
The following month, Cambridge commenced the
proceeding challenging DOT’s right to erect any bike station
in front of the building. The agency moved to dismiss. Its first
claim was that the co-op did not have standing to commence
the proceeding. The court explained that in order to establish
standing, Cambridge had to show that it “suffered an injury
in fact, distinct from that of the general
public.” Citing another case, this court
explained: “[P]ersons directly affected
by a determination that would result in
the diminished aesthetic, recreational, or
financial value of an area, have standing to
challenge the determination.”
The court determined that Cambridge had
standing because it demonstrated that it was
directly affected by the bike share station
and that its injury was different from any
that may have been suffered by the general
public. The court specifically acknowledged
The Back story
that Cambridge – a cooperative corporation
The New York City Department of City
– comprised hundreds of residents who
Planning performed a study before the launch of
lived in the building directly in front of the
the bike share program. DOT also affirmed that
a bicycle docking station
bike share station, and that the residents
it undertook a multi-year public planning process
goes up. a greenwich
claimed to be adversely affected by the
to determine the location of the stations. It issued
Village co-op cries foul.
location of the station because of, among
a publication – NYC Bike Share, Designed by
other things, garbage accumulation,
New Yorkers – explaining the process included
increased traffic, and issues with emergency
more than 150 public meetings, presentations, and
responders, all of which are different from those experienced
demonstrations, as well as more than 200 meetings with elected
by the general public.
officials, property owners, and other stakeholders.
The court also recognized that quality of life and aesthetic
DOT asserted that in determining individual station sizes, its
injuries had been recognized by the courts as a basis for
planners used a computer model to analyze surrounding land
standing.
use, population, tourism rates, subway turnstile counts, and
other data on transit use. The agency also claimed that it used
newly available taxi GPS data on trip origins and destinations.
Acted rationally
It said many factors were used to make final decisions about
DOT next argued that Cambridge’s claim must be dismissed
where to place the docking stations, including requests and
because it had the absolute right to promote, facilitate, and
comments from the public, proximity to transit and other
regulate travel on New York City streets and highways.
destinations, distance from other bike share stations, and access
However, if the city agency’s action is arbitrary and capricious,
and proximity to bike lanes. It also considered whether the area
contrary to law, or an abuse of discretion, the court may
was well lit, its proximity to the corner, the amount of curb
intervene to reverse the decision.
lane, and inclusion of restricted parking lanes. It specifically
Finally, the transportation department argued that its
declined to install bike share stations in areas with bus stops,
decision to install the docking station in front of Cambridge
hydrants, driveways, and parking lanes that switched to driving
was rational, i.e., it was not arbitrary, capricious, contrary
lanes at specific times of the day.
to law, or an abuse of discretion. The court noted,
In or around February 2012, the DOT initiated an
specifically, that the courts may not overturn a decision of
environmental review of the program and its siting guidelines
an administrative agency that has a rational basis, unless
under the City Environmental Quality Review Act. The agency
there was a demonstration that the action was arbitrary and
affirmed that it planned to install the bike share station in front
capricious. Citing an older case, the court explained: “[t]
of Cambridge since at least April 27, 2012, as shown on a site
he arbitrary or capricious test chiefly ‘relates to whether a
The Department of Transportation (DOT) decided to
install a bike share station in front of 175 West 13th Street in
Manhattan. This residential property is owned by Cambridge
Owners Corp., a cooperative housing corporation, which
brought a proceeding to challenge the decision; DOT then
made a motion to dismiss the petition.
Cambridge is a 20-story building with 137
apartments. The “Citi Bike” program consists
of 6,000 bicycles docked in more than 300 selfservice share stations around the city. Members
of the public can rent the bikes from, and return
them to, any station in the system, which is open
around the clock, throughout the year. The city
was legally required to provide a condensed
network of bike share stations, so that users
could easily obtain or return a bike.
www.habitatmag.com
particular action should have been
taken or is justified... and whether
the administrative action is without
foundation in fact.’ Arbitrary action
is without sound basis in reason and
is generally taken without regard to
facts.”
Here, the court found the decision
to install the docking station in front
of Cambridge’s building fit squarely
within DOT guidelines and could not
be considered arbitrary or capricious.
The agency affirmed that the area
in front of Cambridge provided
unrestricted public access; ensured
maximum visibility; did not impede
the use of any existing facilities; was
not in a bus stop; was not in a lane
that became a driving lane at certain
times; and was not within a restricted
area. Further, DOT established that
it took valid safety concerns into
consideration, including the way in
which cars turn onto the intersection
of West 13th Street and Seventh
Avenue.
claims dismissed
Cambridge asserted that the
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bike share station should be removed
because DOT failed to notify the local
community board and the Landmarks
Preservation Commission – the
agency responsible for identifying and
designating landmarks and buildings
in the city’s historic districts – of
the location of the station prior to its
installation. In making this claim,
Cambridge relied on a DOT station
map from March 2013 that was only
a general map, and which specifically
stated “[t]his map is for illustrative
purposes only. Station placements are
neither exact nor final; locations are
subject to change... .” In contrast, the
bike share station was specifically
identified as being in front of the
Cambridge building on a map dated
April 27, 2012.
The co-op also asserted that DOT’s
decision to install the dock station
in front of the building violated the
Americans with Disabilities Act,
alleging that the station made the
building inaccessible to disabled
residents. The court first noted that
DOT removed that portion of the
station that was directly in front of
the building entrance. Moreover,
Cambridge failed to assert any specific
disturbance. It did not allege that access
to a curb ramp was disturbed, for
example.
The court concluded that DOT
had established that it conducted
a sufficient review, set guidelines,
complied with environmental and other
laws, and determined that placement
of a bike share station in front of the
building did not have a significant
adverse impact.
Hankin & Mazel PllC
Proud to provide personal legal services to co-ops and
condos, large and small, for over 20 years.
attorneys at law
Mark Hankin and Geoffrey R. Mazel, Partners
7 Penn Plaza, Suite 904 • New York, NY 10001
212-349-1668 • [email protected]
The Takeaway
The Citi Bike program, officially
launched in May 2013, has been met
with enormous controversy. The
unofficial, anecdotal opinion of the
authors is that people either love the
program or hate it – there are very few
who have a middle-of-the-road stance.
In any event, although this case is not
specifically about cooperative and
condominium issues (notwithstanding
the fact that the petitioner is a co-op), it
is important.
a Challenging Standard. It is
apparent that Cambridge asserted
good, solid, and extensive arguments to
www.habitatmag.com
challenge the placement of bike share
stations in front of its building. At
the end of the day, however, it is very
difficult for a co-op or condo to meet
the requirements imposed, i.e., was the
action of DOT in installing a station
in front of their building arbitrary
and capricious? Where, as here, DOT
all area
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apparently complied with its own
guidelines, Cambridge could simply not
overcome its burden.
We note that this is a trial-level case,
that there are other cases pending, and
that we do not know how appellate
courts will treat the issue when it is
presented to them.
Think local. This case also reminds
us that co-op and condo boards must
be diligent about following local
politics and familiarizing themselves
with the issues under consideration by
their local community boards. We find
several situations where an item on a
community board’s agenda is belatedly
brought to a board’s attention, so that
the building has to scramble to present
its case.
Often, the board is not advised of an
item that – in its opinion – may affect its
building, so that no director appears at
a community board hearing to contest
the issue. Boards and managing agents
should keep abreast of local issues,
so that they can identify projects of
concern and provide timely comment
on actions for which a city agency or
a private organization has requested
permission.
n
ATTOrneYs
For Defendant: Department of
Transportation
For Plaintiff: Ganfer & Shore
WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER
FREEMAN & HERZ LLP
Creative and Practical
Legal Advice for
Cooperative and
Condominium Boards
Founded in 1888, we provide
comprehensive, timely and
cost-effective counsel.
JEFFREY S. REICH
212.545.4620
[email protected]
MARIA I. BELTRANI
212.545.4674
[email protected]
JEFFREY M. SCHWARTZ
212.545.4678
[email protected]
STEVEN D. SLADKUS
212.545.4700
[email protected]
LISA A. SMITH
212.545.4603
[email protected]
270 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
phone: 212.545.4600
fax: 212.686.0114
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Kane & company, P.A.….................(212)867-5220
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Marin & Montanye LLP………………..516-625-3700
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ivan Brice Architecture/engineering
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robert cane Architect, PLLc….......212-769-9605
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gallet dreyer & Berkey, LLP.................212-935-3131
ganfer & shore......................212-922-9250 x277
Contact Matthew Leeds: [email protected]
Hankin & Mazel, PLLc........................212-349-1668
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Himmelfarb & sher, LLP.......................914-682-0040
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York international Agency LLc......914-457-1285
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Academy Mailbox Ad_4.5 x 4.75.indd 1
“Stats” is a listing of important facts, figures,
and statistics of concern to the co-op/condo
world. it is subdivided into “building Loans,”
which represents a sampling of cooperative
underlying mortgage refinancing deals; and
“management transitions,” which includes
a sampling of buildings that hired new
management firms (takeover dates appear in
parentheses). all data, covering the past three
months, has been voluntarily submitted, and
the omission of any professional from this
section is no reflection on his or her business.
to have your item published in an upcoming
issue, call (212) 505-2030 ext.3006, fax
(212) 254-6795, or e-mail: jwu@habitatmag.
com.
keY:
Br bedroom
B bathroom
dr dining room
eIk eat-in kitchen
lr living room
sf square feet
OTM on the market
nA not available at
press time
MTnc monthly
maintenance
cc common charge
re TAXes real estate
taxes
Management
Transitions
AUTHORIZED
DEALER
stats
Featuring the GT Series, an
entry security intercom ideal
for apartment and office
buildings. Mix and match
modular components to
customize entrance panels or
choose ready-made options!
Manhattan
Morningside Heights
3115 Broadway HDFC
35-unit co-op. Transition to: Veritas
Property Management (11/1/13)
12/15/2011 8:37:28 AM
JMPB ENTERPRISES
EXPERIENCE
JMPB completes 20 hallway &
lobby projects a year and this
experience has refined our approach
to the industry.
A SPECIALIZED APPROACH
Our expert management team steers
a dedicated work force that is
trained specifically for hallway &
lobby projects.
EXTENSIVE SERVICES
With an in-house staff that includes
the finest craftsmen our client’s
imagination is the only limit to the
installations we perform.
OUR GUARANTEE
JMPB offers the most
comprehensive warrantee package
in the industry. Our finishes not
only look great they last.
Call us today for a concept meeting and/or a budget proposal.
Phone 212 371 2222 • [email protected] • www.jmpbenterprises.com
IMPECCABLE REFERENCES
JMPB has completed projects in
every neighborhood in the New
York City. We offer site visits at the
client’s convenience and references
upon request.
www.habitatmag.com
ADVERTISER INDEX
central Harlem
Maple plaza
1919 Madison avenue
155-unit co-op. Transition to: Halstead
Management Company (11/1/13)
west Village
385 West 12th Street Condo
12-unit condo. Transition to: Century
Management Services (12/1/13)
Queens
forest Hills
10 Holder place
44-unit co-op. Transition to: Mark
Greenberg Real Estate (9/1/13)
rego Park
63-84 Saunders Street
120-unit co-op. Transition to: Majestic
Property Management (8/1/13)
Building loans
3235 Cambridge Owners
Riverdale, The Bronx
77-unit co-op, 23% unsold shares
loan: $2.5 mil
term: 10 years
rate: 3.9%
closing: 10/1/13
line of credit: $500K
bank: Valley National Bank
loan officer: Donald Seacrest
building rep: Carl Borenstein, Veritas
Property Management
20 east 9th Street Corp.
east Village, Manhattan
loan: $3 mil
term: 79 months
rate: 4.59%
closing: 10/2/13
bank: NCB
loan officer: Mindy Goldstein
building rep: Orsid Realty Corp.
Van Buren Owners
102-21 63rd Road
Rego park, Queens
loan: $3 mil
term: 10 years
rate: 4.58%
closing: 10/15/13
line of credit: $300K
bank: NCB
loan officer: Edward Howe
building rep: Vision Enterprises
www.habitatmag.com
Academy Mail Box ......................................................................... 58
AKAM Associates ............................................................................ 32
All Area Realty Services .................................................................. 54
Argo Real Estate ............................................................................... 33
Automatic Industries .......................................................................... 8
Bargold Storage Systems ................................................................. 30
Braverman Greenspun ..............................................................Cover 3
Buchbinder & Warren ...................................................................... 54
BuildingsNY..................................................................................... 55
Calray Gas Heat Corp. ....................................................................... 9
Castle Oil .......................................................................................... 11
Cesarano & Khan, CPAs .................................................................. 53
Chutemaster ...................................................................................... 52
Crossword Puzzle, Sponsored by Braverman Greenspun ................ 64
Douglas Elliman Property Management .......................................... 35
Fairfield Property Services ............................................................... 23
FirstService Residential...................................................................... 8
G.S. Dunham ...................................................................................... 5
Gerard J. Picaso Inc. ........................................................................ 15
Habitat Ask the Experts .................................................................. 61
Habitat Source Guide .................................................................. 36-47
Halstead Management Company........................................................ 2
Hankin & Mazel ............................................................................... 53
Hercules Corporation ....................................................................... 25
Hudson Valley Bank ......................................................................... 13
Impact Real Estate Management ...................................................... 27
JMPB Enterprises ............................................................................. 58
Kaled Management .......................................................................... 34
Kipcon .............................................................................................. 13
Lauren & Chase Design Group ........................................................ 24
Lawrence Properties ........................................................................... 7
Lovett Group, The ............................................................................ 53
Mackoul & Associates ...................................................................... 31
Majestic Property Management........................................................ 29
Mark Greenberg Real Estate ............................................................ 63
Matthew Adam Properties ................................................................ 23
Midboro Management ...................................................................... 52
National Grid ...................................................................................... 1
NCB ..........................................................................................Cover 2
New York Water Management ........................................................ 50
Newman, Newman & Kaufman ....................................................... 50
Norris McLaughlin & Marcus .......................................................... 27
Orsid Realty...................................................................................... 15
Plymouth Management Group ......................................................... 35
Pride Property Management ............................................................. 12
Quadlogic Controls .......................................................................... 31
Rand Engineering & Architecture .................................................... 14
Robert Cane Architect ........................................................................ 7
Rudd Realty ................................................................................ 28, 63
Schneider Mitola .............................................................................. 14
Time Warner Cable ...................................................................Cover 4
Tudor Realty Services ...................................................................... 30
Vantage Group .................................................................................. 12
Wascomat ......................................................................................... 29
Wirecrafters ...................................................................................... 57
Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz ........................................ 54
FroM the editor | by tom SotEr
The Specialist
our lawyer was dragging his feet.
He had been with us for about four or five years.
Although he is a sole practitioner, he had always seemed
good for what we needed. He answered our questions
in a no-nonsense fashion, drafted letters when we
(infrequently) needed them, and handled closings (which is
where he made most of his money off us, as his hourly rate
was very low).
Yes, the small
firm was for us. Our
previous lawyers had
all been with large
firms, and although
those relationships had
started off well enough,
they eventually went
south – because of
us, or the lawyers, or
circumstances, I’ll never
know which.
In one case, we
thought our lawyer was
charging too much.
When we complained
to him, he said he’d
look into it – and then
charged us for the
call complaining about being overcharged. In another
case, a board member spoke sternly to a receptionist at
the lawyer’s office. I later got a call from the attorney
complaining that he had found the receptionist sobbing
in the bathroom because of the “harsh” language my
colleague had used in his conversation with her. (He had
simply made a stern-sounding comment about the firm –
which she apparently took to mean her.)
Now we needed our current attorney to step up to the
plate and deal with a situation that had developed. We were
unhappy with his approach, however. For two months, we
had repeatedly called our lawyer asking him to take some
action on a pending matter. He said it would be better if
we got a counsellor who specialized in cases like ours; he
said he had one; then he said she had died; then he said
he had found another, but we would have to communicate
with him through our lawyer, who would act as liaison.
When we said that was unacceptable and we’d have to meet
with the potential lawyer first, he said he would set up a
meeting. Then we played phone tag with our lawyer for
weeks. He was in court, we were told; he’s on a conference
call; we just missed him. The excuses became as empty
as a politician’s promises. When we finally reached our
attorney, he said his specialist lawyer was in Europe for a
week; he’d talk to us on his return.
That’s when we thought, “Well, we’re happy with our
lawyer on everyday matters. So, why don’t we keep him
to handle that and do
what he has been doing
– hunt for our own
specialist attorney?” On
researching the matter,
we found that more and
more small and midsized co-ops and condos
were bypassing their
regular counsel on certain
matters for a specialist
in one area of the law
to come in and handle a
specific case. This is a
common practice with
co-ops employing tax
certiorari lawyers, for
example, who just handle
tax challenge cases.
Sometimes the regular
counsel will suggest hiring a specialist; other times, he will
just bless it and say, “Go ahead. He is better equipped for
this than I am.” At yet other times, he doesn’t even know
about it. Fees can be an issue: the hired gun may charge
$300 an hour and the regular counsel gets an additional
$50 fee because he’s the house attorney.
Attorney Bruce Cholst, a partner in Rosen Livingston
& Cholst, calls it an unusual practice, but nonetheless, he
has served as a specialist lawyer himself. In such cases, he
thinks there’s often an ulterior motive. “Sometimes, I think
they are trying me out” as a replacement for their current
lawyer, he explains.
In fact, it’s really a no-brainer. As management executive
Ellen Kornfeld of the Lovett Company says: “I represent
boards that frequently hire these specialist attorneys and
it’s really quite logical: you wouldn’t hire a civil lawyer for
a criminal case, nor would you hire a criminal lawyer to
handle a co-op matter.”
Unless, God forbid, you were under indictment. But
that’s another story.
n
www.habitatmag.com
Ask The Experts
FINANCE
WATER LEAKS
Pat Niland
FIRST FUNDING OF NEW YORK
BUILDING RESTORATION
George Doukas
CGI NORTHEAST
LEGAL
Robert Braverman
BRAVERMAN GREENSPUN
John Tsampas
SKYLINE RESTORATION
LAUNDRY
Bob & Denise Savino
AUTOMATIC INDUSTRIES
What’s Your Question?
Get the answers to your most important co-op and condo board questions
when you check out Habitat’s online Ask the Experts video series. Learn all the
basics of NYC co-op and condo problem-solving, with straight talk and expertise
from heavy hitters of leading companies.
Our experts will explain a wide range of co-op- and condo-related challenges
through succinct and insightful videos, while offering practical solutions and
products that can answer almost any question and solve any problem.
Find your answers today at:
www.habitatmag.com
WANT TO JOIN OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS?
Please call: Advertising Director, Stephen Hanks at 212-505-2030 ext. 3003 or email [email protected]
www.habitatmag.com
Projects Around Town
spotlight on
Briar Oaks,
4525 & 4555
Henry Hudson Parkway
It was no surprise that the board at
Briar Oaks, a Bronx co-op, proposed
replacing the railings surrounding
the roof. What is surprising is that it
took them so long. They had actually
been installed when the 145-unit,
two-building property had been
built in 1953. By 2011, the Riverdale
cooperative was facing
a dire situation: the
railings’ poor condition
was causing water
to infiltrate into the
apartments. “They were
separating from the
cement [of the roof],”
explains board president
Mary Ann Dowling.
“We needed to seal off
the water.”
The problems didn’t
end there. According
to project manager
Albelisa Kemp of
Rand Engineering
& Architecture, the
building also needed
to install a concrete
band running along the
perimeter of the roof,
where the new railings
would be attached.
New anchors had to be incorporated
into the concrete deck to serve the
safety tie-off lines for any future
repair programs. Kemp says this was
necessary “due to the roof being flat
without parapet walls.”
Adds Jamey Ehrman, project
engineer for Rand: “The old railings
were hollow and anchored into
the roof of the spandrel. The new
railings are solid posts and are
surface bonded to the spandrel. By
eliminating the hollow-tube aspect,
a major source of water infiltration
[would be] eliminated.”
reducing disruption
While that work was crucial to
eliminate leaks, the board members
also decided to kill three birds
with one stone. As long as they had
contractors and scaffolding on the
property, why not renovate the 184
terraces, a long-discussed dream?
With a Local Law 11 inspection
of the exterior façade due by 2015,
the renovation could be done at the
same time as the other work, thereby
reducing disruption to shareholders.
paint: “You could have it completely
abated with lead scarification, which
is the most costly, or do peel-away.”
Peel-away is a process in which a
chemical paste is spread over areas
containing lead or lead paint. Special
laminated paper then covers the
paste while the paint dissolves. The
paste and the dissolved paint are
removed with the paper, and the
area is washed clean. At Briar Oaks,
113 terraces needed the peel-away
process on the floors, curbs, and
fasciae.
finding funds
After the job began, however, the
project hit rough waters. Work on the
terraces became more complicated
when asbestos was found in one. It
got worse: they soon discovered that
some of the terraces contained lead
paint. “We lost several weeks [in
trying] to determine how we were
going to handle it,” says Dowling.
The entire project, scheduled for
completion in November, is now
estimated to be done in May 2014.
Board members grappled with the
issue of ameliorating the lead-paint
problem while remaining within
budget. Ehrman explains there are
generally two ways to remove lead
The board decided that
assessing shareholders
over the course of a year
to pay for the project
would be an unnecessary
financial burden. Instead,
the co-op took out a
second mortgage – at an
even better rate than its
first. To help repay the
second mortgage within
five years, the board set
up a “sinking fund” line
item in the 2014 budget.
This sets aside funds
for when the second
mortgage matures. “We
felt this would minimize
the impact on our
shareholders,” Dowling
says.
And to ensure that the work was
finished in a timely manner, the
board did not pay the contractor
directly, but instead set up an
escrow account to hold the project
funds. The building would pay the
contractor only after the engineer
attested that the work up to that point
had been properly completed.
Despite the setbacks, there
has been little grousing from
shareholders. In fact, an easygoing
and tolerant atmosphere is the norm
at Briar Oaks, says Dowling, who
notes that the co-op contains young
singles and couples as well as older
folks who have been there since
www.habitatmag.com
inception. “It’s a mixture,” she
says with evident pride. “It’s a
real community.”
– Kathryn Farrell
neIgHBOrHOOd
• Riverdale, Bronx
PrOJecT
• Railing replacement on two
building roofs
• Installation of concrete band
along roof perimeter
• Renovation of 184 terraces
InVesTMenT
$2,370,650.80
PArTIcIPAnTs
• Skyline Restoration
• albelisa Kemp, project
manager, and Jamey ehrman,
project engineer, Rand
Engineering & Architecture
• Marshall Kanter and David
Guerrero, Garthchester Realty
• Mary ann Dowling, board
president
MANAGE SMART
$AVE GREEN
Rudd Realty Management is the only
property management firm to offer RECSS
OUR GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVE
saving our cooperative and condominium properties
tens of thousands of dollars.
SMART MANAGEMENT AT WORK FOR YOUR BUILDING.
RUDD REALTY MANAGEMENT
641 Lexington Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY10022
212.319.5000 • [email protected] • www. ruddrealty.com
www.habitatmag.com
a Socialist, a Zebra & RS
Sponsored by
as the old year gives way to the new, we offer more (we hope)
intriguing clues to puzzle over as you take a break from board
duties. good luck!
1
2
3
Across
1. Pun genres
(jumble) - partner in
a top condo and coop law firm
12
5. Short lengthy
lunches?
16
8. Have a mortgage,
e.g.
8
14. NYC Council
has lowered this for
co-op/condo
properties (two
words)
15. Company that
owns and operates
for-profit real estate
(acronym)
16. Type of
apartment recently
purchased by
Leonardo DiCaprio
18. It makes inferior
wood look good
9
6
7
10
11
15
17
18
20
19
21
22
23
24
25
26
31
27
28
29
32
30
33
34
35
37
38
36
39
40
41
34. Two different
horror movies, one
with Ray Milland,
had this title
35. Restore
36. Zebra you don't
find in any zoo
19. Leading lady in
"Man of Steel," first 37. Largest co-op
housing
name
development in the
20. Lease in
world (2 words)
London
39. It's the Pearl in
21. Shade
FDR's speech
23. "She's so vain" 41. Follow logically
celeb who sold her
42. Banksy's
co-op recently
profession?
25. John Adams is
on its back
Down
27. Bed, bath or
1. Entrance
living
2. In a fashionable
29. Architect's
way
creation
3. Word after cutie
31. Apartment
or sweetie
tenant
4. Bank paper
33. As well
5. Linkin Park and
5
14
13
10. Fix an election,
say
12. "Your space,
your style, your
home..." would be
one
4
42
the Allman
Brothers, for
example
6. American
Socialist
responsible for
publishing autobio
of Malcolm X
7. What Standing
Bull never did
24. Restraints, often
financial
25. Portion of
money
26. Forgot the
umbrella result
27. Environmental
essential
28. Parisian gold
9. Give up a claim
29. Horror writer
11. Preparing (3
words)
30. Offer type from
stingy buyers
13. Brooklyn
Borough Hall
column style
32. He sings with
Beyonce in "Dance
for You"
15. Initials of
longtime "Case
Notes" columnist
33. TCM's sister
channel
17. Dorothy's
auntie
20. English "Inc."
36. Judge Judy
wear
38. He was an
Uncle and an
epithet
22. It's a strong
point for the Donald 40. First word of a
Pitt movie
For solution to puzzle: http://bit.ly/janpuzzle
www.habitatmag.com
OurClients
Clientssleep
sleepWell
Wellat
atnight
night
Our
Governing documents updated
Litigation settled
Construction contracts drafted
Disputes with Sponsor resolved
Braverman Greenspun, P.C.
331 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
braverman-habitat-fullpage-bleed.indd 1
Tel: (212) 682-2900
www.braverlaw.net
8/6/13 10:04 AM
SAVINGS FOR YOU AND
YOUR RESIDENTS
Lower the cost of keeping your residents connected – with bulk-rate discounts on TV,
Internet and Phone service.
Time Warner Cable is pleased to offer select buildings these discounted rates through
our shared savings plan. We will work with you to identify the right mix of services for
your residents, and set up turnkey billing and customer service.
To find out more about our shared savings plan, call 212-420-5530 and mention
code 7-B.
Shared Savings Plan is available to qualifying residential buildings in Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey service areas. Savings is applied
to regular retail rates for services included in the Shared Savings Plan. Additional restrictions may apply. Contact Time Warner Cable’s New Market
Development/MDU Department to discuss eligibility and program requirements. Some restrictions apply. Time Warner Cable and the eye/ear logo are
trademarks of Time Warner Inc. © 2013 All rights reserved.
Habitat_11.1_MDU_shared_2013_8.125x10.875

Who`s Who in Co-op/Condo Management

Transcription

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