The Porter House Condominium Board seems to be a classic example of waiting to see what happens because we don’t want to incur the cost right now.  Without professional management and seasoned counsel to advise them how to protect unit owners (which is a part of the board’s fiduciary duty by the way) boards wait […]

Serendipity Labs Westport Presents Insulating Yourself from Personal Liability for Your Business September 23rd, 2020 3:00-3:45PM| Q&AtoFollow Many people know that in order to protect their personal assets, they need to incorporate their businesses. For example, forming an LLC for their business is a good first step. However, much more is necessary. Owners often fail […]

Justice Lebovits of the Supreme Court, New York County, just decided that a cooperative shareholder who is facing an award of legal fees against him, must appear at a virtual hearing on the amount of the legal fee award.  The cooperative at One West 64th Street in Manhattan won the case and the Court decided […]

With politics and world events heating up, people have a lot to say and want to publish it out loud.  If they live in a coop, condo, HOA or other community association, however, can a board restrict their free speech?  John wants to put a “Black Lives Matter” sign on the lawn of his HOA […]

Owners are not allowed to defame board members and a defamation claim is a way condos can address bad owners. There have been a lot of articles about the limits on condominiums addressing bad owners and how they are more difficult to address than bad shareholders in cooperatives.  This is true, but there are ways […]

Common charge lien collection sometimes takes a long time and even more so during a pandemic. But, in the end condo boards may have to pull the trigger on foreclosure. Deals can be negotiated during the process while the heat is turned up on delinquent owners, or a new owner who can pay their share of […]

New condominium, cooperatives and HOA’s have to be mindful about time and rights vis-a-vis the sponsor.  Statutes of limitations are the time that an association has to bring a lawsuit to assert claims, before the claims become time-barred.  It is often the easiest defense for a sponsor to end a lawsuit. The 23-23 Condominium found […]

The United States government decided to prosecute an assistance animal discrimination case.  Acting United States Attorney Of the SDNY in Manhattan: “This is yet another lawsuit brought to enforce the rights of tenants with disabilities to live with an assistance animal. With this resolution, we again emphasize that condominiums, cooperatives, landlords, and property managers are required […]

Fighting over a cooperative parking space. Court’s often grant preliminary injunctions to get the parties to seriously consider settling. This case by a coop shareholder against Cherry Lane Owners Corp. is crying out to be settled.  

Water damage + mold growth = lawsuit for damages.  Condominiums and cooperatives have to deal with water damage all the time.  When it happens, even when action is taken immediately to mediate, there may be mold growth that will eventually rear its ugly head.  Where there is mold, you’ll probably find a plaintiff and an […]

New York, Connecticut and New Jersey have self-quarantine requirements.  New York’s Governor just issued an executive order imposing penalties and possible jail time for violators who go to hot spot states and then don’t self-quarantine as required.  Are coops and condos the next targets.  The government went after them when trying to control illegal short […]

The 40 W. 20th St. Condominium has to sue to gain access to their neighbor’s property for an exterior project and the neighbor got $3,000 per month license fee, attorneys’ fees and other protections from the court. Best course is negotiating access agreements while negotiating the construction contract so there are no delays or unexpected […]

New York Governor Cuomo has been issuing a lot of Executive Orders this year because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. One of the more important ones for aggrieved parties and their attorneys involves statutes of limitations.  The time that a complainant has to commence a lawsuit before it is barred is called a statute of limitations. […]

Featured in the April 2020 Cooperator Newspaper.   https://cooperator.com/article/managing-through-the-coronavirus-crisis 

Now that it has become clear that the Paycheck Protection Program is not available to these community associations and there aren’t a lot of other programs out there right now, boards need to focus on making sure common charges and rent are paid and that collections are pursued.  With the local governments putting holds on […]

The inevitable has started.  People are suing because of COVID-19 infections.  A Walmart employee died from COVID-19 and his family is blaming Walmart for not protecting him during his employment.  We warned coops, condos and HOAs that lawsuits will likely happen and that they should be mindful of that in making decisions.   One concern […]

This is a follow up from our article on April 3rd about the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Read the article. Our observation then that it did not seem that the PPP was going to apply to coops, condos and HOAs, is turning out to be true.  Some people in the industry still feel that the […]

When coop, condo or HOA boards rely on management to keep their books and records, getting outgoing management to turn them over to new management can be difficult.  Some states like Florida have enacted laws covering transitions, but many states like New York do not have such specific laws yet.  Reputable property managers handle transitions […]

Many property managers and their coop, condo and HOA boards have been asking about the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and whether those types of entities are eligible.  The advice they have been given so far is to apply and see what happens. The PPP is a first come, first serve program and when […]

Cooperative and condominium boards often have inside information about real estate deals in their buildings.  Boards should tread carefully when they learn of Coronavirus “fire sales” by owners who are challenged economically or just want to escape to a perceived safer location.  With their approval rights or right of first refusal, coop and condo boards […]

The social and business impacts of Covid-19 were largely unexpected.  When community associations entered into agreements that are still ongoing, they didn’t have delay or termination provisions for things like Covid-19.  So, what’s a board to do regarding these contracts where the board or the vendor or contract can’t perform because of the impacts of […]

Pets are fantastic but when they demonstrate the propensity to bite, action has to be taken.  If a board and management do not do so and follow up relentlessly, they can end up in protracted lawsuits when people are injured.  This happened to the Element Condominium board on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and […]

Back in 2015, a condo board president’s toilet repeatedly leaked into the apartment below.  It was determined that the condominium’s pipes to the toilet were improperly pitched.  That was eventually fixed in 2015.  But, it also was determined that the seal around the base of the board president’s toilet at the floor was damaged.  It […]

Guests and invitees to a community may create a higher risk that the COVID-19 virus will be spread throughout the community. While some guests, such as caregivers or health care workers, are likely essential to a resident to whom they are visiting, other persons, such as social guests, contractors or non-essential repair persons, may not […]

With coops, condos and HOAs sheltering in place because of the Coronavirus, boards and their management are faced with many challenges.  In these difficult times, it is possible that building staff may become ill and can’t be replaced in a timely way.  Even when regular staff is in place and healthy,  people may want to […]

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak (“COVID-19”) a pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control has detailed recommendations for individual preparation and response to the outbreak of COVID-19. The President just declared a National State of Emergency and many states including New York declared a State of Emergency.  This is […]

Property managers have been huddling, considering what to advise their condo and coop boards.  Disinfecting wipes and Purell dispensers in the lobby, a great idea but is that enough for a board to protect its residents and avoid liability.   What happens when a unit owner or shareholder contracts the Coronavirus and is quarantined in […]

In New York City, sidewalk sheds are typical.  In many instances, buildings have to install them to perform facade work. If dangerous exterior conditions exist, a sidewalk shed might have to be installed on an emergency basis.  That’s exactly what happened at the Icon Building located at 306 West 48th Street back in 2017.   […]

Amending condominium declaration and bylaws can be difficult; particularly if boards are not guided properly.  The original bylaws when the condo was conceived by the sponsor may be outdated, incorrect or need to be changed for a myriad of other reasons.  If the board doesn’t do it correctly, the condo could get caught up in […]