To clarify, there are no cases of bedbugs in this coop, the reason i have been posting all the links and info is knowledge is the most important way of keeping them away.
There have been cases reported in nyc where exterminators have been milking the apartment owners for thousands of dollars, with no relief.
unscrupulous Exterminators can use the bedbug scare as their guaranteed income fund. Coop can get scammed out of thousands a month, and in our case that is a big problem as our BOD has never done their due diligence on any matters that i have brought to their attention, Our managing company IMO should have been replaced long ago, the rooftop waterproofing as the final straw. Over 25 years as the managing agent and they either never opened the door to walk around and inspect the roof or waited until it was a big multi thousand job to give to one of their contractor friends.
Home & Garden | Bedbug-sniffing dogs are raising doubts for some | Seattle Times Newspaper
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Cooperator
Cooperator
October 2010 Vol. 30, No. 10
In this issue, you can read about codes of ethics, handling closed-door meetings, and board etiquette
Visit our archives to see other articles that were published in 2010.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
update: board member has no idea on who has check signing powers for co-op and doesnt see why they would want to know
This female board member who lives in the building also has no idea why our maintenance monies is now being processes by a bank in long island ny. This is the same board member who stated they refused to have their contact information made available to the shareholders. I asked for this two annual meetings ago.
worse is the sheep in the annual meeting, my fellow shareholders did not open their mouths to back me up.
The BOD members present at the meeting should have spoken up and offered this info to evereybody, but they act like puppets. It is Sad,
i rarely ask a question when dealing with the BOD or managing company that i do not know the answer to already .
This way i know if they are honest,up to date on regs and laws, or bs artists. Our co-op falls into the BS category. I also check on any answer they give meandat i am not 100% sure of. I take none at their word, they have not shown that type of integrity concerning BOD operations. In thier personal lives i believe some have outstanding integrity,let me be clear on that. I speak no ill out side of the BOD operations.
It is the the requirement under BCL, that the BOD contact information be made available, that is the law that governs NYS co-ops.
Who in their right mind would buy in a place with this kind of board. The few remaining shareholders that live in the building better step on and start reading, i have made it easy for them, i post links to articles that are related to the building
myself and one other person have fortitude and guts in this building. A bunch talk but Talk is cheap , put it in writing or it is talk, not action.
worse is the sheep in the annual meeting, my fellow shareholders did not open their mouths to back me up.
The BOD members present at the meeting should have spoken up and offered this info to evereybody, but they act like puppets. It is Sad,
i rarely ask a question when dealing with the BOD or managing company that i do not know the answer to already .
This way i know if they are honest,up to date on regs and laws, or bs artists. Our co-op falls into the BS category. I also check on any answer they give meandat i am not 100% sure of. I take none at their word, they have not shown that type of integrity concerning BOD operations. In thier personal lives i believe some have outstanding integrity,let me be clear on that. I speak no ill out side of the BOD operations.
It is the the requirement under BCL, that the BOD contact information be made available, that is the law that governs NYS co-ops.
Who in their right mind would buy in a place with this kind of board. The few remaining shareholders that live in the building better step on and start reading, i have made it easy for them, i post links to articles that are related to the building
myself and one other person have fortitude and guts in this building. A bunch talk but Talk is cheap , put it in writing or it is talk, not action.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
security problems 1 hawley terrace
i
I came in on the 27th and found the hawley terrace door left top lock lever in the open position. When i was using my key i realized the left door felt loose. i checked and someone had opened the top lock, this way they could jimmy the solenoid lock. You can see by the scrapes on the door, by the lock and the missing screws in the lock, that this is all preplanned for easy illegal entry. i checked the patio door and they were ok, the lever locks were in the locked position.
Tonight aug 31, came in after a walk around 9pm and the patio top lever was opened. this woulds make it easy to jimmy the lock.
security along with maintenance is extremely lacking, I hope that when the shareholders get their maintenance increase they realize that the board gave the manging company a raise this year. If you look back on the pictures i have posted here, The pot holes in the garage and in the areas where people walk were not fixed for about a year, some were reported to barhite and holzinger, the managing company twice. This is a easily grounds for a lawsuit , if there is a trip and fall. the good news is , if the problem was pointed out to the board and managing agent, their protection under the boards indemnity insurance, may become null and void, and they will be responsible , the old lack of due diligence again. it is a shame that the few shareholders left , about 60%, not the 80% it is supposed to be let themselves be walked over and have they investment ruined by these people.
these are sheep going to slaughter, unless they fax letters and demand board of directors contact info, they are doing nothing .
Nothing was mentioned in the annual minutes about the illegal change to the method of voting for board members.
There is a free magazine called the cooperator, and it has an on- line section. There is also a web presence called the Habitat, it is all about nys co-op laws. The new york times has a co-op q & a section. i believe my letters and questions concerning this building have been in all , with all opinions favoring my position . Read and Learn
I came in on the 27th and found the hawley terrace door left top lock lever in the open position. When i was using my key i realized the left door felt loose. i checked and someone had opened the top lock, this way they could jimmy the solenoid lock. You can see by the scrapes on the door, by the lock and the missing screws in the lock, that this is all preplanned for easy illegal entry. i checked the patio door and they were ok, the lever locks were in the locked position.Tonight aug 31, came in after a walk around 9pm and the patio top lever was opened. this woulds make it easy to jimmy the lock.
security along with maintenance is extremely lacking, I hope that when the shareholders get their maintenance increase they realize that the board gave the manging company a raise this year. If you look back on the pictures i have posted here, The pot holes in the garage and in the areas where people walk were not fixed for about a year, some were reported to barhite and holzinger, the managing company twice. This is a easily grounds for a lawsuit , if there is a trip and fall. the good news is , if the problem was pointed out to the board and managing agent, their protection under the boards indemnity insurance, may become null and void, and they will be responsible , the old lack of due diligence again. it is a shame that the few shareholders left , about 60%, not the 80% it is supposed to be let themselves be walked over and have they investment ruined by these people.
these are sheep going to slaughter, unless they fax letters and demand board of directors contact info, they are doing nothing .
Nothing was mentioned in the annual minutes about the illegal change to the method of voting for board members.
There is a free magazine called the cooperator, and it has an on- line section. There is also a web presence called the Habitat, it is all about nys co-op laws. The new york times has a co-op q & a section. i believe my letters and questions concerning this building have been in all , with all opinions favoring my position . Read and Learn
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A New Lease on Life?
Does "˜And' Mean "˜With'?
The occupancy clause of the lease states that the shareholder and members of the immediate family are the only legal tenants of a co-op apartment. (Same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples are protected under the New York Roommate Law.) For the nuclear family raising two school-age children, this works out simply enough. But what happens years later, when the shareholder decides to relocate to Paris but hang onto the apartment, enticing one of the now-grown children to return to the nest?
In this scenario, the meaning of the word "˜and' is the difference between a very lucky child and an illegal subtenant. "The courts have read that conjunction as very important," says Murray. And, over the years, they have also read it differently.
"One said that "˜and' means "˜or' and another court said that "˜and' does not mean "˜or,'" says Weinstein. More recently, courts have been ruling consistently in favor of the latter. A shareholder's children can only reside in the apartment when the shareholder is in residence. Otherwise, they're right alongside the rest of the city's apartment seekers, holding a broker's check in hand, in line to tour a tenth-floor walkup. In order to terminate the "and/or" debate, drafters of the CNYC's updated lease sought to write an occupancy clause with unbending definitions.
http://www.cooperator.com/articles/794/1/A-New-Lease-on-Life/Page1.html
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine
i asked a question concerning the statement on our financial that states that our reserve funds may not be not be or may be in excess of FDIC insurances.
Read the responses at the habitat CO-OP magazine . A magazine everone should read, unless they don't care about losing all their monies.
Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine
Read the responses at the habitat CO-OP magazine . A magazine everone should read, unless they don't care about losing all their monies.
Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine
FDIC regulators close seven banks; failures may cost insurance fund $7.33 billion
i always thought is was totally insane in the last two years to keep any of our reserve funds in non fdic insured funds. i wouldn't keep my personal monies in a non fdic fund, yet i see every year on our co-ops financial that our reserve fund may not be fdic insured.
FDIC regulators close seven banks; failures may cost insurance fund $7.33 billion
FDIC regulators close seven banks; failures may cost insurance fund $7.33 billion
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
and the board gave barhite and holzinger a raise to manage the building
These holes are getting bigger and bigger, the one outside by the garage door is 3 feet now and getting deeper. This pothole has been here for over a year and was there when they blacktopped the area to about 2 feet to the right of it. The board made a decision to not fix it and blacktop the rear of the driveway.
The hole in the garage was reported to barhite and holzinger management about 6 months ago.
The hole in the garage was reported to barhite and holzinger management about 6 months ago.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine
Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine
The link above is a good site for questions and answers. It goes into depth on many aspects of coop living and the problems with managing agents and boards that pilfer the funds, which are becoming quite common in the news.
i am not saying that is happening in this building, however i do not think we have one person who is watching the books and accounting.
i noticed the managing agents operating budget monies had been tripled this year?
i think there are articles in habitat and in the cooperator where it is explained why this is a bad idea.
i remember asking a board member, which board members had check signing authority and who was the second.
They had no idea. This is a very bad sign
The link above is a good site for questions and answers. It goes into depth on many aspects of coop living and the problems with managing agents and boards that pilfer the funds, which are becoming quite common in the news.
i am not saying that is happening in this building, however i do not think we have one person who is watching the books and accounting.
i noticed the managing agents operating budget monies had been tripled this year?
i think there are articles in habitat and in the cooperator where it is explained why this is a bad idea.
i remember asking a board member, which board members had check signing authority and who was the second.
They had no idea. This is a very bad sign
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Treasurer of Mt. Vernon co-op complex charged with stealing $180G | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Treasurer of Mt. Vernon co-op complex charged with stealing $180G | LoHud.com | The Journal News
THESE Types of frauds and thefts have been getting exposed with the dump of the economy. Rockland county co-op also had a treasurer theft.
These thefts can happen when a solo board member or a team of senior controlling BOD (board of directors) takes control of everything and doesn't pass on all information received to the other board members in a timely manner, meaning within the week received. not at the next board meeting, which in our co-op could be months away. The Board members that allow this to go on are not performing their board duties.
i have documented and written the BOD not doing their fiduciary responsibility a couple times.
The 27,000k budget zero drop may be one instance , The president of the BOD refuses to state when this problem was discovered. I asked this question again. at last years, 2009 annual meeting. The answer i received was a sarcastic That evening. The fiscal year ends in feb i believe, need to check on that, but is is not december and it is early in the year. The board meeting was in June, I asked one board member when they were told about the budget error, they said within about a week of the annual meeting. The error had to have been discovered by the end of the fiscal year , most like much sooner. Why this was not relayed to the other board members is a matter of concern. The board members themselves should have made known that they are to be informed of all board business within a week, if not the dame day.
I have written the BOD concerning their lack of fiduciary responsibility and the Inside dealing concerning the assignment of parking spaces, i get back a answer that they are doing everything correct.
At least i have laid the ground work for liability , and i doubt the BOD are indemnified in these actions.
THESE Types of frauds and thefts have been getting exposed with the dump of the economy. Rockland county co-op also had a treasurer theft.
These thefts can happen when a solo board member or a team of senior controlling BOD (board of directors) takes control of everything and doesn't pass on all information received to the other board members in a timely manner, meaning within the week received. not at the next board meeting, which in our co-op could be months away. The Board members that allow this to go on are not performing their board duties.
i have documented and written the BOD not doing their fiduciary responsibility a couple times.
The 27,000k budget zero drop may be one instance , The president of the BOD refuses to state when this problem was discovered. I asked this question again. at last years, 2009 annual meeting. The answer i received was a sarcastic That evening. The fiscal year ends in feb i believe, need to check on that, but is is not december and it is early in the year. The board meeting was in June, I asked one board member when they were told about the budget error, they said within about a week of the annual meeting. The error had to have been discovered by the end of the fiscal year , most like much sooner. Why this was not relayed to the other board members is a matter of concern. The board members themselves should have made known that they are to be informed of all board business within a week, if not the dame day.
I have written the BOD concerning their lack of fiduciary responsibility and the Inside dealing concerning the assignment of parking spaces, i get back a answer that they are doing everything correct.
At least i have laid the ground work for liability , and i doubt the BOD are indemnified in these actions.
Friday, April 23, 2010
new york times answer concerning board member absolute right to know and good comment
new york times real estate section, questions and answer concerning co-ops.
this section is great for gaining knowledge on co-op laws and is easily searched using keywords.
Real Estate
Real Estate Q&A: Gaining Access to Proxy Votes
permalink:
http://realestateqa.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/gaining-access-to-proxy-votes/
By By JAY ROMANO
Published: March 26, 2010
I am on the board of my Queens co-op. The president of the board always seems to know how everyone voted by proxies at the annual meeting. I’ve asked to see the proxies, and have been told that no one is allowed to see them. What is the law on this?
folllow the link for the whole question and answer,
here is the comment posted
escapefromyonkers
westchester,ny
March 31st, 2010
11:48 am
which is a reason to strip the board power to assign the parking spaces in indoor parking premium areas. They have the inside knowledge of who a shareholder voted for, and if you didnt vote their lines you will be skipped forever on the waiting list,
in my co-op at least three board members have been self dealing parking spaces to their non-shareholder children/grandchildren, skipping disabled shareholders and other shareholders on the waiting list for 10 years.
i even wrote the board and called them on it, i have my space,but will not let a board self deal. As usual they disregard the written garage rules, and no longer provide them to residents. They make believe they no longer exists.
There should be fines and economic sanctions that they are personally responsible for if caught self dealing.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
approx 50% owner occupied
i came up with a rough estimate of 30 owner occupied apartments to the 59 we have in the coop. i used the proprietary lease for the parameters of owner occupier.
the board president is not an owner occupier, nor are some other board members.
in reality we have 50% owner occupied. That is why the building had gone to shit.
we have at least one resident that should have never moved in, should habe been evicted the first month, since he was not the shareholder.
he has caused many problems for his eifghbor, yet the board and manging company refuse to do anything. could be more inside dealing.
But 50% is real bad
going to be hard to sell , since the word is out.
Dont shoot the messenger ,thank your board
the board president is not an owner occupier, nor are some other board members.
in reality we have 50% owner occupied. That is why the building had gone to shit.
we have at least one resident that should have never moved in, should habe been evicted the first month, since he was not the shareholder.
he has caused many problems for his eifghbor, yet the board and manging company refuse to do anything. could be more inside dealing.
But 50% is real bad
going to be hard to sell , since the word is out.
Dont shoot the messenger ,thank your board
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
couple clips from the Q and A of the cooperator magazine.
i am floored that the shareholders in this building let themselves be screwed by the manging company and the Majority of the board that do not do their job.
i really worry about the finances since the $27,000 zero drop budget error, which no board member caught, means no one is watching the money. you can get a free subscription to the cooperator magazine. There is also an online edition that is easier to look up articles , they are all online AFAIK. cooperator.com
There is a lot of of legalize. by lawyers. A lot that relates to the problems that shareholders in this building are experiencing .
As soon as i figure out how to get my scanned page in here it will be updated.
i really worry about the finances since the $27,000 zero drop budget error, which no board member caught, means no one is watching the money. you can get a free subscription to the cooperator magazine. There is also an online edition that is easier to look up articles , they are all online AFAIK. cooperator.com
There is a lot of of legalize. by lawyers. A lot that relates to the problems that shareholders in this building are experiencing .
As soon as i figure out how to get my scanned page in here it will be updated.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
optonline internet very slow
my cable connection has really slowed down.
i ordered boost last month for the free trial.
for a while it was great. i was getting over 30megs download. i was faster than anyone in the area, including fios. This surprised me.
however the last week the connection slowed to a crawl, did some testing with ool and they are dispatching tomorrow.
i am always surprised how many people pay for speeds they don't get.
verizon dsl really screwed me over last year. they scammed me on the try dsl free. i went to cancel within the allotted time and turns out the verizon salesperson had lied extensively to me. They told me the conversation was being recorded. so i though i was ok. turns out they was no taped conversation. i knew they couldn't deliver the speeds they promoised , never let my cable expire, and used the dsl maybe two times, just to test the speeds. since it was half as fast as the optonline regular service, it wasn't worth the hassel to use the dsl. i followed up as far as i could. i was going to bring them to small claims court, but had too many personal items going on. it was more the principle of them scamming the customer. they use contracted salesman that promise you anything to get a sale , when you go to terminate your service within the free period, you find out that it was not 90 days, it was 30 days. i don't think i even hooked up .
i tried to get the first dsl in this building. i measured the cable impedance and had the cable records corrected. i worked for verizon at the time and i installed dsl, and specialized in cable maintenance.
I doubt anyone in this building is getting what they are paying for with verizon dsl.
i was surprised that boost was faster than verizon fios.
i ordered boost last month for the free trial.
for a while it was great. i was getting over 30megs download. i was faster than anyone in the area, including fios. This surprised me.
however the last week the connection slowed to a crawl, did some testing with ool and they are dispatching tomorrow.
i am always surprised how many people pay for speeds they don't get.
verizon dsl really screwed me over last year. they scammed me on the try dsl free. i went to cancel within the allotted time and turns out the verizon salesperson had lied extensively to me. They told me the conversation was being recorded. so i though i was ok. turns out they was no taped conversation. i knew they couldn't deliver the speeds they promoised , never let my cable expire, and used the dsl maybe two times, just to test the speeds. since it was half as fast as the optonline regular service, it wasn't worth the hassel to use the dsl. i followed up as far as i could. i was going to bring them to small claims court, but had too many personal items going on. it was more the principle of them scamming the customer. they use contracted salesman that promise you anything to get a sale , when you go to terminate your service within the free period, you find out that it was not 90 days, it was 30 days. i don't think i even hooked up .
i tried to get the first dsl in this building. i measured the cable impedance and had the cable records corrected. i worked for verizon at the time and i installed dsl, and specialized in cable maintenance.
I doubt anyone in this building is getting what they are paying for with verizon dsl.
i was surprised that boost was faster than verizon fios.
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