managing agent constantly gives fraudulent statements to the board and shareholders, why do they keep this managing company? is it some connection that we don't know about?

i remember last year annual meeting when i handed over a copy of the case law concerning occupancy of the apartment.  i stated that out co op  was around 50% owner occupied and that our proprietary lease stated AND. The managing agent said it stated OR, i corrected him and said it stated  AND

i Just found out that he also told the board of directors that it stated OUR and we couldn't get rid of certain people living in the apartment without the shareholder.
The board of directors are not covered by indemnity insurance  it falls under their not doing due diligence, self dealing, not stopping self dealing when it is made aware to them or they know about it,  and Failing in their fiduciary responsibilities.
I have paperwork, my faxes ,  that covers all of the above and also includes the managing company.

14.  The Lessee shall not, without the written      Use of consent of the Lessor on such conditions as Lessor      Premises may prescribe, occupy or use the apartment or
permit the same or any part thereof to be occupied or used for any purpose other than as a private dwelling for the Lessee(s) and members of the Lessee's family, but no unit may be occupied by more than one family at a time without the written consent of Lessor. As used herein, members of the family shall include spouse, parents, children, parents in law, brothers, sisters, grandchildren or no more than three persons unrelated by blood or marriage.  The term "spouse" as used herein shall also include -a member of the same or opposite sex with whom the Lessor actually resides.  In addition to the foregoing, the apartment may be occupied from time to time by guests of the Lessee for a period of time not exceeding one month, unless a longer period is approved in writing by the Lessor, but no guests may occupy the apartment unless one or more of the permitted adult residents are then in occupancy or unless consented to in writing by the Lessor.

prevent-card-skimming-moneywatch: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

prevent-card-skimming-moneywatch: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

prevent-card-skimming-moneywatch: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

prevent-card-skimming-moneywatch: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

proprietary lease concerning unsold shares

38. (a)  The term "Unsold Shares" means and has
exclusive reference to the shares of the Lessor
which have been issued or transferred to the
Sponsor or as provided in the Offering Plan to con­
vert the premises to Cooperative Ownership to acquir
Unsold Shares or to a nominee or design.ee of such
Individual(s); and all shares which are Unsold
Shares retain their character as such (regardless
of transfer) until an individual purchases same for use and occupancy by himself or a member of his family.

When to Refinance an Underlying Mortgage

When to Refinance an Underlying Mortgage

summary of our original bldg co-op mortgage and the last refinance, we refinanced approx 2 years early ,paid a prepayment penalty and got a higher rate

when we went co op in 1983 we had a 10 year mortgage,ending in 1993, our principle  due was $212,000
this recent mortgage we got in 2008  we gto approx 2 years early,  the existing mortgage was due in 2010.  we paid  15k in prepayment penalties, 39k in refinancing cost and  $3200 for the line of credit of 100k plus we have to keep  a 25k balance in The Westchester Bank .This same bank our president of our coop is an investor in and the owner of the management company  is on the board of the bank . The president who set the whole thing up and never kept the other directors informed  let the other board members know on the night he pushed the mortgage through, that he was an investor., and by law he should have recluse  himself, i doubt he did, not that it mattered, since they are all puppets and do what he says.
this new mortgage is for 1,200,00 at 6.25 for  7 years and the line of credit of 100k is at 1% above the banks prime rate for term of the loan.


 the previous mortgage due april 1 2010 was for $737,675 at 5.875%

why am i the only person in this building that thinks this is suspicious,
also in 2004 the managing agent had a $3000 operating  budget, this year he has a 30,000 operating budget.

Is Your Board Carrying Out Its Fiduciary Duty?

Is Your Board Carrying Out Its Fiduciary Duty?

credit card / debit card only machine in new laundry room=high fraud possibility

i see a big security/identity theft, credit card  fraud with this new laundry room that does not take cash in exchange for a laundry card. 
This new machine  at 1 Hawley Terrace only takes credit cards/debit cards. You dip the card into the machine, who knows who and how many people  have access to the numbers and what precautions are taken concerning  access to these numbers.  If you believe their answers  without a credit card fraud experts testimony, you probably believe  the managing agent when they tell you the incinerator chutes"cannot" be enlarged, or that the doors on the stairwells cannot be stopped from slamming shut . That list of credit card numbers, matched with the buildings address could be easily sold. I would never use a non-bank ATM because of fraud problems. Here the whole building is being put in cc fraud jeopardy . I asked Chase Bank on Astor Place about this yesterday, the three people at the desk agreed with me and have never heard of a machine like this. I already changed my credit card number, i dipped it once, and realized afterwards how crazy this is. My credit card issuer also agreed with me.

 This is the work of your  board and managing company.  To think that John Holzinger, the owner of the managing company is on the board of directors of  The Westchester Bank. This is the same man who refused to speak to me about the $27k zero drop budget error and a number of fiduciary and inside dealings that I  documented by a number of the board members and president / vice president of this co-op. 

treasurer responsibiltes

i just came across this section of a Nov 2010 seminar.

over the last couple years, since the $27k mistake in the budget that john holzinger , the owner of the management company and he is  also a board member of the  newly formed bank we got our new building mortgage from,  the same newly formed bank that our coop president is also an investor in. My questions at the annual meeting of what other board members have business dealings with the management company or are investors in this new bank  to this day are unanswered. I still need to follow up.

i remember asking  the person  i believe was treasurer on what was going on with the mortgage and who had check-signing powers , and how many signatures were required. I also asked what limit the managing agent could write without board approval.

He had no idea. That was about 2 years maybe 3 years ago.

recently i asked one of the few board members that actually are following  the proprietary lease concerning occupancy and living in their apartment.  She had no idea on who had check signing powers, why the maint account was moved to a bank in long island, Why there was no name of the bank anywhere, just an account number. Even the canceled checks come back  with nothing but an account number.  she also didn't think her lack of knowing the money flow was any big deal.

The treasurer who knew nothing about the mortgage and check signing powers, i believe he was the treasurer , could have been the  secretary, they do not post the BOD  titles any more in keeping with the  share owner mushroom plan.

He is an upstanding gentleman, but doesn't understand the BOD responsibilities and what he is liable for.  He made the mistake of listening to the president  of the co-op and managing agent , who give out false information.

i explained to him that he should tape record every meeting or when he votes against something that he believes is discriminatory or improper/illegal   he should state that he wants his opposition noted in the minutes and ask for a copy of the minutes  so that he can insure it is in there.

4. THE TREASURER

The treasurer of a cooperative or condominium oversees all financial activities. While the execution can be delegated to management or to investment

advisors, the treasurer can never relinquish responsibility for ensuring that

all is done. Accountants Norman Prisand and Robert Mellina will enumerate

and discuss the treasurer’s responsibilities, suggesting systems of control

and practical, timesaving procedures .Cooperative or condominium oversees all financial activities. While the execution can be delegated to management or to investment

advisors, the treasurer can never relinquish responsibility for ensuring that

all is done. Accountants Norman Prisand and Robert Mellina will enumerate

and discuss the treasurer’s responsibilities, suggesting systems of control

and practical, timesaving procedures.

hampton-0906.gif (200×264)

hampton-0906.gif (200×264)

collection of co op newsletters

collection of co-op newsletters
collection of co-op newsletters

http://cnyc.com/pdf/nhttp://cnyc.com/pdf/newsletter-gallery/hampton-0906.gifewsletter-gallery/hampton-0906.gif

collection of co-op newsletters, we had one before the internet, however the new board stopped any information sharing

http://cnyc.com/pdf/newsletter-gallery/250cabrini_spring08.pdfgreat co-op newsletters

i need to fax over the info on the ceiling and ice buildup at base of Odell stairs

going to get a couple faxes out to the managing agent concerning the ceiling filled with tiles and the ice build up at the bottom of Odell stairs, the spot where there is no handrail.  i fell last week on black ice at this spot.  i was very,very lucky i landed on my finger tips in a yoga like position. incredible luck, i wont say i have the reflexes of el gato, i was damn lucky, my fingertips stung from the impact, but i kissed them and went looking for ice melt in the main garage.  i don't believe in ignoring a hazard for anyone else. the 2 buckets i found were almost empty, maybe a total of 4 oz of rock salt.  i used that and put the two empty  buckets on the location, so at least people will get a warning that  something is going on there. I am going to fax over to the managing agent and specify it gets distributed to every BOD member  that day.  There should be containers of sand or ice melt to throw in front of you along the path and at the stairs. 

This way the liability is on the board members, the insurance company for the building will not exempt the board members if members  have been prior notified and they did nothing, same with the managing company. At least that is what i have read on the co-op lists. These holes could have been patched  in less than 30  minutes. Portland cement is the generic name.  We used a type of this stuff to build dams and V around manholes we were working in.

it is easy and cheap, just add water. The holes in the garage were not fixed for over a year. I have the pictures posted with the dates. This same crap work is why we were accessed the roof  fees, it is simple and cheap to cover temporarily.  That is what a home owner would do, especially on a roof  that is flat, easily accessible , with a full size door. However it is more money for  some people , such as the the big water proofing company and maybe??  This roof was  ignored for over 25 years with  probably 7 or more different managing agents.

That IMO was the proof that our managing company screwed the share owners big time and has not done the job we have paid them to do. 

 i worked in this field with telco cables, so i know this game.

Best website for learning internet security

steve gibson also has a weekly podcast/webcast on the TWIT.TV network. Steve also has a hard drive recovery tool that is backed by a money back guarantee, i am gong to order one today to check my hard drives. Its purpose is to recover your hard drive if you have a spinning type hard drive failure (not SSD) All the programs on the twit.tv network are great pod/webcasts. i listen them rather then the radio , since i learn ,while doing other chores. Net at night is great to keep up on new , mostly free, Web 2.0 sites hat can make your daily life easier.

GRC | Gibson Research Corporation Home Page

prior contractors dump their construction debris in the walls and in the ceiling, they are paid to carry it out.

i had a leak aboe my bathroom ceiling lastweak. it was nighttime when u returned home and notived water coming out from cracks in thr vertivle wall.

manny came out and busted the ceiling ipen, we were greeted by a load of tiles , unbriken 4x4  and a load of construction debris. none of this stuff should have been in my ceiling. the plasterers worked for a full day in the bathroom, tey said thyhad to plaster above thethey tub, eventhough the leak was abive the sink, seems all the construction debris thatwas dumped there by orior contractors, added to the wet conditiond from the leak , caused the eiling tio bevery weak and needed a ful plasterjob..
in out contracts with the trdesmen, they are supposed to remove from the building all materials.  we pay for this. They are not suppose  to dumpo it in between the walls and floors, to make their life easierand get paqid for work they  didn'tperform. There is also a hazard that they cause, if tise tiles landed on my head, that is not a normal part of a leak, that will be pursedin the courts, so i hope the BOD id checking the insurance certificates very closely of the workers. There are plenty of scams with thesecopys of insurance papers.  The co-operator has a whole section on them.
So wehave contractors that are stealing from us by not removing their debris, plus caisng a haxard that the building/co-op will be liable for.
next we end up paying the plastersa lot more money, since the contractures before made their job muc harder and more time consuming.
The contracors that dumped all theirr garbage in the walls , may have not been thre plumbers that came to fix the leak this time.
which ever contracter that did the inter wall dumping/inter floor dumping, should never be allowed to worrk here again.
 i wonder if it was the bunch that left my door, and no one in the apartement , wide open 3 times in one day.i will come back laterandfix the spelling and gramtcs, just wanted to get this posted

Bedbug-sniffing dogs are raising doubts for some | Seattle Times Newspaper

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

Bed Bug info, knowledge can prevent problems/clarify no bedbugs in this coop

Bat Bugs and Bed Bugs

Where the Dollars Are

Where the Dollars Are

Cooperator

Cooperator

October 2010 Vol. 30, No. 10

The October 2010 issue of The Cooperator newspaper focuses on Board Operations.

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.

Bedbugs reported in this neighborhood, learn and prevent infestation

Keep an Eye Out

Keep an Eye Out

Protecting Your Building from Fraud

Protecting Your Building from Fraud

Fraud Alert

Fraud Alert

Fraud Detection for Co-ops and Condos

Fraud Detection for Co-ops and Condos

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.

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

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

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

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

Co-op Treasurer Charged with Embezzling / Web Exclusives / 2010 May / Publication Content / Home - Habitat Magazine

Co-op Treasurer Charged with Embezzling / Web Exclusives / 2010 May / Publication Content / Home - Habitat Magazine

Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine

Board Talk / Activities / Home - Habitat Magazine

cooperative articles

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Deadly Dozen Refinancing Mistakes / Featured Articles from Our Print Magazine / 2010 February / Publication Content / Home - Habitat Magazine

Deadly Dozen Refinancing Mistakes / Featured Articles from Our Print Magazine / 2010 February / Publication Content / Home - Habitat Magazine

5 Things Those Statements May Not Tell You | High Rise Society

5 Things Those Statements May Not Tell You | High Rise Society

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

finally something done right in our building

 

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.

Gaining Access to Proxy Votes - Real Estate Q&A Blog - NYTimes.com

Gaining Access to Proxy Votes - Real Estate Q&A Blog - NYTimes.com
good comment after to fold

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.

pothole in garage reported months ago

 

0ne of the many articles that concerns this co-op. trip and fall potholes have been reported months ago

 

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

shitty maintenance by managing company , why did we give them a raise?

1 Hawley Terrace Yonkers 10701 a co-op apartment hijacked by board - cupcake - Picasa Web Albums

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.

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.

missing items in official mailed 2009 minutes

I want to clarify when I used the terminology cooking the books somewhere in this blog. Since I don't have access to any of the books, I use that term relating to the annual meeting minutes.
The last couple years has had quite a bit missing from the minutes, items that were important and relative to the operation of the co-operative, but contrary to what the board president want made public. I say board president since i doubt the board voted on what was to be in the minutes. Maybe i will be proved wrong, time will tell.

I will follow up on this as i come across my other notes, I have been busy catching up on my stuff. I was hoping I would find some other people in the building that would look into their biggest investment. I will follow up in my own time frame, I am not selling,I have no hurry. If I was a seller I would be researching what I have written in the preceding posts and if true take action to correct, I have a feeling the banks aren't going to be giving mortgages to co-ops with under 80% owner occupied.

The spelling and sentence structure on the following is going to be poor, I have been meaning to get this on the blog for moths, but am way behind in my projects.

The building manager stated he doesn't use a recording device to ensure the correctness of the annual minutes, he stated he never has. However I remember seeing a recording device being placed on the table in the 2008 annual meeting, that was the meeting where June , vice president of the BOD went off on a tangent about the Jews and other religions and how they don’t do things the way everybody else does. I think the recording device was deep sixed after that meeting as they didn’t want evidence of her opinions on the Jewish religion.
For the record , I wrote a letter to the BOD to have June removed from the BOD due to her prejudicial anti gay remarks she made against a previous BOD member. Her fabrication of complaints in my name and Her self dealing with providing parking spaces to family members that weren't eligible.
Her son in law, the BOD president, did not recluse himself from this meeting or these issue, whereas his children were beneficiary of the parking space in question
If I had known they did not want an accurate transcript of the annual meeting I would have taped the 2009 minutes myself. 2010 will be a different story, I will make sure there is an accurate recording.

I requested that the board members contact information be either posted or included on the memos or in the minutes , one board member, stated she refused to have her contact information made available to the shareholders. The rest of the seated board was mute, my request did not show up in the annual minutes. It is a pretty apathetic building where the shareholders let the board of directors carry on like this. We always had the contact information for all board members included in the memos and annual reports. But this was back when we had transparency and the board members lived in the building.

in the written minutes it states that FIOS will come to the building next year, however the board president stated in the meeting that it would be 2 years.

I asked if any other members of the board of directors had business relationship with barhite and holzinger or were investors in the bank that john holzinger is on the BOD. There were approx three BOD missing from the annual meeting. I never received that answer and that never made it to the minutes.

there were also people present making comments against some of my questions. I had not seen some of these people before, and since many apartments have been illegally sublet, I am not sure if they were shareholders. I still am looking into this.

If you are not a shareholder, you are not allowed to be in the discussion at the annual meeting. The board knows who the shareholders are, we the shareholders do not. The board of directors has allowed so many apartment to be illegally occupied, that every apartment sold in the last 10 plus years has to be looked at , to see who the shareholder is and who is living there.

One of the board members is not a resident of the building and is not a shareholder. A couple of the other board members were not shareholders when placed on the board. Since there is no transparency, and since there are so many proprietary lease sublet violations is impossible for a shareholder to tell shareholder from illegal subtenant.

I noticed in this years minutes when it was my turn to be vilified, that I was mentioned by name three times , and the people who spoke against me from the floor were not identified, they were referred to as “others”, or “many others” . when I contest the minutes I will want the names of the “others” since the minutes are not accurate without this information.
and contrary to what the board president and manging agent say , that the annual meeting is not the place to discuss such things, it is the shareholders only time and place to address issues that have been reported but are still unresolved. Key word is reported to the BOD.
In the 2008 annual meeting an issue concerning the lack of space in the storage room for new residents was brought up. In reality the board presidents family has about 80 percent of the storage room occupied by their stuff.
The board president and wife no longer live in the building. He doesn't list his address as in Yonkers. Pretty unneighborly to be clogging up the storage room when you don't live here.

another article in new york times about co-ops

when-co-op-units-are-in-poor-condition



Real Estate Q&A: When Co-op Units Are in Poor Condition
By By JAY ROMANO
Published: November 20, 2009
If an apartment in a co-op building has fallen into serious disrepair, should a prospective buyer worry that there are other such apartments in the building?
rest of article and check the comments section.

this is a very good resource to look up a lot of co-op questions.
on the right lower side across from the comments , there is a tag list with items such as coops,board makes it easy to find a lot of the coops specific stuff from the archives quickly

cooperator magazine answers a question on co-op president relationship with managing company owner and BOD of mortgage bank

this article is from the October 2009 issue of the cooperater magazine, which is available on-line. Seems the minutes of the 2009 meeting in which it is explained by the mangling (managing agent,but mangling in more appropriate) agent, that this situation is perfectly fine, is not true. It really depends on a lot of things.
Since there is no transparency in this in this co-op. Everything needs to be closely looked at and nothing taken at anyone's word. the shareholders are the only ones that may step up to do this since the Board of Directors has never performed any due diligence. This is evident with the complaints that i and the two or three other shareholders i have spoken too.
i doubt they did their due diligence with the new mortgage.
i hope we got a competitive deal with competitive closing costs. we did have over a year left on the old mortgage which was at an interest rate that was at least a point lower. it can still be looked at , and it should be looked at.
http://cooperator.com/articles/2000/1/QampA-Board-Ethics/Page1.html

Q&A: Board Ethics
By Michael Manzi
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Q Can the president of the co-op board be in business with the managing agent company’s owner without divulging it to the shareholders or other board members? The board members were recently notified that the owner is one of the board of directors and principal owners of a new bank that the co-op has refinanced through. Our board president who is dealing with the company owner is also an investor in this bank. I think the relationship between the management company’s president/owner has compromised the board president’s fiduciary responsibilities to the shareholders. I do not believe the board president has pursued problems allegedly related to the managing company’s poor performance since he wants to be on the good side of the very wealthy and connected owner. As of this time, the shareholders have not been informed of the board president’s business dealings with the owner of the management company.

—Unethical Relationship

A “It was certainly inappropriate as a matter of corporate governance for the board president to be involved, in the manner you have described, without there being full and prior disclosure to the board,” says attorney Michael T. Manzi, of the Manhattan-based law firm Balber Pickard Maldonado & Van Der Tuin, PC. “Keep in mind that any corporate officer may be removed at any time by vote of the board, with or without cause, and a board may elect to terminate a management agreement before the expiration of its term if the agent has failed in its obligations.

“New York’s Business Corporations Law does not specifically prohibit a co-op’s director or officer from having an interest in an entity with which the co-op transacts business (such as a managing agent or a bank).

“However such transactions must be handled carefully in accordance with section 713 (“Interested Directors”) of the statute. All directors or officers of the cooperative should fully disclose any interest they might have in any entity with which the cooperative intends to do business, and the board should then examine and approve the transaction without the vote of the interested director or officer. If the vote of all the non-interested directors is insufficient under the cooperative’s bylaws to approve the transaction, then the vote of the non-interested directors must be unanimous in order to approve the transaction. The interest of the director or officer need not be divulged to the shareholders, unless a vote of the shareholders is required to approve the transaction under the corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws. However, the board might nonetheless consider announcing the transaction to the shareholders, along with an explanation of why it is advantageous to the cooperative. Compliance with these standards should be noted in the board’s minutes.

“Section 713 of the Business Corporation Law also provides that the cooperative may “void” a transaction if the “material facts” of the director’s interest in the transaction or other company were not disclosed in good faith or were not known by the board and the board approved the transaction by a vote that included, and depended on, the vote of the interested director, unless it can be established that the transaction was “fair and reasonable as to the [coop] at the time it was approved by the board . . . .” Thus, the interests of the president in the managing agent and the bank, in and of themselves, are not enough to void the transactions with the managing agent or the bank unless the transactions were unfair or unreasonable. Please keep in mind that “voiding” a mortgage would be extremely difficult and problematic.

“If a cooperative would like to flatly prohibit in the future any transactions with entities in which a director or officer has an interest, or any transactions directly with a director or officer, the cooperative’s certificate of incorporation should be amended accordingly.”

Condo Fined for Forbidding Mezuzah / Web Exclusives / 2009 November / Publication Content / Home - Habitat Magazine

see my previous post under bias about three post down
Condo Fined for Forbidding Mezuzah / Web Exclusives / 2009 November / Publication Content / Home - Habitat Magazine

one board member has always shown that he was trying to do the best for the building

i didn't specifically mention this before, however there is one board member that i have had conversations with concerning the running and problems we faced as owners of this co-op.
if they all were like him i would never have started this blog, There definitely wouldn't be these problems. There is also another new board member that i think will work out ok too.
I still need to post the list of items missing from the annual meeting minutes.

i requested that the shareholders be provided the contact information of the board members. put it on the frequent memos we receive, or at least include it on the budget or annual correspondence.
One board member stated she didn't want that information made public, the rest were mute.
we always had the contact informqtion of all board members, back in the day when there was transparency.
i am sure most of the resident shareholders don't know that one of the board members is not a shareholder and has never lived in the building.
The president doesn't live in the building, but i think most shareholders know that.

the gay bias remarks

a whole separate category is needed for the gay bias remarks by board-members, and this goes deeper than one board member.
Hopefully someone will step up and substantiate other things i have heard
The infamous 2F referral
the recent incident where the board member referred to another shareholder and previous board member as, " those those two, whatever they are,in a very derogatory voice.

favorite board member bias remarks

a little list of complaints i have herd from other residents concerning a boardmember actions. Mind you i took written action to have this boardmember removed due to their conduct, the board must have overwhelming thought it was fine though
which was the most outlandish remarks made by a board member to a shareholder/resident. this is just a start, as i have time will post the plenty more.

1. Telling a shareholder they were not allowed to have the Mezuzah attached to their front door , that it had to be removed.

how many apartments are shareholder owner occupied

the number of apartments in our building that are owner occupied has gone to a level that is precarious to our investement.
However our board president stated that the number of apartments that is owner occupied is high? he doesn't tell half the true story. The board president has been manipulating everthing he can get his hands on and the shareholders have to wake up and stop this junior Madoff scheme and take back this building.
owner occupied means exactly that.
Most of the recent sales have been in violation of the proprietary lease to parents that are having the kids or grandkids occupy the apartments. This is because the board has not been doing their job, that is it plane and simple.The building manger doesn't have a clue to what the laws are concerning co-ops or what the building house rules are, why are we paying and tipping these people?
Probably because of the business relationship/conflict of interest with the co-op president and john h.
one of the board members stated at the meeting said that she will not give out her email or her phone number, she doesn't think that shareholders should contact her.
In reality any shareholder can call her or knock on her door for any building business.

"FAIL" proxy notice for annual meeting

Proxy notice for annual meeting= "FAIL".
Another item i caught, there were a lot of notices all over the building reminding of the annual meeting. In the elevator,laundry room, mailboxes, both entrance doors. I never so so many notices reminded of the meeting. There didn't seem to be a contested election, no one had listed themselves as running in opposition. However the wording on the memo from from barhite and holzinger office was incorrect and indicative of trying to control the voting.
In the memo B and H stated to give your proxy to a board member if you were unable to attend the meeting.
the correct wording is give your proxy to a "shareholder".
I picked up on it right away, since i had read the last twenty plus years of proxy notices.

conduct of board president at annual meeting

6/19/2009

One Hawley Terrace Co-Op Board

Subject: unprofessional conduct, Harassment, 6th grade attempt at browbeating and totally inappropriate verbal abuse and verbal attacks directed at me from board president Mike f 
I asked perfectly appropriate questions during this years annual meeting, some of the questions and statement I made concerned the error I noticed in the written minutes of the 2008 meeting, board members business relationships with John Holzing, and a question on the laundry room contract. I am a shareholder who has resided in this building, before it became a co-op and am a previous board member.

I consider Mike F non-disclosed business relationship with John ha conflict of interest and want to know when this relationship began. I also want to know if any other board members are involved, a few were not present at this meeting . I have always wondered why Mike F praises B and H at these annual meetings while I see evidence of failure to perform basic manager agent functions, such as the recent roof-encapsulating project that the shareholders were accessed. I am sure this gross negligence is adding to the elevator repair bill.

I stand my statement of the incorrect distributed minutes from the 20008 meeting. In spite of mike Fs verbal browbeating and his 6th grade attempts to bully and harass me, I wasn’t embarrassed, i have a medical condition related to my disability where I react to the heat and my face flushes at above 70 degrees when I am perfectly calm. I was unprepared for the 6th grade attacks; however that will not happen again, I promise to read up on juvenile macho behavior and people that try to bully and create divisions in a community.

I also note for the record that I had written the board this summer over a couple of incidents with June K, Mike F’s mother in law. Requesting to have her removed from the board for her unethical behavior, she fabricated complaints in my name to my garage neighbors, trying to create divisions between us. She also used homophobic and racist comments when referring to a previous board member and people in the neighborhood. It looks like the family uses the same playbook.

I want to build a community and a proper function co-op, no more of these senior board members violating written garage policy and skipping the rightful shareholders and assigning the garage spots to their family and friends.

 I also note that Mike F skipped the shareholders annual meeting function of the reading and accepting of last years 2008 minutes. The annual meeting shareholder template is very precise in order of events and Mike F is an expert at conducting meetings having done so for over 30 years. The accepting of the previous year minutes takes pace at the very beginning of the meeting after the quorum has been reached and officially noted.  Since mike F totally skipped that requirement, much latter in the meeting when it was opened up to the floor i brought up my protest to last years written minutes.  I also wish to note for the record that i did see a tape recorder on the table in front of rich P recording the 2008 minutes, however last night rich stated that he never taped last years minutes and never tapes the minutes.  i will check with other co-ops. Including those managed by B and Ho and see if this is the industry standard.

The $27,000 error, which was disclosed at the 2008 annual shareholders meeting, is still not resolved. I am still not convinced proper transparency to the other board members and shareholders were followed.
 I asked Mike F at the 2009 meeting when this error was discovered; he stated he discovered it approximately a week before the 2008 annual meeting, which would place his discovery in the June 2008 time frame.
He stated he, himself discovered it at this time.  This issue is not closed and I will continue to look into it.


 

digital TV house antenna

i am surprised at how many people do not realize that we have had a working rooftop antenna on the building that is wired into every apartment.
That jack in the living room can be accessed via a sub $5 antenna cord from radio shack.
i have been using it for the last 15 plus years, since i got rid of cable tv.
the antenna provided all network tv channels 2,4,5,7,9.11.13 and maybe more uhf.
the signal was as good as cable tv's .
Naow that the digital trnasgression has changed the building need to get a adapter to provide digital TV to the building.
it basically is the same as a set top converters , but for the whole building.
i know a lot of people in these tough economic times don't want to give cablevision money they don't have to. if your interested in HBO and sports you need cablevision or FIOS ( another post).
however if you just like to watch network TV at no charge, like the old days , and use netflix or streaming movies for everything else, the rooftop antenna is great.
I get the feeling that the co-op managing board may be against the cost of converting the antenna, i think the price would be under $500, or i should say , SHOULD be under $500.
In NYC the tenants can request a rent decrease since the landlord is now providing less service.

election, reelection board member is not a shareholderannual meeting

i just heard that gino, running for reelection is not a shareholder anymore.
none of the board members bothered to enclose any reach information.
no phone numbers,emails etc.
Are there any shareholder in this building that cares what is going on?

auction or no auction? lawyers say no, board say yes

i called the lawyers office on Friday tying to find out particulars on the auction, such as type of payment required, any minimum bid or reserve price.
the lawyers office told me the auction was cancelled, so they wouldn't give me any information.
Contacted a board member, who contacted the president and the building agent manger, they said the auction was still on.
This is crazy, but typical sad to say of this building.
They need to reschedule due to lawyers office not providing correct information to potential buyers, if in fact it is not cancelled.
otherwise it is a set up for a inside deal.
I believe the Bank paid off the co-op on Friday , so there is no money owed to the co-op now and the bank has the right to auction it.
This would make a lot simplifier for a buyer.

one apartment has been foreclosed

sucks, for the person who was there and the difficulties they must have faced and the maintenance cost that we will have to bare

good size rally across the street, no participation from 1 Hawley terrace?

i had one of my rough nights and just got up around 1145am , so i couldn't get ready to go to the rally across the street. however i can see it and hear it. They are acknowledging all the co-ops and buildings that are participating, didn't gear them mention 1 Hawley terrace, the closest building?.
why is that ? where is our board?
i hope this isn't a one time grandstand, i would really love to see a community organization in this neighborhood.

Joan Gronowski District 3

Patricia McDow is the coucilperson for some of the addresses up the street.
Joan Gronowski is our councilperson
District 3
Office: 914.377.6313

board president is not in business with owner of managing company per john H of B&H

modified posting headline to update the information i have received from john H that he doesn not have any business dealings with Mike F.
In my simple mind when a boardmember of a newly formed bank solicts someone to invest in their bank, it is a business dealing. Per john H letter, he has no business dealing with the board president. I use the word solict, because that is the terminolgy and word the board president used in the annaul meeting.

originail post= in case you didn't know. i didn't know until recently. Our board president has some kind of business relationship with John F. Holzinger Jr.
i don't know how long this has been going on, but i have problems with it.
i believe this was first divulged to the board members when they refinanced using John F. Holzinger Jr Bank. I think out president is a big investor in this bank.
This Bank IMO has political issues that are contrary to our neighborhood.
The Bank is a big supporter of the project on Alexander street and JFK marina.
This project would be a disaster for our neighborhood.
i always wondered why no one from our co-op board was at the meetings at city hall concerning the alex street master plan.
our building has a conflict of interest with the company we pay.

rally sunday across street

lots of leaflets out from RCCY this weekend , think there is a rally today , whoops make that Sunday at 1pm.
i am pretty outspoken, so i will say it here and have said it locally,
RCCY really does not act as a community organization for us. Nor would i call them our community group.
i have contacted them quite a bit in the last two years, since i first heard of them.
They only seem to have one issue , don't block their views. Now they are getting involved with the Pit , That is a good sign. The people ar the greystone buiding 1085 Warburton , must be going nuts with that disaster, imaging trying to sell if your facing that side ?
at least on this flyer they are speaking up about the disaster that forced the people next to the "PIT" out of their house , was it one or two Easter ago?
i need to check the zoning map they are trying to change to make sure our area, especially Harriman avenue is included.
i support the low rise zoning regardless, this neighborhood has nothing of a retail, social presence, so much could be done here if we had some interested people. we have a tremendous amount of open usable green space that could be put to use as a community garden .

i'm back

it has been a long time since i kept up with this blog, without any community feedback or support, or seemingly interest , i have caught up on some of my own personal to do list. i also have medical issues that wipe me out for periods of time, and require my complete attention. This is a reason i don't want to be a board member. that can always change, and i can tell i still know more about the operation of this building , the laws, and building maintenance than a majority of out board members, on my worst days. We have a couple good members, and we need to support them. It is a real shame that bob Riley stepped down, that IMO is because we, I , did not help him out and give him support. Dealing with board members that refuse to give you the information you request , you can not do your board obligations..
getting involved in the co-op was the last thing i wanted to do, since i live here and like everyone else , just want to live my life without more stress.
hopefully with warmer weather i will see people outside and try and form some support since, as far as i see we have some big problems in the building.
i will place them under separate posts so they are easy to index.
i had done quite a bit if correspondence with the managing agent, the owner of barhite and holzinger refuses to speak to me .
i found out that the owner of our managing company has been a business partner of our board president , i don't know how long this has been going on but , IMO that explains a lot of the looked over stuff. since i haven't found much of any support or feedback in this building , i am going to go big with a co-op blog, concerning the whole metro area.

A xmas miracle

they are putting on the railing for the front steps!
a xmas miracle.

front steps?

any one know what the story is on the front steps?
did the builder take the money and run ?
did the co-op make the mistake of paying for the job before it was completed and inspected?
the story about the rails being on order is pure BS , rails are cut and welded on premises in a day.

new windows on first floor stairways look good

nice surprise to see something positive and work actually get completed.
i was thinking about the request for the windows in June's meeting and noticed that had not been installed as of last week.
i was wondering if they would still not be completed by the next annual meeting.

these scammers were in the building last month

idt energy - Consumerist

the managing agent will be asking the board for their holiday tips soon

one of the items i tried to stop when i was on the board was the tipping of the managing agents, i hear that it has even gotten worse where the managing agent has tried to get tips for their staff that handles the mailing and billing. the co-op pays for these services ,
i believe the board declined the request to tip the administration staff at b and h , maybe that is why the mailing this year have been going out late and there have been a lot of problems with maintenance bills and bookkeeping.
the super does extra work outside their contract for the building and should be tipped.
the managing agent doesn't even do the job they are paid to do , no way should they be tipped, this is not directed specifically at the current managing agent , but all the manging agents.
i member when i was on the board the managing agent at the time had the audacity to send A memo to the board requesting a tip and specifying what amount it should be.
managing agents should not be tipped, let your voices be heard, it is your maintenance monies.

Velocity at Greystone development in Yonkers faces foreclosure | lohud.com | The Journal News

Velocity at Greystone development in Yonkers faces foreclosure | lohud.com | The Journal News

stairs and sidewalk completion

The stairs are being unusable for over 4 months, and the railings by Hawley terrace are about 5 or 6 months overdue.
The story is that we are awaiting the railings, the reality has to be something else.
it takes less than one day to weld and place railings .
the non shareholders here probably have more bargaining power since the tenants may be able to get a rent decrease for the amount of time the terrace stairs have been under construction, the 2 week time frame was sufficient to complete the project.

going on 4 months for stairs ?

what is going on? The railings can be made by any local welder, it is iron not imported brazaillian hardwood.
this is [past crazy and the continued lack of communication from the top of the co-0p board, plus the vice pres and pres using their position for personal gain, and their refusal to remove themselves from discussions where they had finical interest in the outcome is just heaps more of shady dealings that will be moving forward to higher leveled.
note to co -op board members you should investigate and talk to the people that are using some board members of discriminatory and homophobic/racist actions, and not just let the president lead you down a personal liable path. do not let their personal liability become your personal liability. you are NOT indemnified for these actions, especially if you haven't performed due diligence.

how to handle problems with a co-op board

NYS Attorney Generals CO-OP FAQ

A New Board Member Asks to See Old Minutes - Real Estate Q&A Blog - NYTimes.com

this is from a co-op legal question article in the NY times, this is something the newer board members should be aware of, they have the right to look at any document t since incorporation.
A New Board Member Asks to See Old Minutes - Real Estate Q&A Blog - NYTimes.com