OP, i don’t know how much of this is a bad co op.

We owned a co op on the UWS for about seven years until last year and experienced some of what you listed.

The only thing that alarms me is the lack of an annual shareholder meeting. Ours had been virtual during the pandemic but we still had one. You should talk to other shareholders and approach the board or board president (with whom you, as a shareholder should be acquainted) and set that into motion. Those meetings, while contentious and having a tendency to drag on, are important in understanding how the building is doing.

We also dealt with major facade maintenance a few years into owning—as in a five-figure lump sum assessment (in our case). We also dealt with a 12 month assessment in our firewall year. While frustrating, it is not unheard of with these old buildings. For you to be surprised is kind of strange. You’re attorney should have vetted the board meeting minutes and come across any upcoming assessments. They should have also asked the management company about that.

As far as the scheduling goes, that’s up to the contractors doing the work. Our façade maintenance was scheduled to last a year and went on for 2.5…this is the typical BS you deal with contractors and not necessarily the buildings fault.

All of that being said, if/when we move back to the city, we will avoid buying a co op because they’re just too much trouble for our tastes. So I get some of your frustrations