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kjuneja t1_iu2ajuw wrote

Find out who the board members are and speak to them directly

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pasteldefresa OP t1_iu2b3gf wrote

The management company literally won’t tell me who they are 🫠

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dhdhdfjffjj t1_iu2c84v wrote

Don’t think that’s legal, as a shareholder you’re entitled to a right to vote for board members which is obviously impossible if you don’t know who they are. If you wanna get their attention put fliers up or go door to door to call for an emergency vote to remove the board due to abdication of their responsibility.

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pasteldefresa OP t1_iu2ef1w wrote

Yep this is what I was thinking as well with the fliers…

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Law-of-Poe t1_iu2cac8 wrote

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

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pasteldefresa OP t1_iu2ekno wrote

Thank you this is all great info it seems most is par for the course but the no meeting situation is very unsettling to me… like, what are they hiding?

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_Maxolotl t1_iu2dg91 wrote

the first thing you should be doing is talking to as many neighbors as possible and trying to find out if they're getting the runaround too.

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LongjumpingRhubarb74 t1_iu2an5w wrote

Not really options are stay the course or sell ... I'm guessing you cannot sublet

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pasteldefresa OP t1_iu2b6lm wrote

I can sublet thank god but I’m guessing this will continue to be an issue

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MainPie3588 t1_iu2dwgq wrote

I am in this field & I will tell you straight up, your lawyer and/or broker played you. Neither did their due diligence- a custom questionnaire would’ve saved you tons of headaches. A request for the meeting minutes would’ve shed light on the fact that the Board hasn’t met…no excuse as we conduct meetings via Zoom. Also if that façade needs a lot of work sounds like the Board skipped on previous Local Law 11 work.

1-Who is the management company? They are required to put you in touch with the Board. 2-Try to find out who your building retained to do the Local Law 11 assessment. They should be able to provide the facade report. 3-Get in touch with other residents to see what the overall vibe of the board is. 4-Also your Board is breaching the By Laws as they are required to hold meetings…including an annual meeting of shareholders.

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pasteldefresa OP t1_iu2e89k wrote

This is very thorough and good advice. Thank you. And yes I had the suspicion that my lawyer totally played me and did the absolute bare minimum but that’s another story.

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MainPie3588 t1_iu2ir14 wrote

Oh find out the CPA firm that does your buildings financials & speak with them also, that way you can get the info you want on the buildings financials/history. Also try to find out how much of this assessment is being footed by residents that will be a telltale sign of your buildings reserves.

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Tthoughten t1_iu2awxx wrote

I'll take it off your hands if you want...

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