Does anyone have any experience fighting corrupt co-op boards? The co-op board in my building (small building of 16 units and 12 shareholders) has a built in majority which they have guaranteed themselves by placing people loyal to themselves in apartments over the years and harassing those shareholders who disagree by bringing frivolous lawsuits against them. The Co-op was part of the city's TIL... [more]
Does anyone have any experience fighting corrupt co-op boards? The co-op board in my building (small building of 16 units and 12 shareholders) has a built in majority which they have guaranteed themselves by placing people loyal to themselves in apartments over the years and harassing those shareholders who disagree by bringing frivolous lawsuits against them. The Co-op was part of the city's TIL (Tenant-interim-lease) program which allowed them to purchase the apartments in the building for $250 a piece and further was given a $6 million grant from the city to renovate the building. The co-op has hidden bank accounts which are not included in their annual audited financial statements. The bank accounts contain kickbacks from the original construction money as well as key-money paid for below market leases. Can anyone recomend lawyers/private investigators which they have used to document such corruption and to remove the shareholders responsible? Does anyone have advice on how to deal with this situation? Thanks!
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Be very Careful about posting any information which could be traced back to you. Frankly, I don't trust anyone in this industry and websites like Brick Underground and SE could easily just be wolves in sheeps clothing.
Although there have been some newly proposed legislation in the past few years Coop shareholders essentially have no government or private agency who will enforce their rights.
As far as going to court is concerned... I wouldn't recommend it until you're lucky enough to sell your "shares" FIRST. These people have just as many affiliations in the legislature as they do with your Coop board. Lawsuits are entertainment for them.
Unfair practices in the Coop community have become very well understood in the past decade or so. I think that there will be a grass roots emergence as more and more people like yourself realize the ponzi scheme they've gotten themselves into and look for ways to defend their rights without risking their home.
If you have like minded people in your building try having several shareholders campaign for board election. If you appeal to other reasonable shareholders (not affiliated with the sponsor) then you might begin to change things in your building.
Keep the attention in public forums whenever you get the chance. Ask local politicians what their position is on Coop shareholder rights.
Best wishes to you.
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Response by NYCMatt
about 16 years ago
Posts: 7523
Member since: May 2009
"Does anyone have advice on how to deal with this situation? Thanks!"
I know the person who owns and runs Brickunderground and I assure you that she is not a wolf. She is very well respected in the industry
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Response by LaBoheme
about 13 years ago
Posts: 1
Member since: Dec 2012
To the originator of this post. There is a way to fight your board, I am involved currently in the identical circumstances as you are (also a former TIL situation). Considering you're still suffering the corruption, please get in touch with me at garganator@yahoo.com. I have major newspaper poised to pick up this story in addition to the litigation. Your story could make this a more meaningful fight.
You may want to explore Brick underground
http://brickunderground.com/
I'm not endorsing them I'm just suggesting that you take a look and see if there's anything over there that may be informative. They recently had a thread on board corruption and were looking for war stories from readers.
http://brickunderground.com/blog/2009/11/inside_stories_my_condo_was_corrupt
Be very Careful about posting any information which could be traced back to you. Frankly, I don't trust anyone in this industry and websites like Brick Underground and SE could easily just be wolves in sheeps clothing.
Although there have been some newly proposed legislation in the past few years Coop shareholders essentially have no government or private agency who will enforce their rights.
As far as going to court is concerned... I wouldn't recommend it until you're lucky enough to sell your "shares" FIRST. These people have just as many affiliations in the legislature as they do with your Coop board. Lawsuits are entertainment for them.
Unfair practices in the Coop community have become very well understood in the past decade or so. I think that there will be a grass roots emergence as more and more people like yourself realize the ponzi scheme they've gotten themselves into and look for ways to defend their rights without risking their home.
If you have like minded people in your building try having several shareholders campaign for board election. If you appeal to other reasonable shareholders (not affiliated with the sponsor) then you might begin to change things in your building.
Keep the attention in public forums whenever you get the chance. Ask local politicians what their position is on Coop shareholder rights.
Best wishes to you.
"Does anyone have advice on how to deal with this situation? Thanks!"
Move.
My company Houck Consulting LLC, specializes in reigning in corrupt co-op boards. For more information contact me at det2803@gmail.com or my bio at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=10692255&trk=tab_pro
In response to andwin,
I know the person who owns and runs Brickunderground and I assure you that she is not a wolf. She is very well respected in the industry
To the originator of this post. There is a way to fight your board, I am involved currently in the identical circumstances as you are (also a former TIL situation). Considering you're still suffering the corruption, please get in touch with me at garganator@yahoo.com. I have major newspaper poised to pick up this story in addition to the litigation. Your story could make this a more meaningful fight.