Question about Condo board for new construction

1) exactly what the coop board does. ensure that the staff is working, the building is maintained, approve buyers (right of first refusal), etc.
2) if you read some of the threads, you'll see that many board members get handouts. others like to be in power.
3) voting, like anywhere else. people present themselves in bios, etc. just like in established coops/condos.

The board turnover/transition is not immediate. They will start to replace the board seats. If your developer is solid, it may not be a good thing to go to owner board.

Board members also take a lot of crap from people... complaints etc.

In my building, people submitted a short blurb about themselves and made a short speech. Pretty obvious who will be elected IMHO when you see the yahoos that show up.

In my building the board transition was immediate since the sponsor sold out within a few months of the Temp. Certificate of Occupancy being issued and they honestly didn't want to be involved beyond that. We are a small building.and were effectively self-managed within a few months of moving in. In my building no one really wanted to be on the Board, but we effectively twisted some arms. I was one of those that got my arm twisted to become Treasurer once my neighbors found out I had a financial background. I didn't really want to become treasurer but since others were either entirely unwilling or did not know how to manage the finances- I reluctantly stepped up.

aifamm is right, I have taken a lot of crap from people- at least initially. Over time, I pressured others into relieving me of my responsibilities once I got us on a solid track- and since then they still come to me for guidance rather than just complaints. While ab_11218 is probably right about point #2 and #3 in many buildings, it just wasn't the case in mine.

Since we did not have a managing agent, my role as Treasurer was to ensure we had a budget that we could stick to, I collected/deposited/tracked common charges, paid the bills for the building, offered all sorts of advice regarding projects planned and imagined, etc. Since I had no prior experience at property management, it meant spending lots of time reading NYC real estate forums, learning about inspection compliance (i.e. Local Law 11, boiler inspections, elevator inspections).

I have learned a lot in the short period I have managed the building.

Yes, they get the benefit of deciding how to spend the Condo's money. Oversee the managing agent. Get treated like the Royalty of the building.

No offense to semerun. or, to anybody else doing it for the right reasons.

Must be a small building if semerum has no managing agent doing this work

Truth is absolutely correct (and no offense taken). If your spending the condo's money- it probably would be easy to assign a contract to a friend- and it wouldn't surprise me if kickbacks were involved in some cases especially in a larger building

Riversider, yes, the building has less than 15 apartments. We did hire a managing agent last year since it was taking up so much of my time. Almost a year in, we are likely firing the managing agent- because all the areas that I managed effectively and timely the managing agent has screwed up. Seriously, it shouldn't take 2 months to deposit common charge checks.

Anyone have any good recommendations for managing agents that will take a small building? We are interviewing a few next week- but it couldn't hurt to get additional recommendations.

If you are considering The Lovett Company -- cross them off your list!

we have a smallish condo with a management company. board works with management company to ensure that all problems are dealt with and to make ongoing maintenance decisions. we have some smart people on our board. it's all good.

semerun, my advise would be to hire a part time person to do some of the "grunt" work. i've worked with at least 10 of them and found most to be partially to completely incompetent. the worst part is, that all of them skim off the top on all repair bills.

Thanks everyone. It looks like the condo board is even less interesting to me than being on a coop board was. I'm slightly disturbed about the kickback and skimming off the top theme running through this thread. Any ideas on how to combat that?

Mack: When I owned a coop, the super was a super-skimmer. When I took legal action; he threw the blame on the live-in handyman and got him fired. Close, but no cigar.

When I moved into my condo, the super was taking kick-backs galore; and shaking residents down for money in exchange for services. Somebody must have threatened legal action; because one day--he was suddenly gone. The condo board had the managing agent send a memo to all owners that stated the super had resigned to go take a new job. Yeah, right!

The part-time doorman/porter was "promoted" to become the new super. He gives out business cards, whenever anybody other than the sponsor or the board members need the smallest thing repaired. Then he gets a kick-back from those business buddies of his.

Pretty soon, he and his pink shirt are going to be history.

Do people get paid to be on the condo board or is it a volunteer position?

No, they don't get paid. And, every time they run into a problem that they have avoided addressing, at the unit owners annual meeting -- they point that out.

As if they don't get benefits from their position. They are treated like royalty, do whatever they want, and in my experience; they break the condo rules more than anyone else. Never mind: not paying certain fees, and getting special treatment from the super and the staff.

"approve buyers (right of first refusal)"

Technically correct. But this is not to be confused with how co-op boards approve buyers -- and the information that co-op boards are allowed to ask for.

Condo "boards" are legally allowed to ask only for the buyer's name and current address. That's IT. Condos requiring "packages" similar to co-ops of prospective buyers is illegal.

Matt- don't know if it's illegal for a condo board to ask for a full package, but I know for a fact that 160 West 66th Street certainly did.

And why exactly is it "illegal" for a condo to ask for all the financial info and reference letters, even if they can't do too much about it (other than first refusal).

"Matt- don't know if it's illegal for a condo board to ask for a full package, but I know for a fact that 160 West 66th Street certainly did."

That doesn't make it legal. That just means that they made an illegal request, and applicants complied with it without challenging it.

***

"And why exactly is it "illegal" for a condo to ask for all the financial info and reference letters, even if they can't do too much about it (other than first refusal)."

Because condo "boards" are not corporate boards of directors like co-op boards are; they are merely an association of homeowners. "Right of first refusal" means only that they can block the sale from going through PERIOD, not necessarily based on the "worthiness" of any given applicant. Their veto power goes only so far as "we don't want this unit to be sold", not "we don't want this unit sold to YOU". Co-op boards, conversely have an entirely different task, as they are evaluating the entry of a new shareholder into their corporate entity.

Apples and oranges.

My condo board asks for "packages and references". It doesn't surprise me that it's illegal. They are a bunch of the most dishonest, unethical people.
ph: 160 W.66th is a building I have been to, visiting a friend. He's up on a high floor: THE best view I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying, in Manhattan!

NYCMatt,

Most Condo Boards ask for packages and review them to determine if they want to exercise their right of first refusal on a rental or sale.

You say it is illegal.

Please provide support for your assertion. Thanks.

the offering plans I have seen regarding a condo board exercising its right of first refusal means that the board would have to BUY the unit out of the condo reserve fund. This is highly unlikely. They cannot block the sale outright just because they feel like it. The owner of a deeded property ( condo ) has the right to sell it whenever to whomever they want barring any restrictions on the deed. What is legal or not depends what's in the offering plan.

"YCMatt,

Most Condo Boards ask for packages and review them to determine if they want to exercise their right of first refusal on a rental or sale.

You say it is illegal.

Please provide support for your assertion. Thanks."

***

You're asking me to prove a negative in law. That's impossible.

Rather, prove to ME what laws on the books give condo associations the authority to ask for this information.

NYCMatt- For something to be illegal there has to be a law prohibiting it. You're stating that it's illegal for the condo board to ask for more information than name and address. If there hasn't been a law established to prohibit them from doing so, then simply requesting that information isn't illegal.

It's not illegal for Condo boards to ask for financials. They just can't turn you down if they don't like what they see except for using the first refusal clause which most condos can't afford to do anyway. They can however just drag the process out long enough for the buyer to walk away.