co op board meeting minutes availability

sorry for the bad spelling and typing... I'm on my phone

They should certainly have the financials. Not sure about minutes.

Boards are not paid and therefore have no basis to rush to get things done. On the other hand, the financials should have been completed awhile ago since the monthly maintenance will be based on those numbers. Unless of course they are trying to hide something.

Your lawyer is right -- it's absolutely normal. That's because the typical procedure (I'm a former board member in 2 different buildings) is to have the meeting, then the minutes are produced and circulated to board members, and at the next board meeting any corrections are made and a vote taken to approve the minutes. If at a meeting there isn't a quorum, the vote to approve the minutes would have to be delayed (along with any other official business or votes) until the next meeting. So in your situation, it's conceivable that the meetings took place, minutes written, but they won't be voted on until the July meeting after which time they are available for reviews such as yours.

Annoying? Yes. But fishy? Probably not.

As for the financials, it depends upon the coop's fiscal year and timetable set by the governing documents. For example, in our coop we don't yet have 2009 financials; we'll get them at some point in August. But your attorney can ask the managing agent if in 2009 there was anything surprising or significant which is probably what you're trying to glean anyway. The managing agent may also be able to tell you attorney if any decisions were made at the April and May meetings that were material, e.g., to increase maintenance, put a special assessment in place, major litigation, etc. -- especially anything that was disclosed to the shareholders after the April and May meetings.

Hope this is helpful and good luck with the purchase.

Does the managing agent have to tell the buyer's attorney if the were assessment, maintenance, or something need to be fix? I'm in a similar situation where I'm going to buy into a coop and 2009 financials are not out yet. I want him to look at minutes to make sure they will no extra costs.

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate it!

If the seller really wants to sell, he will get you the minutes and the financials for you to view and agree not to hold you accountable in contract until they are approved as delivered. Yes, boards- especially in small buildings-- are inefficient. But you should not be required to agree to close until this is all taken care of -- by an agreed date. Let the seller solve the problem ---- or walk.

i'm on my board. it's totally normal. publishing minutes requires the management company to document the board meeting and the board to sign-off. it's not mission-critical, so it could take a little while, since people are focused on other issues.

Financials by the end of this month is not a "yellow flag." I live in an extremely well-run coop and shareholders just got our 2009 financial statements in the mail. I don't think a couple weeks one way or the other indicates in and of itself that something nefarious is going on.

As for minutes, others have addressed their avialability. If what you are concerned about is assessments recently voted or decisions bearing on a material financial situation, then have your attorney inquire directly and at least get answers to those specific concerns. This is pretty straight-forward lawyering stuff for a coop purchase. No heavy lifts described for a lawyer who has competency in this realm.