Hi there, I'm a new homeowner and bought a coop last year. We had our first shareholders meeting last month and it was clear there were a lot of concerns and issues the shareholders have (including myself) with our super, renovations, transparency, communication and lack of representation of resident board members. We have 5 board members only 1 of which lives in the building and only 3 board... [more]
Hi there, I'm a new homeowner and bought a coop last year. We had our first shareholders meeting last month and it was clear there were a lot of concerns and issues the shareholders have (including myself) with our super, renovations, transparency, communication and lack of representation of resident board members. We have 5 board members only 1 of which lives in the building and only 3 board members showed up to the annual shareholders meeting, which apparently hasn't taken place in 2 years.
It was a very verbose meeting w/a lot of heated discussion but nothing has happened and I was optimistic that things would change or at least we'd be able to have a more open dialogue, but we still have no way to communicate w/ our board except thru our managing agent; there is still only 1 board member who actually lives in the building (all the other board members rent) and so it feels like much of the larger concerns are not being addressed. What can shareholders do in a situation like this? There is a board member from what I understand has a few sponsor apartments, which is why there was no quorum at our shareholders meeting.
Help! Thanks strangers for any advice.
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Response by jaky
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 48
Member since: Jul 2011
Weren't you able to vote for new board members at your last annual meeting?
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Response by hofo
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 453
Member since: Sep 2008
How can renters be voted on to the board? You need to read the by-laws to see if this is even legit and grab a group of like minded shareholders to run for board seat. Why would the renters on the board care about transparency and renovation when they don't own shares?
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Response by 300_mercer
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 10539
Member since: Feb 2007
hofo, I think newbie means owners renting out the apartments.
Newbie, Best bet is to get on the board if you want to fix anything. You can send a formal letter to the management company signed by several residents (ideally at least 20% votes for a 5 member board) requesting that you be on the board. Also, ask for clarification on how the board members are elected.
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Response by 30yrs_RE_20_in_REO
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 9876
Member since: Mar 2009
You don't have to be a shareholder to be on the Board of many Coops.
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Response by bramstar
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 1909
Member since: May 2008
yes--weren't there elections for board members at the recent shareholders' meeting? It is standard protocol for boards to hold annual elections. That said, it is often difficult to remove entrenched board members. Best bet would be to gather a group of other like-minded shareholders and run together on a slate at your next annual shareholders' meeting. By the way, if these meetings are not being held per the schedule put forth by your proprietary lease, that could be grounds to dismiss the current board.
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Response by bryantpark
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 83
Member since: Dec 2011
@bramstar - a lack of quorum was mentioned, so no, there wouldn't have been an election at the recent shareholders' meeting.
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Response by bramstar
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 1909
Member since: May 2008
A lack of quorum of board members means the meeting was likely not valid in the first place. Shareholders should demand a new meeting with board quorum for voting purposes.
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Response by bramstar
almost 9 years ago
Posts: 1909
Member since: May 2008
By the way, any concern over meeting a quorum of shareholders can be mitigated by distributing voting proxies to shareholders prior to the meeting.
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Weren't you able to vote for new board members at your last annual meeting?
How can renters be voted on to the board? You need to read the by-laws to see if this is even legit and grab a group of like minded shareholders to run for board seat. Why would the renters on the board care about transparency and renovation when they don't own shares?
hofo, I think newbie means owners renting out the apartments.
Newbie, Best bet is to get on the board if you want to fix anything. You can send a formal letter to the management company signed by several residents (ideally at least 20% votes for a 5 member board) requesting that you be on the board. Also, ask for clarification on how the board members are elected.
You don't have to be a shareholder to be on the Board of many Coops.
yes--weren't there elections for board members at the recent shareholders' meeting? It is standard protocol for boards to hold annual elections. That said, it is often difficult to remove entrenched board members. Best bet would be to gather a group of other like-minded shareholders and run together on a slate at your next annual shareholders' meeting. By the way, if these meetings are not being held per the schedule put forth by your proprietary lease, that could be grounds to dismiss the current board.
@bramstar - a lack of quorum was mentioned, so no, there wouldn't have been an election at the recent shareholders' meeting.
A lack of quorum of board members means the meeting was likely not valid in the first place. Shareholders should demand a new meeting with board quorum for voting purposes.
By the way, any concern over meeting a quorum of shareholders can be mitigated by distributing voting proxies to shareholders prior to the meeting.