Page 27 - NJ Cooperator Winter 2020
P. 27

  Advertise In   The New Jersey Cooperator   Marketplace   —Call 212-683-5700—  Target Key Decision Makers    In The Condominium, Co-op   and HOA Community   By Placing Your Ad Here  MARKETPLACE   For schedule and ad rates, contact Fred Marks at (786) 404-1701.  LAUNDRY  EXPERT TESTIMONY  PROPERTY MANAGEMENT   PROPERTY MANAGEMENT   PROPERTY MANAGEMENT   NJCOOPERATOR.COM  THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR  —  WINTER 2020    27  Commercial/Residential/Condos  • Flat Roofs, EPDM and TPO  • Spray Foam Insulation  • Shingle Roofs – Lifetime  • Siding  • Slate/Tile Experts  • Solar  • Chimney Repairs and Flashing  • Garden Roofs  • Leaders and Gutters  • Professional Roof Inspections  • Wood Shake Roofs  • Snow Plowing  OVER TWO DECADES   OF EXCELLENCE!  –One MIllion Dollar Liability Insurance Policy–  –Full workman’s compensation policy–  –Member of the Better Business Bureau–  Montclair, NJ 07042         Phone: 973-783-6770  Bernardsville, NJ 07924     Phone: 908-580-5005  Wyckoff , NJ 07481         Phone: 201-891-2424  Sparta, NJ 07871         Phone: 973-729-7663  Washingtonville, NY         Phone: 845-294-7554  www.alpineroofi ngexperts.com  possible liability with them.” Halper says   that while management fi rms carry errors   and omission insurance, there’s still liabil-  ity, and most fi rms will part company with   a truly dysfunctional board before they   become liable for the board’s mismanage-  ment.  “Th  is is tough, really tough,” says Pet-  renko. “Even when you work for a very long   time on a problem, you may fi nd yourself   so overly stressed or have a board that is in   disagreement with not only you, but each   other,  that  you  walk  away—and  in  truth,   I have walked away. But regardless, you   shouldn’t burn the bridge. You never know   when paths may cross again.”  Petrenko, Ruccolo, and Halper all point   out that the management business can be   stressful enough as it is—managing even   one chronically distressed property can add   to that stress and can take time away from   other properties in one’s portfolio.  “You   don’t fi nd fi rms that only handle distressed   properties,” says Ruccolo. Partly for the rea-  sons already mentioned, but furthermore,   Halper continues, it’s a matter of reputation.   Nobody wants to be known as the compa-  ny whose portfolio of properties is riddled   with problems, lurching from one crisis to   the next. “It’s a small business, and every-  one knows each other,” he says. “You have   to be careful of your reputation.”   n  A J Sidransky is a staff  writer/reporter for   Th  e  New Jersey Cooperator, and a published   novelist.   A  According to Hubert Cutolo,   an attorney with the fi rm of   Cutolo Barros in Freehold:   “In 2017, the Planned Real Estate Devel-  opment Full Disclosure Act (‘PREDFDA’),   N.J.S.A. 45:22A-43 et seq., was amended to   address, among other things, board elec-  tion procedures in community associations.   Pursuant to this amendment, community   associations having 50 or more units ‘shall   not provide for a term of an executive   board member to be for more than 4 years.’   (N.J.S.A. 45:22A-45.2(c)(1).) In other words,   the bylaws of a community which contains   50 or more units cannot provide that the   term of offi  ce for any board seat is longer   than 4 years. Th  is provision does not pre-  vent the association from setting term lim-  its.  Rather,  it  sets  a  statutory  limit  on  the   length of time for any single term of offi  ce.    “Pursuant  to  N.J.S.A.  45:22A-45.2(b)   and (c)(4), no community association can   prevent the nomination of any member in   good standing for the board. While these   provisions do not expressly prohibit set-  ting term limits through an amendment to   community association governing docu-  ments, it is evident that the 2017 PREDFDA   amendments were intended to facilitate,   rather than limit, member participation   in  community  association governance.  It   is therefore likely that a court would inter-  pret an amendment to a community asso-  ciation’s bylaws setting limitations on the   number of terms that a member in good   standing can serve as being in confl ict with   PREDFDA.”    n  Disclaimer: Th  e answers provided in this Q&A   column are of a general nature and cannot   substitute for professional advice regarding your   specifi c circumstances. Always seek the advice of   competent legal counsel or other qualifi ed profes-  sionals with any questions you may have regard-  ing technical or legal issues.  Q&A  continued from page 5  Write to The New Jersey   Cooperator and we’ll pub-  lish your question, along with a response from   one of our attorney advisors. Questions may be   edited for taste, length and clarity. Send your   questions to: darcey@cooperator.com.  Q&A


































































































   24   25   26   27   28