Page 27 - CooperatorNews New Jersey Expo 2021

NJ.COOPERATORNEWS.COM COOPERATORNEWS NEW JERSEY —EXPO 2021 27 Now providing Non-Stop service daily — from TWO locations: North Jersey Central Jersey Succasunna, NJ 07876 North Brunswick, NJ 08902 please contact: Chip Hoever CMCA, AMS, PCAM Vice President—Operations 732-228-8200 ext.1001 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.matrixpmgroup.com Matrix provides full service property Management — yes, we do it all • Maintaining homeowner accounts • Full service bookkeeping incl. posting fees—bank reconciliations • Answering homeowner calls—issuing work order if necessary • Supervising maintenance projects • Watching over contractors working on the site • Periodic site inspections, including nights and weekends Visit us at Booth 311 at the Expo • ••• • ••••••••••••••• , 2021 units—although decisions they make may affect individual units. ‘If it happens in my unit, the board has to deal with it,’ is not how it works. The board is not your landlord, or your parent, and it can’t fix your individual problems.” This misunderstanding tends to be even more prevalent in co-op build- ings—which, given how much power co-op boards do actually have over how their buildings are governed, is perhaps understandable—but it’s still incorrect. Co-op owners often go directly from be- ing rental tenants to being co-op share- holders with little understanding of who is responsible for what in their new com- munity. Accustomed to calling the land- lord when anything goes wrong in their apartment, they’re often surprised to learn that fixing a leaky faucet, for ex- ample, or replacing a ceiling light fixture is now very much their responsibility, and is actually detailed in the proprie- tary lease they were furnished with upon closing on the apartment. The transition from a tenant mentality to a cooperator mentality may take time, and it is some- times met with resistance along the way. “Typically, as a general rule of thumb,” says Julie Schechter, an attorney with the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale in New York City, “shareholders and unit owners are responsible for whatever is within the four walls of their individual unit, and the cooperative or condominium is re- sponsible for everything in the common areas of the property, and any building system that serves more than one apart- ment. However, there are some gray areas where it is not always obvious who is re- sponsible for the maintenance and repair; for example, HVAC systems, plumbing risers and valves, and windows.” Read the Fine Print The pros agree that the best way for a new shareholder or unit owner to educate himself/herself about individual respon- sibilities is simply to read the governing documents for their building—and if questions arise, ask for clarification from their closing attorney or another quali- fied legal expert. Unfortunately, says Shapiro, “more often than not, buyers don’t review these documents. They don’t understand the importance of them, and they often don’t want to pay their attorney to review the documents for them either—but that’s a big mistake. A good example of why would be a purchaser who has a dog, buys an apartment without reading the community’s documents, and winds up in a building with a ‘no pets’ policy.” Now the new homeowner is forced to make a wrenching decision about their pet, or face fines and possible litigation. And while a whole lot of misunder- standing, acrimony, and confusion could be easily avoided just by people taking the time to understand the governance of their own buildings or HOAs, “You can’t legislate or mandate taking a class to learn about documents,” Shapiro notes. “It would be unenforceable. It’s a ques- tion of human behavior and mindset. People don’t want to be told what they can and can’t do in their home. Owners not in compliance will often say, ‘I wish someone had told me this—I’d never have bought a condominium.’ If you’re not willing to pay your lawyer to read and explain the documents, they aren’t doing extra work for free”—and consequently, you may wind up with some unpleasant surprises if you transgress rules and pro- tocols you opted out of learning about. You Can’t Always Get What You Want Committing to living in a multifamily community means ceding some control over your home to the common good. In a single-family home, you can add a whole floor if you want to; in a co-op, it’s not so easy. Many shareholders and unit owners resent board interference in their decisions and choices, but that’s the na- ture of what they’ve bought into. That’s especially true in co-ops, where boards have approval rights over almost every- thing—particularly if it involves any kind of structural alteration work. And it’s not like boards exist purely to thwart residents’ plans. “Unit owners and shareholders should want their build- ings to have procedures for alterations,” says Schechter. “These plans \[need to\] be approved by the building’s architect or engineer before the work is allowed to commence, because a failure to carefully review proposed plans for an intended renovation can have dangerous conse- quences.” In the final analysis, both con- do unit owners and co-op shareholders are well advised to learn how their com- munities work, and what their boards can and cannot (and indeed should and should not) do for them. Understanding the role of your board and how it governs will go a long way toward reducing fric- tion, defusing conflict, and making your co-op or condo a better place for every- one to call home. n A J Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter for CooperatorNews, and a published novelist. ing complies with the fire code. These com- panies are often run by former \[firefighters or\] officers, and they stay on top of all fire safety related issues.” Building Types & Fire Safety Plans First things first: according to Bullock, the term ‘fireproof’ is something of a mis- nomer. “The most substantial difference and concern in residential building fire safety is whether a property is classed as ‘combus- tible’ or ‘non-combustible.’ The size of the building doesn’t really matter.” FIRE SAFETY... continued from page 8 continued on page 28 See us at Booth 311 See us at Booth 508 PeopleFirst Property & Casualty 1837 Washington Blvd, Easton, PA 18042 908-382-6625 insurepeoplefirst.com Info@InsurePeopleFirst.com