Page 27 - CooperatorNews New Jersey Expo 2021
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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


































































































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