Page 18 - CooperatorNews NJ Expo 2022

16 COOPERATORNEWS NEW JERSEY —EXPO 2022 NJ.COOPERATORNEWS.COM MANAGEMENT Orienting New Owners Getting Smart About Condo & Co-op Life BY A. J. SIDRANSKY First-time buyers in condo associations, lease for their unit that is assigned to them by co-ops, and other multifamily residential the corporation that owns the building.” This communities are often surprised—and a bit misapprehension can lead to a great deal of confused—by the way in which their new frustration and acrimony when a sharehold- building or HOA operates. Whether they er’s plans to alter or upgrade their unit butts are coming from a rental background or a up against the board’s authority—and duty— single-family home experience, condo/co-op to review and approve (or reject) those plans living, and its administrative and governance based on how they may impact other units, structure, differs dramatically from both. or the building’s shared elements, including In a condo, you can’t depend on the super wiring, plumbing, or infrastructure. for everything as you might in a rental, nor can you undertake to do whatever you’d like condo owners think their board has as much without any prior approval, as you would in power as a co-op board to intervene in qual- a single-family home. Renter Mentality “The number one problem we encoun- ter with first-time buyers is that they don’t firm, “but they don’t. A condo board can- understand that even though they live in a not remove an owner due to ‘bad behavior.’ multifamily building, it doesn’t run like the If you have an inconsiderate neighbor, the rental they lived in previously,” says Vince board can’t do a thing.” Rapolla, regional director with Corner Prop- erty Management in Springfield. “They don’t that’s especially common in condominium understand that there are ‘homeowner’ re- sponsibilities when owning a townhome, ing percentage ownership and common ar- co-op, or condo. Everything isn’t included, eas. “Percentage of ownership seems to be like in a rental. If there’s a leaky window a major source of confusion for new own- the homeowner is responsible. A leak from ers,” he says. The idea that the more space a pipe inside their unit is their responsibil- ity. They also frequently have ‘chain-of-com- mand’ issues. They look for board members assessment—escapes many. “They want to to complain to when they should speak to know why different residents pay different management. They don’t understand man- agement’s role as expediter of the request. derstand percentage ownership and how that With co-ops it’s a little different. More things affects them.” When it comes to common ar- are covered by the corporation than in a eas or elements, most new owners just think condo or townhome setting, but overall, the of a community room, an in-house gym, issues are similar.” “At the root of a lot of first-time owners’ ing’s infrastructure, including façade and misconceptions and misunderstandings is a roof, boiler and HVAC equipment, plumb- lack of understanding and knowledge about ing and electrical systems, as well as lobbies, what monthly assessments—also known as hallways, and storage areas are also common common charges or maintenance—are for, elements, and as such are maintained and re- and what they cover,” says Eric Staszczak, ex- ecutive vice president for property manage- ment with Westward360, a Chicago-based management firm. “People assume that lack of understanding of budgets. “Residents anything and everything they have—includ- ing their furniture in the event of a damage says Sprudzs, “and so they don’t understand event, for example—is the responsibility of where their monthly maintenance goes, or the association. They assume the building the difference between types of line items, will take care of everything. But that’s a rent- er’s mentality.” Rita Sprudzs, a senior property manager insurance they themselves need. Renter’s in- also with Westward360, outlines another surance is not good enough \[for a condo or common problem: “Many times, co-op co-op\]. They need \[homeowners or\] co-op shareholders don’t understand that they insurance. Renter’s doesn’t cover individual don’t actually own the space they occupy. unit owner responsibility for common areas They are shareholders in a corporation that in an insurance claim.” owns the property. They have a proprietary “Another common issue is that many ity-of-life disputes, such as noisy neighbors,” says Stuart Halper, principal of Impact Man- agement, a New York-based management Staszczak says that another major issue associations is owners not really understand- you have, the more percentage share you have—and hence the higher your monthly monthly assessments, because they don’t un- or garden-style courtyard—but the build- paired using funds from residents’ monthly fees to the condo association or co-op. Commensurate with this problem is a may not understand how budgets are built,” like fixed vs. variable costs. First-time own- ers also often don’t understand what type of Relatedly, “New owners also often think the co-op or condo is responsible for repairs private homes are often ignorant of not only inside their units,” says Halper. “They don’t rules and lifestyle conventions in their new understand they own the interiors and what’s communities, but of the documents govern- in them, and are responsible for them.” A ing those communities. good example is a refrigerator. If your refrig- erator stops working in a rental, you call the that can help correct the problem. “Lead- landlord. In a co-op or condo, because every- thing on your side of the walls is your prop- erty, you have to replace it yourself. A more complicated example is a clogged torney, the attorneys should make sure the sink. If the clog is in a portion of pipe inside buyer is reading them. Savvy buyers should the wall, the co-op or condo owns it, and also request and read through the minutes of therefore has to repair it, and pay for the re- pair. If the clogged section of pipe is inside an them. They should understand the commu- individual unit, the unit owner or sharehold- er has to fix it—and foot the bill. Not under- standing the distinction between private and how it runs. There are lots of small details a common elements, and how that distinction buyer should know that are found in these determines who’s responsible for what is at documents. You should know if you have the root of a great many disputes between an assigned parking space or if they’re sepa- residents, boards, and property managers. How Common is the Problem? In a word, pervasive. The problem of their unit, they don’t have parking”—which owner and shareholder ignorance spans co- ops and condos, HOAs, and over-55 com- munities. Younger buyers upgrading from was that they thought their unit included a rentals and older buyers downsizing from Staszczak has a few recommendations ing up to purchase,” he says, “at contract, as documents start coming through from the association’s attorney to the buyer’s at- past board meetings, which are available to nity they’re buying into. It’s to their benefit to become familiar with the community and rately deeded, for instance. If it’s the latter, and the buyer didn’t buy a space along with would be a nasty shock if part of the reason a buyer chose a particular building or HOA NEW BOARD MEMBER continued on page 29