Skip to main content
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
RECOMMENDED IN RENT
Moving to NYC after college? Here's how to find a rental apartment
RECOMMENDED IN BUY
How buying real estate in NYC is unlike anywhere else
RECOMMENDED IN SELL
A guide to using a no-fee renovation loan from a NYC real estate firm
RECOMMENDED IN IMPROVE
How to make your NYC renovation more pet-friendly
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE!
National Association of Real Estate Editors
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE! National Association of Real Estate Editors
Brick Underground
Social Links
follow:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flipboard
  • search
Brick Underground
☰ Brick Underground
Brick Underground
Brick Underground
☰
Brick Underground
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
    Haley and JP move to Prospect Lefferts Gardens
    New Construction + Condos
    From Prospect Heights to Prospect Lefferts Garden: We wanted three bedrooms so we could each have a home office
    An image of the top of a brick New York City apartment building, including its parapet.
    Design + Architecture
    Parapet inspections: What NYC boards and building owners need to know about Local Law 126
    one-bedroom condo at 702 Hancock Street
    The Search
    7 reasons why ground-floor apartments are desirable—instead of dealbreakers
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
    Midtown Manhattan seen from Roosevelt Island tramway
    The Market
    Manhattan median rent spiked 6 percent to $4,500 in April
    Tenant protest outside Rent Guidelines Board preliminary vote
    Affordable Housing
    Rent Guidelines Board intends to raise stabilized rents for a fourth time
    A beautiful pink flowering cherry tree next to an old brick residential building with a fire escape in Astoria Queens New York during spring
    The Search
    A wet, hot, broker fee-free summer? A major change to rental broker fees is supposed to start in June
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
    Madison avenue and East 67th Street, Manhattan, New York City
    Sell
    Median sales price for Manhattan co-ops and condos jumps to $1,165,000
    new condo building and older co-op buildings in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
    Sell
    Brooklyn median price nears $1 million but the spring market is a question mark
    View of NYC condo buildings from New Jersey
    Sell
    Private listings: What NYC sellers and buyers need to know about the off-market controversy
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    big apple moving NYC
    Troubleshooting
    How can I save money when hiring a moving company in NYC?
    Sponsored By Big Apple Moving
    Houses and apartment buildings in Queens, NYC
    Troubleshooting
    Mayor Adams is bringing the tax lien sale back. Here’s how to get your property off the list
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
    An image of the top of a brick New York City apartment building, including its parapet.
    Design + Architecture
    Parapet inspections: What NYC boards and building owners need to know about Local Law 126
    solar panels on a small house roof
    Design + Architecture
    Simple Yet Powerful Steps To Turn Your Apartment Eco-Friendly
    Sponsored By Ecoflow
    This is a photograph of a street in the Upper West Side in NYC viewed from the Summit in Central Park through bare tree branches.
    Renovation
    Fewer buyers, steeper rents, and costlier renovations: How tariffs could impact NYC real estate
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
    Burned and Boarded Up Windows
    When should your board hire a public adjuster?
    Manhattan GM
    What should we consider when renewing insurance for our building?
    Facade of NYC buildings
    How much is insurance on a NYC co-op or condo building?
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Apartment buildings at Grand and Crosby streets in Soho, Manhattan
    Affordable Housing
    Ask Altagracia: My mom is moving out of our rent-stabilized apartment. How do I take over the lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    big apple moving NYC
    Troubleshooting
    How can I save money when hiring a moving company in NYC?
    Sponsored By Big Apple Moving
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
  • About Us
Email Address
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
New Main menu
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
  • About Us
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER →
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
The Board Room [ SPONSORED ]

The Board Room: Don't treat the minutes like a diary

By Braverman Greenspun  | March 13, 2012 - 7:17AM
image
SHARE:
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Print
More...

Board minutes are a co-op or condo building’s institutional memory, a historical record of the business conducted at each board meeting that survives the turnover of elected officers, managing agents, and lawyers. 

They are also quasi-public documents that can bite the hands that record them.

In a legal dispute, for instance, minutes can establish whether the board properly discharged its fiduciary duties. And because most buildings allow prospective buyers to review the minutes, the information in the minutes can indirectly affect property values. 

For these reasons and more (such as the recent discovery of an organized effort to scan complete sets of minutes without authorization for purposes as yet unknown), it’s essential to strike a balance between throwing in the kitchen sink and scrubbing the minutes so clean that they’re no longer useful. 

Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

  • Infighting:  To avoid giving the impression of a poorly managed building, leave the personal attacks, objections, and political discourse out of the minutes.
  • Lawsuits:  It is not a good idea to discuss the substance of any ongoing litigation in the minutes because it could result in the inadvertent waiver of the attorney client privilege and, perhaps more importantly, because it could wind up in the hands of your adversary.  Rather than going into the details of a lawsuit, simply note that a litigation report was provided by counsel or by the litigation committee or managing agent, whatever the case may be. 
  • Approval of sales:  It is sufficient to note whether or not a sale was approved (in a co-op) or a right of first refusal waived (in a condo).  With regard to co-op approvals, there is no need to state in the minutes the basis for the rejection—only the disposition of the application.
  • Voting: It is fine to record the number of votes for and against an issue, but attaching names to votes can have a chilling effect on how a board member votes.  While there is some logic to disclosing the breakdown of how each individual board member voted on a particular issue, the ability of a board member to vote on something that may not be popular, but nevertheless in the best interests of their community (i.e., an increase in common charges or maintenance to cover operating expenses) should be as strong as possible.  Thus, although there is nothing illegal about documenting how each board member votes, we generally do not recommend that a board operate that way.  
  • Arrears:  It is appropriate to note any action taken on overdue maintenance/ common charges or fees, but given the quasi-public nature of the minutes, we generally do not recommend referencing the delinquent resident(s) by name or by apartment number.  A simple notation that “the board instructed the managing agent to have the attorney for the building begin proceedings on any unit owner more than 90 days in arrears” will suffice, together with a notation as to how many units are 90 days or more in arrears. 
  • Nuisances:  There is no bright line rule for how much to say about problems with cooking odors, cigarette smoke, noise, hoarding, etc.  If it’s a continuing problem complained about on a number of occasions, that should be noted in the minutes, along with the action(s) the board has taken, to protect itself if a dissatisfied unit owner or shareholder claims no efforts were made to address the problem.  
  • Bed bugs:  As reluctant as a board may be to document bed bug related problems in the minutes, they probably should be.  In addition to the fact that bed bugs can fairly be construed to be a material issue that warrants being addressed in meeting minutes, a prospective purchaser could very well find out about the problem and if it is not noted, may cause suspicion as to whether the problem still exists and/or whether there are other problems that were not mentioned in the minutes.  The best practice would be to note the problem, the steps taken to remedy the problem and, hopefully, a final notation memorializing that the problem has been fully solved. 
  • Staff issues:   If a staff member is being terminated, or formally disciplined, recite only the procedural facts, such as “The superintendent was terminated”, or "the managing agent provided a report on the status of all open staff issues”.  There is no need to go into details about why the super was terminated or why the porters haven’t been doing a good enough vacuuming job in the hallways.  

Robert J. Braverman is a partner at the law firm of Braverman & Associates, specializing in the representation of New York City co-op and condominium boards. 

More posts from The Board Room:
  • 6 reasons you need a lawyer to review that construction contract
  • Bronx court says disabled residents entitled to use front entrance
  • Who pays when it rains indoors?
  • Why should boards pay for meritless lawsuits?
  • Dealing with problem condo owners
  • The 5 secrets of successful boards
  • The 12-step alteration agreement
  • 5 things never to ask a board interview
  • Why those confidential emails may end up in court anyway

 

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics:

boards Neighbors staff The Board Room
SHARE
TWEET
BRICK’S PICKS
Historic brick facades of NYC apartment buildings
Getting overcharged by a landlord? Here’s how the Tenant Protection Unit helps rent-stabilized tenants
Apartment buildings in Soho
New Rent Guidelines Board report justifies a rent freeze, tenant advocates claim
Brooklyn apartment buildings
Understanding net effective rent: Here's how to calculate your real monthly rent
image
How much should you renovate your NYC apartment or house before selling?
Council Member Shahana Hanif hold press conference before the City Council vote on Arrow Linen spot rezoning.
City Council signs off on 10-story towers for Arrow Linen site
couple standing close, only jeans-clad legs showing
Can my boyfriend claim ownership of my condo if we break up?
Follow Brick on Instagram
@brickunderground | #brickunderground
Brick UndergroundBRICK UNDERGROUNDREAL LIFE. REAL ESTATE. REAL NEW YORK.
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Main menu footer
  • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide

Get more news you can actually use...

The subscription service is currently unavailable. Please check again later.

Delivered to your inbox weekly - for free.

*By signing up you agree to receive occasional emails on behalf of our sponsors

Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise

Copyright 2009-2024 by BND Ventures Inc | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices | Login