r/AskNYC_Coops

Residents in our Northwestern Bronx co-op buildings are facing something most people outside of co-op housing don't realize is possible: we're being hit with massive, simultaneous compliance costs that we can't pass on to anyone else.

Local Law 97 requires energy retrofits. Local Law 11 requires façade inspections and repairs. Both have strict deadlines and real penalties. For many of us—retirees, working families, long-time New Yorkers—this means assessments totaling tens of thousands of dollars per apartment. We support the goals of these laws. Building safety and environmental responsibility matter. But the city didn't account for how co-ops actually work: we can't raise capital the way condos do. We can only assess our shareholders.

Some neighbors are selling because they can't afford it. Property values are dropping. And it's hitting the exact people co-ops were supposed to protect—middle-class and senior residents who've lived here for decades.

We're asking our City Council to consider targeted relief: grants, property tax credits, hardship programs, or low-interest financing specifically for co-ops facing these overlapping mandates. This isn't about avoiding responsibility—it's about making compliance possible without displacing people.

If you live in a co-op or know someone who does, does any of this sound familiar? Have you seen assessments like this? We started a petition asking for relief, and I'd genuinely like to hear if others are dealing with the same thing. If this matters to you too, consider signing and sharing it.

All, I'm new to the coop thing and I recently replaced an old electrical panel in my unit. The management company insisted I needed a DOB permit even though I was replacing existing panel in the same location. Now it seems I need to wait for a DOB inspection before they can close the permit. Is that how this process is supposed to work? TIA.

Our co-op has election for the board at the annual meeting, held each June.

They usually send out a "Save The Date" email announcing the annual meeting about a month before it takes place. They ask anyone interested in running for Board to email them by a certain date. The slate is announced at the meeting. The number of candidates is always the same as the number of seats (7). They usually ask if anyone else wants to run but nobody ever speaks up. A voice vote is called. Nobody objects and that's it.

I get the sense that no more than a few people feel like volunteering each year so the current board waits to see how many are willing to do it and then some of the current board members step aside, in part because they're probably tired of doing it. Nobody ever challenges the new slate, in part because people don't really want to do it and in part because people don't want to be confrontational.

Whenever I describe this friends who live in co-ops they are all surprised. Their buildings pre-announce who is running. It's frequently more than the number of seats. They use real ballots to vote.

Our bylaws say that ballots are not necessary but that any shareholder can request them and the request must be honored.

Anyway, wondering how other co-ops operate. Mine feels far too casual. The Boards for the last five to six years have been pretty good and have dealt with some major issues. Boards in the 2010s were bordering on incompetence.

Worried about things going forward because I'm hearing rumors of a number of the current board are looking to step down which could mean major turnover with unknowns being rubber-stamped into office.

Hi all, this is my first time living in a co-op so trying to figure out what is standard and what isn't. I purchased and moved into my unit earlier this year. I have two windows, one of which is missing a window screen and needs the glass replaced and the other one needs a new window screen as it is detaching from the frame.

Since the co-op is responsible for the windows and the screens, I had the window company they use to come assess and send in a proposal to management for approval. That proposal has been waiting since April 10. I checked with management to make sure they received it and they confirmed on April 20 that they aim to resolve it asap.

Since then, I have received no updates and they won't even respond to my requests for an update. They ignore my emails and voicemails, etc. Not even a "we received your email or call and we are still working on it" - just complete silence from both the property manager and the assistant property manager.

Is this normal for co-op? Does it typically take this long and am I rushing them by asking them for an update 1 month later?

How many days after submitting an application can we expect to hear back?

Also, if we shared a preliminary REBNY when we made the offer and were told we were fine, are we most likely to be approved..??

Hi,

I have a 1 bed co op I was considering putting in an offer on. UES.

I thought my REBNY was excellent, perfect credit, assets, debt to income, salary, cash in bank, .. etc etc - but the other broker just told my broker they additionally expect the purchaser to have entire purchase price liquid after purchase --in bank. This is an additional 200k liquid I wasn't expecting.

The apartment needs full renovation and my family has a contracting business so I'm able to leverage that. But I'm uncertain whether or not to even put in offer if it will get denied based on additional liquidity.

My non liquid assets include multiple commercial properties and I have overseen many big renovations.

From a co -op point of view.. should I just move on if I don't meet this criteria I was just informed of -- or as someone who would take a very old apartment in decay and Reno it - would this outweigh the liquidity question? Uncertain whether to push an offer or walk away.

thanks!

UPDATE - spoke to my broker - there is NO rule about 100% liquidity post sale.

Apparently the seller's broker was annoyed that we asked too many questions and tried to shoo us off.. 1 question was about rental rules down the road and the other question was about prior renovations and asbestos requirements should we reno.

Hi all,

Longtime reader and lover of Reddit-- have never felt the need to post anything until now.

My husband and I are apartment hunting in hopes to get a little extra space in our beloved East Village. We've been here for 7 years now and are ready for an upgrade. My method is to scour the internet, Street easy, Craigslist, and every other fathomable apartment app / website for those one of a kind NYC gems, with stabilized rent, a little garden, crown molding (imagine if you came across all three in one place!)

Well, I kinda did. A couple weeks ago, I found this perfect triplex apartment on a quiet little Alphabet City block. Still only one bathroom but the space was expansive and there was even a separate kitchen, multiple living areas, and rooftop access (!!!)

The ad was on Craigslist and I found it a week after it was posted. It said that there would be an open house three days of the week the previous weekend. It mentioned that it's a coop and that interviewing with the board was required. It said that the apartment could come furnished or unfurnished. The photos looked amazing. I was ready to commit fully! I sent an email to the Craigslist ad and waited a week. (I sent two more in the interim as well.) I heard nothing back. Maybe it was already rented? It'd be nice to be told if that's what happened...but the listing stayed up. The listing is still there. Even after I escalated things further.

I wanted this place so badly (the price was unreal, though not clickbait-unreal if you know what I mean), that I made sure it existed by taking a walk to the place, just ten minutes from our current apartment. It's a ground floor apartment, and I found it easily. I even peaked in the windows (don't judge!), and all the furniture and layout matched the photos exactly. This place was real, and it looked like it had never been lived in.

I decided to take to the NYC public records to learn more about the owners and coop in this building. I found the owners online and from their very public personal website, I learned that they were bi-coastal, living in LA and NYC, both part time. Progress! They must be wanting to rent full time if they're not here often enough. I also planned to email co op management (this one is an org called "Daisy") to at least get my chance at submitting an application. I found some emails, and sent a inquiry to them about the craigslist ad.

They responded! And quickly too. They said they weren't sure if the unit was available but they would reach out to the owners and get back to me. What luck! No one shut me down by saying "it's not available" or "it's been rented." I checked in with the coop rep every couple days, and she said each time that they hadn't responded yet. Eventually, she cc'd me in an email to them with an inquiry about the listing.

Something like 10 days later, we finally heard back from the owners. Except, weirdly, the owners only responded to me. In their email, they addressed both me and the coop rep in their greeting, but the coop's rep email was not in the receiver's line...I checked. Could've been a BCC but that would be weird...? They knew that I already knew the rep's email, so why hide it? On the other hand, why would they want to hide the fact that they're not renting the apartment from the rep? It's all very confusing.
Here's what the owner's reply was, and I quote: "We’re not renting our place out anymore and are living there. We’ll take down ad ASAP. Best of luck in finding a place."

It's been 5 days and the ad is still up. I have since wandered by the apartment (I know, I know!) and it still looks like a short term rental...no one is ever there and everything in the place looks untouched.

It's all very perplexing to me...I realize that I have become borderline-obsessed with this place and that's fair-- though if you've lived in the NYC for any amount of time, you know what a dog-eat-dog game it is to find the right apartment so try to see where I'm coming from. Maybe I just need to take the L (as in the loss, not the train!) and admit defeat, except that something feels really off about all this.

Could it be that they're trying to rent their place under the radar, without dealing with the co op? Then again, if so, why would the listing say "subject to co op approval"? Is it possible that I totally blew up their spot by reaching out to the co op reps and they now, sadly, want nothing to do with me and will rent their home to someone else? Also why would they change their mind about a listing they put up just weeks ago? "We're living there now"? Just like that? Feels off...There's also been lots of news about Mamdani's pied-a-terre property tax, could that be affecting them and they're trying to pivot somehow in a sneaky way...?? What am I missing here? And HOW do I get myself a chance to move into this place?! The listing is STILL UP!

Thanks for reading and sharing your knowledge, theories, and suspicions!

I am a first-time buyer and moved into my new place a few months ago. Now that the weather is nice, I would like to clean up the long-neglected wood slats which were overlaid the concrete terrace. I have no access to a nearby water spigot, but do have an outdoor electrical outlet.

What is the best way to go about cleaning? The reason I am asking here, is because most deck cleaning advice online is for suburban homes.

This may be anecdotal but I've had my dream apartment search set on Streeteasy for 5+ years and in the past few weeks I've seen more inventory and price reductions than in the past four years. Perhaps the proposed pied-à-terre tax is working?

NY real estate has been held by those that live elsewhere for a few months a year to avoid NY/NYC income tax. I've started to consider this myself in the past few months because after 15 years here it feels like I'll never be able to afford my 55% effective income tax rate (not a high income just fed tax + self employment tax + NY/NYC tax + Unincorporated NY business tax) and an apartment greater than 600 sq ft.

What are your thoughts on the pied-à-terre tax and Manhattan real estate?

I have a small 2 burner gas stove (no oven) that I haven't used in 2 years (I don't cook) so national grid took my gas meter.

I am in contract to sell my co-op apartment, and I am now at the decision to pay for a new gas line (borderline pressure test) or switching to a 2 burner electric stove top (still no oven). Has anyone done this before? I'm not even sure what regulations are around this and if my co-op would allow it and unsure where to start/get an estimate of what it would cost.

Also not sure what effect this could have on selling my place, I told the buyers I would just turn on the gas. I didn't realize that you could loose your gas meter if you don't have it on for a while.

Hi all,

We lost the neighbor lottery and recently moved in above a neighbor who has been a PITA since the day we moved in, and our co-ops management company seems to be capitulating to his every whim. I essentially want to get a gut check on how to address this situation: is time to ramp up our response with the board, or an attorney, if necessary.

Some background:we renovated our apartment before moving in, and this neighbor complained anytime the workers were 1 minute early or 1 minute late around the building’s work hours.

We moved in, and the neighbor made multiple complaints about our small dog barking. Management sent us a strongly worded warning relaying the complaints. Our dog is a senior and mostly just sleeps, barely makes any noise aside from a rare, excited bark, which we correct. We have a doggy cam for when we are not home and can confirm she does not bark when alone. We were surprised by the warning letter, so we asked management to provide some specific times and examples of the complaints so we could pinpoint if this was even *our* dog barking. We did not get a response.

Then we got a request to inspect our apartment’s doors as there was a complaint our doors squeaked. A handyman came and confirmed they did not squeak.

Then we got a request to inspect our floors for 80% coverage per house rules. During the inspection, the super confirmed this was in response to complaints from our downstairs neighbor of footsteps and noise. He even acknowledged he is problematic. He took pictures of our floors and sent them to management. The super’s initial reaction is we have close to but probably not 80% coverage. We also had soundproofing installed underneath the floors during our renovation. Given the pattern, I would not be surprised if management asks us to add more coverage, which could be costly and logistically challenging given our floorplan. However, we haven’t had a response yet.

To summarize, we are just trying to live our lives - we don’t have parties, play loud music/tv, do aerobics in the apt etc or anything out of the ordinary. But we are repeatedly put on the defensive by this neighbor, and by the management company, who seems to capitulate to every claim he makes. Lastly, we have spoken to other neighbors, and know he has lodged many similar complaints against current and previous residents. We have also been told by neighbors that confrontation/mediation is *not* something he has historically been open to. In other words, people have tried to talk to him, and he goes ballistic and screams at them.

We are tired of being scrutinized and made to feel delinquent when we have done nothing wrong. We just want to enjoy our new home.

Any advice, appreciated.

Hi everyone, we own our queens coop for a few years and we have a squeaky floorboard we want to fix without involving the coop. Our assumption is that there is a floorboard with a joist underneath it and we would use a 3-3.5 inch screw to tighten them all back together. We have the appropriate tools for this method.

My main concern is not knowing what’s under there. It’s the hallway next to the bathroom (aka piping). Another assumption is that the piping would not be less than 3 inches from the floor. We’re on a middle floor.

Thoughts? Ty!

Hi everyone! Looking for input from people familiar with co-op applications/boards because I’m trying to understand whether this is a legitimate issue or if we’re being pushed unnecessarily.

My mom and I are in contract to purchase a co-op In Queens. Contract is signed, down payment has been given, and I already collected the board package paperwork. I also know someone who currently lives in the building, and he’s been helpful with answering questions and giving the board positive feedback about us.

Here’s where things got complicated:

My mother is married to my stepfather, but they have a prenup and keep finances/assets separate. She is helping me purchase the apartment and would also be listed as a shareholder/co-purchaser because she’s contributing financially. In the future she may potentially live there, but I would be the primary occupant.

Now the seller’s realtor and someone at the management company are saying the board would “automatically deny” us if my mother is on the application because she is married. They’re pushing for restructuring the entire deal so the apartment is only under my name and my mother would just “gift” me the money instead.

Their reasoning is basically that if someone is married, their spouse is expected to live with them / be part of the application. Apparently boards are “old school” and expect spouses to live together.

This doesn’t fully make sense to me because:

* people have different family situations

* some co-ops allow guarantors/co-purchasers/non-occupant shareholders

* snowbird situations exist

* married couples can keep finances separate

* and this concern is coming from the realtor/management contact, not the actual board

So my questions are:

Is there actually some rule/law in co-ops where a married person cannot purchase shares without including their spouse?

Have any of you seen boards deny applications solely because a spouse was not included?

Does this sound like a legitimate red flag, or more like people trying to make the application “cleaner” before submission?

Would restructuring ownership at this stage create other risks/issues for me?

I am already reaching out to my attorney, but I wanted to hear from people who’ve actually gone through co-op purchases and board applications.

Thanks in advance!

I’m in the process of buying my 2nd co-op (moving to a larger unit in the same building), and as I got current place close to 15 years ago I’m a bit rusty on some of this stuff and would just like a second opinion.

When I got my mortgage package, they initially included homeowners insurance and I had them take it out. I’ve gotten my own policy and paid for it for years, so I figured I’d do the same. I don’t remember it coming up when I first bought, so either the bank didn’t suggest it or I just double paid for a period? (Can’t think about that now!)

But is there something I’m missing? I got a condo policy with State Farm (NY based agent, he said this is what they do to co-ops), but would it be better to get it with my mortgage bank this time around?

I’m about to get a quote from my insurance broker but just wanted to make sure I’m not missing something.

I have the insurance requirements for the bank, and will need to share the details with the bank ahead of closing so I’m not concerned about getting a policy that doesn’t comply with the bank.

Thanks!

We are working with a construction company to submit a very small renovation plan to our nyc co-op - all we are doing is expanding closets. Of course our board pushed back and is insisting DOB and we need an architect to simply get DOB approval. We’re getting outrages quotes $10k+ for this - does anyone have any similar experience and can make recommendations. Or is this normal?

Just looking for some encouragement here.

We’re finally in contract, and starting the process of getting the loan application in, appraisal done, and receiving the loan commitment letter. This process feels long and torturous. But I’m most nervous about the board application and interview.

The Seller used to be part of the Board and our agent says if she approved to sell to us, then the rest of the board should be fine too.

I’m still nervous though. For those who have gone through this, or have been on Boards, what advice do you have to offer?