Picking up after the pandemic - by C. Jaye Berger

Most people will be surprised to hear how long some of their board members and neighbors have been living in Florida and elsewhere during the pandemic. Therefore, the board has not had an opportunity to look at the co-op documents to see what needs to be updated and added to. This would be a good time to do that type of review and make some changes. In addition, there is a great deal of structural and maintenance work that needs to be done to upgrade the buildings. It would be a good idea to have a structural engineer who has previously worked with the building have a look around – especially to see if there is any evidence of water damage. People should be especially careful to look at units which have been occupied by subtenants who may not have been careful about maintaining the apartments. If any work has been done by outside contractors or developers that work should be examined for compliance with any warranties. There may also be money being held in escrow by management for some of this outside work.

C. Jaye Berger is the founder of Law Offices C. Jaye Berger, New York, N.Y.