Page 39 - New England Condominium May EXPO 2019

NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM — MAY 2019 39 Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Telephone: 212-683-9700 Email: information@gny.com Web: www.gny.com GNY has over 100 years of expertise covering condominiums, apartment buildings, and other commercial real estate. Contact us to learn how we can support your business. Mitchell Fox, mfox@gny.com or 617-322-0572. See us at the New England Expo at booth 426. are not set forth in an agreement? How can you say that the work hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., if those are not set forth in an agreement? Most importantly, for the insurance to properly protect the co-op or condo, there must be a written agree- ment to indemnify. The mere delivery of an insurance certificate naming someone as an additional insured, without prior written agreement to indemnify, is not sufficient to protect the corporation or association.” Some Real-Life Tales While the abstractions of alteration agreements may seem like a what-if sce- nario to many owners, they can become a reality very quickly. Kasten relays the story of a condominium association he represented in Chicago where one of the unit owners – without board approval – built an enclosure in the hallway out front of his apartment door, creating a private storage area for himself. Being a small, friendly association, the board didn’t make a fuss about it or insist that he take it down. They did try to figure out how the change affected the propor- tional ownership share of the unit to in- crease the unit owner’s assessment, but never came to a final conclusion. This went unresolved for several years; then the unit owner died. His estate wanted to sell the unit, but his unauthorized extension of the unit perimeter became a serious problem as to who should be responsible for the cost of removing it. The problem wouldn’t have existed at all if the association had taken steps to halt the owner’s improper project or, failing that, acted promptly to resolve the pro- portional share issue when the now-de- ceased owner’s unauthorized project had changed the building’s percentage own- ership. Regardless, the unit was unsale- able until the issue was cleared up. Chatt offers another tale of caution: a condo board allowed the combination of two adjacent units into one without any legal changes to the unit status, propor- tional share, etc. The owner died. It turns out she had two mortgages – one on each unit. A foreclosure ensued. There were actually two separate foreclosure actions, but since the space was one unit, there was no clear priority of lien. The case re- mained in the courts for a very long time due to the refusal of the two lenders to come to some sort of accommodation to resolve the problem. Though as an owner you may view al- teration agreements as one more hassle imposed by your meddlesome co-op or condo board, always remember that the document is there to protect you as much as the association or corporation, and sign on the dotted line. n A J Sidransky is a writer/reporter with New England Condominium, and a pub- lished novelist. – debuted the Fitwel Certification System. Developed by experts in public health and design, including advisers from the Cen- ters for Disease Control (CDC) and the General Services Administration (GSA), Fitwel aims to evaluate how well partici- pating buildings support the well-being of their occupants, as well as their surround- ing communities. The Fitwel Multifamily Residential Scorecard measures communities in areas like walkability; building access; outdoor spaces; entrance/ground floor; stairs; in- door environments; dwellings; shared spaces; water supply; grocery stores/pre- pared food retail; vending machines/mi- cro markets/corner stores; and emergency procedures. Participating properties have a chance to earn as many as 144 points among these categories. According to the Center for Active De- sign, the number of projects achieving Fit- wel certification between 2017 and 2018 increased 80 percent, making for a total of 650+ currently registered developments, including those in the multi-family space (The organization recognized The Pearl, by Tower Companies, in Silver Spring, Maryland; Montclair Residences by Clari- on Partners, in Montclair, New Jersey; and AVA NoMa, by AvalonBay Communities, in Washington D.C., as scoring particu- larly highly via Fitwel criteria.) Whether the Green New Deal becomes law or stalls out in the halls of govern- ment, the reality of climate change – and its impacts on how we live our lives – will continue to influence residential architec- ture, development, and research. Boards, managers, and residents committed to do- ing their part to reduce their footprint and make sustainable changes can help by do- ing their homework; partnering with like- minded design pros; and taking advantage of incentive programs that help make go- ing greener more attainable. n Mike Odenthal is a staff writer/reporter with New England Condominium. ment company in a critical manner, Kayam recommends that it engage in a “non-con- frontational conversation with the current property manager regarding its dissatisfac- tion with the service it is receiving, and the type of service it would like to receive,” and then allow the manager to respond accord- ingly. “If the issues remain unresolved, a board can call the president or head of the management company to discuss the expec- tations of the board, and the level of atten- tion and service they need from a manager. If that still doesn’t work, the board can re- quest that the management company assign CONSIDERING... continued from page 17 continued on page 40 See us at Booth 426 See us at Booth 312 THE LATEST... continued from page 13