In: residential
In New York City, residential apartment buildings that are greater than 6 stories are required to do an exterior inspection every five years, pursuant to Local Law 11. Right now we are in the midst of Cycle 7 and beginning in 2015, Cycle 8 will be upon us.
On May 5, 2014 the City of New York released a memo to all building owners that included with the Cycle 7 reports, all buildings that need to comply with the LL11 now have to go one step further and inspect all balconies, terraces, handrails, fire escapes, etc. The buildings need to be inspected by a qualified architect or engineer and then must submit a letter to the city by February of 2015 outlining their current status; whether that is SAFE, UNSAFE or SWARMP.
We are recommending to all building owners that they get in touch with their architect of record to go over this new law and begin the process of inspecting for the required report.
A member of the forum of Habitat Magazine (www.habitatmag.com) posted that her current agent neglected to pay their water bill and now penalties and late fees were being applied. The poster wanted to know if the money that the building is out would be collectable from the current agent.
Mark Levine of Excel Bradshaw Management Group, a NYC property management firm explains a solution to how to avoid this from happening in the future in any building and also gives an insight into a real world scenario that he has encountered with the same issue.
Should the Board try and recoup the losses? Yes, but in order to collect they may have to go to legal with the property management firm and weighing the cost of legal vs. the outstanding fines and penalties will shape their decision. The real question is; will they keep their current firm or search for a new one?
Mark Levine, our Vice President is introducing himself in the first of many New York City centric property management videos. Since 1996, our firm has been a 3rd party property management firm specializing in the management of Cooperatives, Condominiums and rental buildings in the 5 boroughs of NYC and also on Long Island. These videos will be a great way for our clients, potential clients and the general public to get a better handle on property management of multi-family buildings, no matter if they are in the NYC area or elsewhere.