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First time homeowner here, just bought a condo in Brooklyn. Was hoping to get some advice.
This is a brand new building (about 20 units), so all the condos are brand new, everyone just moved in in the past 3 months. Most of us are first-time homeowners. We just elected our first round of board members for the owners association. It’s a very involved community of residents; every unit had at least one person who wanted to be on the board.
Recently, one of our residents sent an email to everyone talking about all the problems the apartment is having. That the cabinets above the stove get too hot when using the stove with the trim melting; that the shower doors the builders installed leak or get stuck; etc. expecting that the original builders (the ones who did punch list) should come and fix them. Immediately all of our neighbors began chiming in, complaining of things they didn’t like about how their apartment was built: an oversensitive smoke detector; air drafts coming in through the built-in AC unit; a dent in the door; etc. Mostly stuff that residents couldn’t have known about until they had lived in the place for a little while. They’re all upset because the original building company has become a lot less responsive over the past few weeks. The email chain quickly gained momentum and before long neighbors were talking about getting lawyers involved, or even having the board hire a lawyer.
Again, I’m a first-time buyer, so I don’t have a whole lot of experience in these matters. But I would think that either…
A) To an extent, what you see is what you get, buyer beware, and some of this stuff we’re just going to have to fix ourselves. I thought it was common, within certain reason, for new homeowners to have to sink a bunch of money into their new home early on for fixes like this
B) Even if the original building company would have been the ones to fix this earlier, it may now fall upon the management company. Or at least that would be the first resort, rather than going back to the builders.
Like I said, most people in our building are first time buyers, and I’m not sure if they know what to expect either. That being said, I could be completely wrong. Maybe all the issues I’ve mentioned do fall upon the builders and the board needs to get on their ass to guarantee fixes.
So I guess I’d just like some advice: to what extent do you believe the builders are obligated to fix these problems, and on what kind of timeline? Is this more of a job for the management company? At what point, if any, should lawyers get involved?
As a side note, I’d honestly feel a lot calmer about the whole thing if not for the circumstances behind this email chain. The resident who made the original complaint is kind of a nasty customer, who made no secret of the fact that he wants to be in control of everything. One of the workers told me that during punch list repairs, he made racist comments, and outrageous demands. No one voted for him at board elections because the other candidates running talked about building a community, and his whole speech was about holding everyone’s feet to the fire to get what he deserved. Now within 2 hours of creating the email chain, he’s already talking about lawyering up and representing all the residents he stirred up “if the board isn’t up to it”, and suggesting weekly meetings between tenants (IE him) and the board to make demands. He’s clearly power hungry, and it’s not helping the situation. (Sorry, just venting)
Last edited by 212Native; 10-13-2017 at 04:17 PM..
I don't have any advice admittedly, but I would like to know what neighborhood in Brooklyn is your building if you don't mind. I'm not looking to know the exact location of the building, but just the neighborhood.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
The most glaring issues with your description is you have not read the contract you signed with the developer, the bylaws of the associate (most likely written by the developer), and the property management has not given advise on what to do. Normally the property management team has legal representatives within the company. You can hire a lawyer independent of the property management if the board and homeowners feel it needed depending on the lawyer's specialty.
I would also mention buying into a 20 unit building has it disadvantage as the burden of maintenance is shared among a small amount of people.
I am not sure who your lawyer was when you bought the property, but they are suppose to advise you about condos rules and the advantage/disadvantage. Did you decide to buy it from a floor plan directly from the developer without a lawyer?
That's why owning in a new constitution building is tricky -especially since you have to elect the board from scratch and, they don't really know what they are doing (they're basically learning "on the job"). Also new construction is notorious for cutting corners, but not always illegally. For example, there is only one hot water heater/boiler for our 72 unit building so if you take a shower in the winter between 7-8am, the "hot" water is only lukewarm! Clearly a shortcut on the part of the developer but nothing that we can sue over. That's why you have to be very careful about the lure of new construction.
Anyway, I bought into new construction in BK, although the building is now 6 years old. There are certain things that will be under warranty for a few years, usually major systems, and can be expected to be fixed by the developer, other things are the individual unit owners responsibility. Your building's management company should know what falls under the responsibility of the builder and what does not. In fact, they should be guiding you. Does your offering plan say anything about what is covered and for how long? I actually haven't checked my offering plan in a while so I don't remember but there should be a warranty section in it.
Ok, I dug up my offering plan. It lists out pretty clearly in the Limited Warrenty section what is covered and for how long. It lists basic coverage, major system coverage, structural coverage, what's not covered, what the developer is required to do in the event of a covered defect, etc.
So yeah, check the offering plan and speak with property manager for your building. I'm pretty sure our property manager attended our first few board meetings. Actually, I think he still joins them when/if needed.
Are there still some unsold units that your developer still owns? If so, you will have some influence over him at this point, until he sells all his units and goes to hide behind the nearest bush. The board should negotiate with the developer/builder if he is still there, to try and get those things that are substandard taken care of. Each owner should list his problems and leave it to the Board or council to do it, not call him themselves. This will stop the screaming matches between owners and builder.
If the building is completely sold and the developer/builder has now disappeared into the underbrush, he will probably not be responsive. Your by-laws probably will now have to come into play, and the people who have things wrong inside their units will have to fix them themselves, as is usually stated in the by=laws. Your by-laws probably state the boundaries by which the council, and not the owner, will pay for things wrong. It's usually the absolute inside of the unit, sometimes and sometimes not including the windows, which is the responsibility of the owner. Anything outside that is the responsibility of the council to fix.
Don't run for office on the building council just yet.
You should get together on making sure the racist is not pretending to anyone that he's your mouthpiece. Keep in mind anyone you hire, like a lawyer, is going to need payment you're ALL going to pay, whether you agree or not. So you can see the old expression about one bad apple, etc., can be a really big problem.
Remember that it's a condo and you're owners so anything you fix yourself you have to pay for and anything the association pays for you have to pay for, too. You need to get everyone to read the paperwork, which they should have done before signing. If they didn't, they need to do it now.
I'd suggest prioritizing that list of complaints. A dent is nothing, but melting trim is a fire hazard. And the more serious you are with the demands, the more likely you'll get cooperation from the builders. If it's not already too late.
First time homeowner here, just bought a condo in Brooklyn. Was hoping to get some advice.
This is a brand new building (about 20 units), so all the condos are brand new, everyone just moved in in the past 3 months. Most of us are first-time homeowners. We just elected our first round of board members for the owners association. It’s a very involved community of residents; every unit had at least one person who wanted to be on the board.
Recently, one of our residents sent an email to everyone talking about all the problems the apartment is having. That the cabinets above the stove get too hot when using the stove with the trim melting; that the shower doors the builders installed leak or get stuck; etc. expecting that the original builders (the ones who did punch list) should come and fix them. Immediately all of our neighbors began chiming in, complaining of things they didn’t like about how their apartment was built: an oversensitive smoke detector; air drafts coming in through the built-in AC unit; a dent in the door; etc. Mostly stuff that residents couldn’t have known about until they had lived in the place for a little while. They’re all upset because the original building company has become a lot less responsive over the past few weeks. The email chain quickly gained momentum and before long neighbors were talking about getting lawyers involved, or even having the board hire a lawyer.
Again, I’m a first-time buyer, so I don’t have a whole lot of experience in these matters. But I would think that either…
A) To an extent, what you see is what you get, buyer beware, and some of this stuff we’re just going to have to fix ourselves. I thought it was common, within certain reason, for new homeowners to have to sink a bunch of money into their new home early on for fixes like this
B) Even if the original building company would have been the ones to fix this earlier, it may now fall upon the management company. Or at least that would be the first resort, rather than going back to the builders.
Like I said, most people in our building are first time buyers, and I’m not sure if they know what to expect either. That being said, I could be completely wrong. Maybe all the issues I’ve mentioned do fall upon the builders and the board needs to get on their ass to guarantee fixes.
So I guess I’d just like some advice: to what extent do you believe the builders are obligated to fix these problems, and on what kind of timeline? Is this more of a job for the management company? At what point, if any, should lawyers get involved?
As a side note, I’d honestly feel a lot calmer about the whole thing if not for the circumstances behind this email chain. The resident who made the original complaint is kind of a nasty customer, who made no secret of the fact that he wants to be in control of everything. One of the workers told me that during punch list repairs, he made racist comments, and outrageous demands. No one voted for him at board elections because the other candidates running talked about building a community, and his whole speech was about holding everyone’s feet to the fire to get what he deserved. Now within 2 hours of creating the email chain, he’s already talking about lawyering up and representing all the residents he stirred up “if the board isn’t up to it”, and suggesting weekly meetings between tenants (IE him) and the board to make demands. He’s clearly power hungry, and it’s not helping the situation. (Sorry, just venting)
Once (again) Google is your friend; that and a very good RE attorney:
As with previous RE booms in NYC you have plenty of egits out there who have never developed (or redeveloped) a thing in their lives. They take investor money and or some banking finance, but a property, develop or redevelop in to homes or apartments then look to sell and make their money. Once that is done they move on leaving new owners holding the bag so to speak if defects pop up.
First time developers matched with first time homebuyers can be a recipe for disaster. People who often don't know what they should look for, matched with someone who does not know (or wants to) what they are doing means in no small number of cases someone gets hurt.
The increasing use of non-union labor coupled with often using the cheapest materials builders can lay hands upon (so much new construction looks like a showroom from Lowes or Home Depot), again means quality is often lacking.
In a rental tenants have recourse easily, they can move, take their LL to court or simply wage a negative PR campaign to force action. Condo or home buyers have to live with their decision while mulling their next move.
Do newly built New York City condos typically come with a "builder's warranty?"
Yes. The warranties are listed in the Offering Plan. You receive the offering plan during the closing process and you should keep it. It's a big fat bound book of several (hundred) pages.
The OP needs to check their offering plan to understand what is covered and for how long. The developer is required to fix or repair things still under warranty. As stated earlier, I'm in a new construction, built 2011, and just re-reviewed my offering plan. It's very clear as to what was/is convered under the warranty and what the developer is required to do for things that are still covered. Thinking back, I now remember a few people in my building had to have (minor) things repaired within the first year. I had to have something on my deck fixed -they didn't install the fencing properly and I had to have a small section replaced.
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