Repairs to Central Staircase in a Coop
This is a small, self-managed coop, in a 1900s-ish Brownstone building.
Cracked walls and uneven steps in the main common staircase were noticed about a year ago, and brought to the attention of the coop to investigate. There was great reluctance to start a renovation project. After much discussion, it was agreed to bring in an inspector to provide a third party view. The inspector’s report states clearly that the staircase needs to be “opened up” in order to determine where there is a need for reinforcements of the underlying structure. The project will be voted on at the next coop meeting.
In the event that the coop does not agree to move forward with the renovation, is there a way to legally protect individual units (those advocating that the renovation should be performed) in case of an accident or something happening to someone on the staircase?
Thanks for any perspective you can provide.
In essence, the question is: if the coop were to be sue d for negligence in case of an accident that occurs because it did not perform the renovation, can the members of an individual unit be indemnified?
notfromny
in General Discussion 6 years and 5 months ago
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8 replies
cate | 6 years and 5 months ago
If the issue is anything like ours, the costs and inconvenience will not be all that bad. You might be looking at are a few hundred bucks for a handyman to open and close up the plaster (if the stair person can’t do it), free to have the stair expert look, $900 or so to have an engineer look at anything else needed such as the basement, perhaps $2,000 or so to deal with any underlying structural issues in the basement if there are any (such as repair to a beam), approximately $3,000 or so per flight to correct the stair, and $1-$3 a square foot for skim coating.
angelique.m.west | 6 years and 5 months ago
I have lived in two co-ops — one medium size and one small — and one condo that was around 40 units. There was drama in each. Next move may be a house or a rental.
yudashasom | 6 years and 5 months ago
You couldn’t pay me to live in a co-op, especially a small one.
angelique.m.west | 6 years and 5 months ago
There is no way that I know of for a single unit owner in a co-op to be indemnified against a lawsuit. And that may be your leverage against those who do not want to make this fix. You didn’t say how many units there are — what is the number, btw? — but all of the owners need to look at the issue this way: You can all collectively pay for this repair now and share the expense or risk paying loads of cash to fight a lawsuit down the road. A very litigious vendor, delivery person, mover or whomever could make your lives very difficult. They could sue not only the co-op corporation but all the individual board members and unit owners separately. If your building doesn’t have D&O insurance that means you all will have to pay to fight the suit.
I imagine part of the lawsuit expenses would come out of your reserve fund — and drain it. And then there will have to be assessments. So I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to make this fix.
Btw, another thing you didn’t mention was whether your co-op has elected officers and a traditional board. Many small co-ops don’t and e veryone serves. But you and a group of others could push this issue and try to force new elections and take over control of the board. You could say: This decision can’t be made because the by-laws call for a board to be elected and for unit holders to have specific roles. If you don’t have a duly elected president and treasurer, for example, there is no board.
cate | 6 years and 5 months ago
Yes I would start with the stair guy and see what he says. As well, be aware that stair issues can often reflect settling or moving of the underlying structure in the rest of the building. For example, our stairs are slightly pulling away from the wall and newel post because the rearmost portion of the garden floor over the main beam in the cellar dropped about three inches years before we arrived on the scene. “Opening up” a small portion of the staircase (12×12 inches) or the cellar is really no big deal and can easily be closed up again, unless it’s covered in a precious period finish. If it’s just plaster, it’s easy.
patrickburnsjr | 6 years and 5 months ago
Try Antoon Schollee at Soxco Stairs on So Oxford in Fort Greene for leads he may have
at 718-858-5991 – the owner of Soxco for 30 yrs with experience relating to brownstone coop clients in general , along with his Speciality business of building staircases.
brokelin | 6 years and 5 months ago
Having lived in a small Brownstone coop, which also failed to correct known hazards, I can say that the coop is also unlikely to have D&O insurance. Too cheap (or too poor, whichever, it can be either, depending on the owners) to do needed repairs tends to go along with too cheap to buy D&O. After attending the board training at the NYC council of coops and condos, and learning of its necessity, I convinced my coop to buy D&O to protect us (in a 4-unit we were all on the board), but they later dropped it. It was expensive, as the only insurance company CNYC recommended was the one that would actually pay to defend the officers in a lawsuit, which is the point of the insurance.
I made my initial decision to move on (though it took me some time) when it was clear that a different hazard, which we had taken steps to investigate, would not be fixed. That is really your best option to protect yourself – to move on. Having looked for a few years for a home that I wanted to stay in for the really long term, that was a difficult decision – but if you are the sort that wan ts to maintain your home, and protect what assets you have from lawsuits, it is the only choice.
I learned from that to not tie my financial interests up with a small group of highly irrational people by buying in a small building again. As owning a house becomes even more out of reach, I’ve decided if I buy again it will be in a condo with over 100 units, where you are likely to find more rationality among some of the many shareholders. And if it is a condo, not a coop, if you decide to move on, you can sell without your fellow voting to prevent your sale.
slopefarm | 6 years and 5 months ago
You might get opinions here, but I would consult an attorney if you are really worried about the risk.
Something to look at — does your coop carry liability insurance and does that include specific coverage for directors and officers (“d&o”)? Typically in a brownstone co-op pretty much everyone is an officer, and I would worry — though check with an attorney who understands this stuff — that officers, and not just the corporation, could be liable for negligence for ignoring the warnings of a professional’s report, if injury results.
Proving negligence where a condition is not known is one thing, But if the risk was identified and ignored, that is harder to defend I would think.
A review of the liability policy is probably worthwhile before the vote as well. There might be a policy exclusion that the insurer could invoke based on the failure to correct a known risk.
Also, I would think that it is somewhat meaningless to have the coop indemnify the members since the are so few of you and the coop doesn’t have a revenue source other than its members. If the coop had a judgment of a million dollars against it, where else but the members would that come from? That’s why this is really an insurance question. Also, if the coop votes against repairs, it certainly isn’t then going to have a majority that will vote to indemnify the minority that voted in favor of the repairs.