Dennis Greenstein Quoted in The Cooperator
“Minuteless in Manhattan”

Dennis Greenstein was quoted in the real estate Q & A column of the July 2009 issue of The Cooperator. The letter writer inquired about his rights, as a newly elected board member of a small self-managed condominium, to be provided with the minutes from the last three years in order to familiarize himself with board decisions, the history of repairs, capital improvements, etc. Despite requesting the documents from the board president and secretary several times, both publically and privately, he still has not received them. His question is whether he has the legal right to inspect all corporate documents and, if so, how can he acquire access to the minutes? Dennis noted, “As a member of the board of managers the letter writer is entitled to have access to all of the books and records of the condominium.”

Dennis explained that “Section 339-w of the Condominium Act provides for the board of managers to keep detailed, accurate records, in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures arising from the operation of the property.” He further explained that these records should be available for examination by the unit owners at convenient hours during the week and that a written report summarizing such receipts and expenditures should be rendered by the board of managers to all unit owners, at least annually. Dennis noted, “Refusing to provide access to them raises concerns that there may have been wrongful acts and cause current board members to inspect the past records and to investigate if they feel the need to do so.”

Dennis recommended that the letter writer send a letter to all members of the board of managers documenting the prior request and include copies of letters and, if communication was verbal, the dates and to whom requested, and again request the review of the condominium documents. Dennis concluded, “If the board of managers still refuses to provide the documents, there are other options. He could contact the other board members and ask them to join him in overruling the president if necessary, to remove the board member from his position as president.”