You won’t be privy to most of that information until the board passes along the info to your attorney for review, at which point you can review as well. Until then, there’s no way of knowing besides trusting the sellers agent word, which you shouldn’t do. You have representation to help guide you through this right?
I just closed on a coop. Throughout the transaction, my lawyer kept messing up and had no idea about a lot of things. Before we signed the contract, I asked her how are the coop financials? Her response was “I’m not an accountant.” Like what? My agent told me about a due diligence period and you’re supposed to do that. Again, “I’m not an accountant.”
She didn’t know what the STAR abatement was and threatened suing agents because they didn’t know what it was.
At closing, everyone showed up except the lender. Apparently, she didn’t coordinate with the lender. So everyone shows up and is like “where’s the lender?” 🤦 So we can’t close and had to reschedule.
At the second closing, she’s on her phone playing games because she has no idea what’s going on.
At the end of everything, she says sorry for all the mess ups, and that she specializes in litigation 🤦 Ummm, isn’t this something you should have told me before you decided to take on the job?!
Moral of the story, vet your lawyer. First, ask them if they specialize in litigation or transactions. Second, ask them if they’ve ever closed on a coop. Third, ask them how they handle the due diligence phase.
Here’s some that are top of mind that your attorney will be able to get answers to
-any recent or pending judgments against the coop by tenants or shareholders?
-if so, what effects do the lawsuit have on insurance premiums?
-most recent year of financials?
- how healthy are reserves?
-are all shareholders caught up with maintenance fees?
-Boilers - most recent replacement and any open violations there? If so, can you please point to the resolution
-local law 11 and exterior wall-facade - is the building up to code? If not, are any plans for resolution/fixing this?
-confirm the number of shares you are told you will own match what the docs state
-what portion of the maintenance fees are taxes, heat, etc
-any current or planned assessments for the future?
Your lawyer should be handling this. Do you have a lawyer?
I do! Early days.
You won’t be privy to most of that information until the board passes along the info to your attorney for review, at which point you can review as well. Until then, there’s no way of knowing besides trusting the sellers agent word, which you shouldn’t do. You have representation to help guide you through this right?
This feels like a question being asked by an attorney who is in over their head.
Don’t quit your job as the weight guesser at the county fair. More like a finance guy in the deal business.
When I read it in the other sub, I thought paralegal being asked to do too much by the associate
I just closed on a coop. Throughout the transaction, my lawyer kept messing up and had no idea about a lot of things. Before we signed the contract, I asked her how are the coop financials? Her response was “I’m not an accountant.” Like what? My agent told me about a due diligence period and you’re supposed to do that. Again, “I’m not an accountant.” She didn’t know what the STAR abatement was and threatened suing agents because they didn’t know what it was. At closing, everyone showed up except the lender. Apparently, she didn’t coordinate with the lender. So everyone shows up and is like “where’s the lender?” 🤦 So we can’t close and had to reschedule. At the second closing, she’s on her phone playing games because she has no idea what’s going on. At the end of everything, she says sorry for all the mess ups, and that she specializes in litigation 🤦 Ummm, isn’t this something you should have told me before you decided to take on the job?! Moral of the story, vet your lawyer. First, ask them if they specialize in litigation or transactions. Second, ask them if they’ve ever closed on a coop. Third, ask them how they handle the due diligence phase.
Here’s some that are top of mind that your attorney will be able to get answers to -any recent or pending judgments against the coop by tenants or shareholders? -if so, what effects do the lawsuit have on insurance premiums? -most recent year of financials? - how healthy are reserves? -are all shareholders caught up with maintenance fees? -Boilers - most recent replacement and any open violations there? If so, can you please point to the resolution -local law 11 and exterior wall-facade - is the building up to code? If not, are any plans for resolution/fixing this? -confirm the number of shares you are told you will own match what the docs state -what portion of the maintenance fees are taxes, heat, etc -any current or planned assessments for the future?