Page 1 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland EXPO 2021

Expo 2021 CHICAGO.COOPERATORNEWS.COM CHICAGOLAND THE CONDO, HOA & CO-OP RESOURCE COOPERATORNEWS Receiverships and Conservatorships 101 Understanding a Powerful Legal Tool BY A. J. SIDRANSKY continued on page 25 205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED continued on page 24 New Green Tech for the Multifamily Sector Shiny, Tiny…& Brainy BY DARCEY GERSTEIN continued on page 22 In the beginning … there was light. And all this time later, we are finally harness- ing light’s energy to power our cities, our buildings, and our everyday devices—mostly because all of the energy sources we’ve used until now emit incalculable amounts of carbon and other dangerous particles into the atmosphere, causing what is now widely understood to be a global climate catastrophe. While the light was good, it was also expensive. Capturing energy from the sun requires acres and acres of enormous photovoltaic panels. Storage and distribution of that energy requires yet another set of costly infrastructure. And scaling and applying this technology to an off-the-grid cabin in the woods is much different from getting it to power an 80-story high-rise in a large city. But over the last few decades—and particularly over the last few years, as we’ve reached our climate reckoning in the wake of disasters of near-biblical proportions— the technology and components for making and providing non-fossil-burning power are becoming cheaper, smarter, and more widely available. The Solar Scale Experts in the field of clean energy contend that the last 20 years have seen a huge reduction in the cost of manufacturing and installing photovol- taic modules. One of these experts is Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies Inc., a company based in Bedford, Mas- sachusetts, that is at the forefront of solar technology develop- ment and production. In a recent podcast called “The Science of Solar,” Mierlo states that the first solar technology was devel- oped in 1954 by Bell Labs. At that time, a solar panel’s cost per kilowatt-hour was about $10. Today, he says, it’s about 4¢ to 5¢. When a property or individual finds itself or himself in a situation that threatens the continued economic vi- ability of the asset or estate our laws pro- vide a supervised level of assistance from qualified third parties. In the case of real property that assistance is known as re- ceivership. In the case of an individual it is known as conservatorship. In both cases the goal is to stabilize and preserve the value of real property and/or per- sonal estate. What is a Receivership and When is it Used? Kris Kasten, an attorney specializing in condominium and community law and principal of Altus Legal in Chicago, says, “In Illinois, a receivership is a ju- dicial process pursuant to which a per- son is appointed by a court to manage the real estate of another. Receiverships are used in a variety of circumstances. Those circumstances include but are not limited to: (1) managing, conserv- ing, or operating mortgaged real estate in a mortgage foreclosure action; (2) completing unfinished construction of buildings; (3) winding up dissolved cor- porations, partnerships, or limited liabil- ity companies; (4) remedying violations of municipal or state building codes; (5) operating, managing, and conserving a distressed condominium property; and New Kids on the Board First-Person Advice for Newly Elected Directors BY DARCEY GERSTEIN Across the country, one of the biggest challenges to governing co-ops, condo- miniums, and homeowners associations is fi nding new members who are will- ing to volunteer their time and energy to serve on their community’s board of directors. In addition to a time commit- ment that can seem onerous to those whose lives are already packed with work, families, hobbies, households, and more, board service comes with myriad tasks, responsibilities, and politicking. Aft er all, who would want to take an unpaid gig that potentially makes you the recipient of all your neighbors’ grievances? Oh, right—I did. Seven years ago, in an eff ort to help a small cohort of relatively new shareholders redirect a long pattern of what we saw as dysfunctionality, fi nan- cial mismanagement, and abdication of fi duciary duty among previous boards, I ran for a seat on the board of the co-op where I live in Lower Manhattan, New York. In a 1,700-unit community where around half of the shareholders acquired their units during the decades when the corporation operated under Title I of the Federal Housing Act of 1949 (inelegantly titled “Slum Clearance and Community Development and Redevelopment”), get- ting new members elected was not an easy feat. It entailed weeks of campaign- ing, printing and distributing fl iers about my qualifi cation and intentions, and even positioning myself in the lobbies with my two toddlers and free lemonade. Th is is my story about becoming a New Kid on the Board that I hope will of- fer some advice and resources that might be useful to others who are new to their own co-op, condo, or HOA board; those who are considering board service; or CHICAGOLAND’S BIGGEST & BEST CO-OP, CONDO & APT EXPO! NAVY PIER — THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 10-4:30 FREE REGISTRATION: ILEXPO.COM LIVE AND IN PERSON