WestSide Heights HDFC Council

A Board president in a HDFC has broken the by-laws by not allowing access to the Corporations records after repeated requests. Approximately half of all the shareholders are supportive of a new Board; we hope to have enough votes to put through a resolution to vote in a new Board in August. The Board president's live-in girlfriend works at UHAB and she has co-workers in management who have been sensitive to her self-interests. She has used her expertise in the HDFC policy to repeatedly thwart previous years attempts to elect a new Board by guiding the president's actions. We have not had an annual meeting in 3yrs, a financial report, any means to stop them from coercing shareholders to flip to their side indiscreetly. They always seem to be able to outwit shareholders in their numerous attempts to have the Board removed. A consultation with a real estate lawyer indicated nothing could be done unless the shareholders remove them as outlined in the by-laws. However, the president is not following the rules and no evidence of transactions of self-interest has been found. Any other City or State agency the can offer assistance? HPD? Attorney General's Office?

Forget the AG's office. A former UHAB director is now the AG's "special assistant". It seems unlikely that they will investigate the corruption in your HDFC or UHAB. So much for looking out for us little people. The City probably won't help either since UHAB has its friends there too.

My organization, NYC HDFC, would be willing to assist you through this process. The AG can only assist while the cooperative is in sponsorship. At the end of the day, you have to accept that your organization is a private organization, actually a for-profit corporation, so most these issues have to be address internally. If you haven't have annual elections, then a simple majority of the shareholders can hold a special election and that election does not have to be verified by HPD or UHAB. Your last resort would be an article 78 proceeding in the NY Supreme Court, but I don't if the court will demand that meeting be held; instead, it can award damages that can be used as leverage against a dysfunctional, mismanaged, or corrupt board. Feel free to contact us at info@nychdfc.or or 212 470-0484 or subscribe at www.nychdfc.org.