Page 15 - Nevada Cooperator February 2019

NEVADACOOPERATOR.COM
THE NEVADA COOPERATOR —
FEBRUARY 2019
15
Please submit Pulse items to
David Chiu at
david@cooperator.com
fessionals may try to bridge gaps between
board members’ positions by answering
questions and discussing options regarding
the matter at issue. Where the other board
members or the expert cannot or will not
‘mediate’ a resolution between two stridently-
opposed board members in this manner, it
often falls to the managing agent to do so.”
n
Mike Odenthal is a staff writer/reporter for
The Nevada Cooperator.
ming of temporary access, which can come
in very handy for contractors and work
crews doing short-term or even extended
projects on-site. The fob can also contain
an ‘alert’ that will send a notification when
it’s being used. That also lets property staff,
administrators, or managers know when
someone who had the fob may be trying
to gain entrance without permission. Fobs
are flexible and can be programmed down
to hours. Old fobs can be easily reassigned
to new owners or different points of access.
Useful as they are however, key fobs do
have their drawbacks. According to Ron,
fobs will not work during a power outage.
No electricity means no keyless entry. So
co-op and condo boards need to have a
backup plan, says Stuart Halper of Impact
Management, which has offices throughout
the New York area. “There aren’t a lot of op-
tions though. Basically, you need the super
to man the front door to keep it open and
under surveillance.” In extreme cases like
Superstorm Sandy in which electrical power
was out for days, “a backup battery-powered
generator wouldn’t work either,” Halper
says. “The battery wouldn’t last that long. So
you still need the super.”
Climate is another consideration. In an
arid climate like Nevada’s, extremes in tem-
perature can have an effect on the function
of fob-based systems. “Because of the heat
and cold,” says a representative with 24/7 Su-
perTech Locksmith, which services the Las
Vegas valley, “you can have a problem. The
fobs may not work. With conventional keys
you don’t have that problem.”
And while not as acute, one other major
drawback could still be critical. In conjunc-
tion with apps on your smartphone, fob
systems can be synchronized to provide
remote access from almost anywhere. You
could be in the Caribbean on vacation, and
if someone wants to be buzzed in to your
building, you can buzz them in through a
phone call. That may sound great – and in
many ways, it is – but these apps don’t neces-
sarily come with video capability, and that’s
the big drawback. You might buzz in some-
one you didn’t want there. “Old-fashioned
buzzer systems are secure,” says Maunsell,
“in the respect that you only buzz someone
in if you’re in your apartment. With phone
entry, you could be anywhere – and that’s
less secure.”
Price
Dahlin says the cost of fob systems is
dropping due to the proliferation of tech-
nology and increasing demand on the part
of residents and building and community
managers. “People want this,” he says. A
very simple system can cost under $700 to
install and get up and running. The cost of
entry is lowest for new construction, where
a fob system and any other complementary
technology system are installed during the
build-out of the property. Retrofits of older
buildings without any existing technology
are more expensive, as retrofits are more la-
bor intensive. Such projects may also involve
extensive physical changes required to run
wires and other equipment and components
throughout the property.
For buildings and associations looking
to retrofit their properties with key fob sys-
tems, Maunsell recommends installing a fob
system with a unified platform, which is the
most complete iteration of the technology.
That platform generally includes keyless
entry, surveillance and intercom – one pro-
gram on one server on one platform.
So while we may mourn the days when
everyone just left their doors open, we can
also rest easier now, knowing that at least
some forms of technology may have made
us a little safer.
n
A J Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter for
The Nevada Cooperator, and a published nov-
elist.
eration, and people paying bills as they come
in, rather than doing so pursuant to a budget
and assessing and collecting common ex-
penses. So, in the usually city-based smaller
– i.e., under five-unit – associations, there’s
more of a chance that they’ll be self-managed
and need to deal with all of the hurdles that
come with that.”
Some managers will tell you that the afore-
mentioned hustle and bustle of city life is no
joke – and is, in fact, exhausting. “It’s chaos,”
says Pedro Foley, General Manager of The
Courts at South Beach in Miami. “The city is
chaos. That’s the only word that I can use. I
live 19 miles from the association at which I
work. It takes me two hours to get here, each
way. And the working environment is non-
stop. I’ll get in at 9 a.m. and sometimes won’t
have the opportunity to sit down at my desk
until 1 p.m. By the time I get home at 7, my
kid is near ready to go to sleep, as is my wife,
who works for an international company. It
really affects quality of life. In other places
you still have daylight when you get out of
work; you have time for this or that.”
Of course, Foley isn’t saying that city life is
all bad. “You encounter all walks of life, which
I enjoy,” he notes. “I have Jewish residents,
Russians, Germans… everyone from around
the world living here. That diversity factor.
And the money is good! I’m not going to get
paid the salary I get paid here outside of the
city. Everything has its cost. You want more
KEYS, KEY FOBS...
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CITY VERSUS...
continued from page 12
money, you sacrifice your family time; you
want to be home more, you get less money.”
Common Bonds
Of course, given the nature of the com-
munity association – neighbors investing in a
larger residence, and an elected board tasked
with making decisions on behalf of the col-
lective – there are plenty of similarities re-
gardless of where different associations lie.
“The fiduciary duties and fiscal responsi-
bilities of a board anywhere are exactly the
same, whether you’re talking about 5th Av-
enue in Manhattan or Main Street U.S.A.,”
says Ronald A. Sher, a partner with the law
firm of Himmelfarb & Sher in White Plains,
New York. “The board’s commitment toward
the betterment of its property and residents
is a constant.”
So for better or worse – and excluding
weather, which is its own challenge some-
times – there is no fabled town where running
a community association is a cakewalk, just as
there is no specific enclave wherein maintain-
ing a residence is necessarily a hell. A board’s
priorities must be a constant, regardless of its
surroundings. To what the board may need
react may depend on location, but its motiva-
tion should be to protect and improve upon
the investment of the community.
n
Mike Odenthal is a staff writer/reporter
with The Nevada Cooperator.
his conduct is illegal and violates his fiduciary
duty to the board and the community, and
demand his resignation; or 3.) pursue remov-
al of this board member via the removal pro-
cess set forth in NRS 116.31036; or 4.) file a
complaint with Real Estate Division through
the Office of the Ombudsman whereby this
board member’s violations of the rules are re-
ported to them, and request that they do an
investigation into his actions and punish him
for his actions under NRS 116.745 through
116.795.
“Dealing with this type of person on the
board is never easy, but there are options for
putting a stop to it. The bottom line: don’t sit
back and allow it to continue.”
n
Q&A
continued from page 4
Disclaimer: The answers provided in this Q&A
column are of a general nature and cannot
substitute for professional advice regarding your
specific circumstances. Always seek the advice of
competent legal counsel or other qualified profes-
sionals with any questions you may have regard-
ing technical or legal issues.
Trends
Southern Nevada Housing Market Slowed
Down in December 2018
The recent cooling trend continued through
December 2018 for the local housing mar-
ket, with stable home prices, fewer properties
changing hands and more homes on the market
than one year ago. So says a report released on
January 8 by the Greater Las Vegas Association of
Realtors (GLVAR), which made the announce-
ment in a news statement.
GLVAR reported that the median price for
existing single-family homes sold in Southern
Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service
(MLS) during December was $295,250 -- nearly
the same as November -- but still up 10.2 percent
from $267,900 in December of 2017. The median
price of local condos and townhomes sold in
December was $163,500. That was down slightly
from November, but still up 14.3 percent from
$143,000 in December of 2017.
The total number of existing local homes,
condos and townhomes sold during December
was 2,658. Compared to one year ago, December
sales were down 18.2 percent for homes and
down 11.8 percent for condos and townhomes.
GLVAR reported a total of 42,876 property sales
in 2018, down from 45,388 in all of 2017.
Meanwhile, homes and condos continue to
sell relatively quickly, though at a pace more in
line with last year at this time. In December, 79.9
percent of all existing local homes and 78.3 per-
cent of all existing local condos and townhomes
sold within 60 days. That compares to one year
ago, when 79.3 percent of all existing local homes
and 88.4 percent of all existing local condos and
townhomes sold within 60 days.
Appointments &
Transitions
Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin,
LLP Announces Attorney Jordan Butler as
Partner
Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin,
LLP, whose practice areas include community
associations, announced that Jordan Butler has
been promoted to partner in the law firm’s liti-
gation department, according to a press release
release. Mr. Butler is based in the firm’s Las Vegas
office.
“Jordan has made significant contributions
to the firm, from his achievements as a litigator
in the areas of employment law, class actions,
commercial litigation and community associa-
tion law, to his unique understanding of sports
immigration law from the perspective of being a
former Division I college tennis athlete. We are
proud to welcome him to the partnership,” said
Michael Wolf, Managing Partner, in a statement.
“We look forward to his continued success at the
firm.”
Butler represents a broad array of individu-
als and businesses in complex litigation mat-
ters and disputes, and has pertinent mediation,
arbitration, and trial experience. In his sports
and immigration practice, Mr. Butler represents
high-profile international athletes and coaches
in employment visa applications under the inter-
national recognition (P-1) and extraordinary
ability (O-1) categories; and, in the negotiation
and drafting of sponsorship and player licensing
agreements . In addition to being well-versed on
the legal landscape of sports and immigration
law, Jordan’s clients benefit from his decade-long
involvement in professional tennis as a certified
player agent and professional tournament direc-
tor.
n
PULSE
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