Photo by Adi Talwar
By DAVID CRUZ
Board meetings for the Fordham Hill Oval Corp., a sprawling gated community, are often held at St. Tolentine Church, across from the neighboring co-ops. But on Feb. 10, a faction of some 100 shareholders gathered there to determine how it could unseat the current Board.
The group of shareholders, a fraction of the 1,116 tenants who live in Fordham Hill, took its first steps to stage an electoral assault on the current Board, and managing agent, Argo Real Estate Management, by hiring a law firm specializing in cooperative law. Their first order of business: corral enough shareholders in good standing to run against the nine-member panel and to directly monitor the election process to ensure the bylaws are upheld.
The goal is to ensure there are enough votes, or quorum, to proceed with an election that in many cases has not been legally executed. It’s become a main contention by the faction of shareholders who insist the current members were illegally voted in following no quorum.
Santamarina & Associates, a Manhattan-based law firm, agreed to represent the group for an undisclosed figure. Should mismanagement of the election be found, the firm agreed to take their case to Bronx Supreme Court to challenge the election process.
“So we’re gonna get you from A to Z, and hopefully that would mean electing nine people onto the Board that represent your interests, that care about your property and your finances and that would do everything possible to decrease costs instead of increasing maintenance fees,” said Alina Levina, an attorney with the firm, who briefed shareholders at the meeting, which was raucous at times.
Internal Feud
The latest news caps years of infighting between shareholders and the Board, comprised of other shareholders. The group contests the Board is illegally operating since there was no quorum to proceed with last year’s election, subsequently barring members from any decision making. Nonetheless, the Board’s eight-year president, Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, was re-elected since no quorum to move forward with the election was reached.
Shortly after the elections, the Board voted to increase maintenance charges and impose a $30 cable fee that would go into the cooperative’s reserve funds for projects. This outraged shareholders who felt blindsided by the increase that was later withdrawn.
Pilgrim-Hunter declined to be interviewed for this story. In newsletters to shareholders, Pilgrim-Hunter disputed that the Board is closely allied with Argo Real Estate Management, which employs its own security, administrative and emergency personnel to manage the property.
The acrimony also comes amid a stalled project to renovate the front doors to each of the complex’s buildings that’s inconvenienced shareholders.
“The Fordham Hill overall redevelopment project is progressing, but unfortunately has encountered delays due to weather, Board approved changes, the permit process, unexpected material shortages and unforeseen findings of rock or large boulders and utility lines during excavation,” said a spokesperson for Argo Real Estate Management.
Photo by Adi Talwar
Reviewing Argo Real Estate
While plenty of frustrations were aimed at the Board, shareholders also vented their anger towards Argo Real Estate Management, which they believe has mismanaged the cooperative’s finances. An audit of Fordham Hill was conducted last year, though shareholders alleged to have been barred from reviewing it. Management said the allegation is not true, adding the financial state of Fordham Hill is in good shape. Shareholders agreed a more thorough look of the audit would be in order should a new Board be installed. Another item includes the removal of Argo Real Estate Management, according to Frank Murillo, a shareholder who has led the charge in replacing Board members.
Argo Real Estate Management was also accused of warehousing vacant units that have since been purchased by the management firm by auction. Fordham Hill’s bylaws state no management firm can own more than two units. Argo disputed the claims by shareholders, saying it “does not and never did own any apartments at Fordham Hill.”
May Elections
Shortly after the meeting, several shareholders signed up to run for the Board, where all seats are up for re-election in May.
Convincing shareholders to vote appears to be the group’s challenge. In a complex comprised of over a thousand shareholders, priorities are often elsewhere. In some cases, many shareholders do not live in the building, but rent out their space to a tenant who has no voting power.
To get around that, Levina insisted shareholders directly vote or send in a proxy vote, where a shareholder grants a neighbor or adult to vote on their behalf. Proxy rules are in place, though confusing, according to Murillo. “I mailed my proxy with my candidates,” said Murillo. “You’re not supposed to do that. That’s why we didn’t have quorum.”
Levina proposed increasing notices on proxy voting throughout the building and establishing a clearer definition of the election rules to give shareholders a better understanding of the process. The election is audited by Adkinson-Thorne Enterprises, LLC.
“We’re going to make sure [Adkinson-Thorne Enterprises, LLC] gets your proxies, they get your votes so that Argo Management can’t say ‘we didn’t have a quorum’ because I would know,” said Levina. “I would personally send all the proxies.”
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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THESE POOR SHAREHOLDERS AT FORDHAM HILL OVAL ARE BEING ABUSED AND VIOLATED BY THEIR OWN BOARD AND ARGO MANAGEMENT WHICH HAVE A VERY BAD REPUTATION FOR DOING THINGS LIKE THIS. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE AND EVERYBODY SHOULD CONTACT THEIR ELECTED OFFICIAL AND DEMAND JUSTICE HETE.
Management and the present Board are sticklers for current and up to date maintenance fees, or else one is not eligible to run for the Board. But breaking Bylaws are there fortey without a doubt. Also 2014 Realistate tax rebate checks were withheld to pay off expense’s, in other words we are operating above maintenance cost’s and we are held in the dark, while they make excuses.
A FOIL request should be made by the Law Firm requesting to see all of the votes and proxy vote submittals for last years’ Elections of the Board and a FOIL request of the Fordham Hill audit plus a written disclosure of how many apartments became vacant as of the take over of Argo Management, disclose how many have been sold, when was the sale of the co-op and to whom were they sold to.
Disclosure of why the current Board declined to renew the Cablevision current bulk rate and what the Verizon bulk rate will entail in comparison to the Cablevision bulk rate Fordham Hill Oval has been in agreement up until now. A disclosure of whether the cable utility does pay or plans to pay any of the current Board Members a stipend for agreeing to sign on with the cable company.
It is a New York State law, a FOIL request must be responded to within thirty days.
I was very disappointed when I received an increase in my maintenance fee in my January 2015 bill sent the end of December 2014. A few days after I received a notification of apology from the board president indicating that she was sorry and that the timing was bad on the board’s part. I am not satisfied with this action, as this is not how management should operate. I submitted a letter of disgust when I paid the January maintenance, and to date has not received a reply from the president of the board. I am dissatisfied with the way managerial procedures are done at Fordham Hill Oval, and something must be done to change that.
The President Of The Board Thinks She
Can Bully People To Silence. Who Does She Think She Is KING KONG ???