Download PDF of the Handbook to print. Letter re: Selling your Condo OFFERING CIRCULAR All homeowners should have received a printed copy of the offering circular that was given to every original homeowner. These same homeowners and all subsequent homeowners should have passed that copy onto the new owner when a unit was sold. Unfortunately not all new homeowners were given a copy when they became new owners. The Board of Managers has arranged to supply any new homeowner who wants one with a CD-ROM containing such document. It will be the responsibility of the new homeowner if he or she requires a printed version to bring the CD-ROM to a place like Staples and have them print out a copy at his or her expense. Please note that the Board of Managers shall have the ability to amend the following rules and restrictions and to make such additional rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out these restrictions without obtaining the approval, consent, or signature of the Members of the Association and shall have the right to bring lawsuits to enforce the rules and regulations promulgated by it. WHAT IS CONDOMINIUM LIVING? Condominiums are apartments or homes that share a common interest and are governed by neighbors elected to a board of managers, although the apartments or homes are owned by you. The property outside, including the frame, roof and common lawns, are owned and maintained by the board of managers. While condos are apartments and homes that you own, you also buy a distinctive life style. The common lawns, streets, clubhouse and swimming pool are under the direction of your elected officials. The cost of all this is shared through rent and maintenance charges, part of which if allocated for monthly expenditures, these collected funds are budgeted to provide building and road maintenance, landscaping, street lighting, underground sprinklers and insurance for all the common elements. Your board is elected by the homeowners and thereby form a mini-government to provide leadership necessary to maintain a high standard of living. Your board provides an annual budget and expend your collected maintenance fees to pay these expected services. However too many people move into condos believing that they have chosen a “hassle-free” life style. Nothing can be further from the truth. Although you relinquish most of the responsibility of decision making to your board, trouble often occurs because homeowners don’t get involved in the affairs of the community. New York State real property law 9B specifically condo act 339 provides the basic background to our by-laws and many of our rules and regulations. These by-laws govern the conduct of the board as well as the homeowners. The by-laws are administered and enforced by our elected officials. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to be familiar with the by-laws as they are intended to guide our daily living as individuals. INTRODUCTION The Knolls of Stony Brook is a 55 and over community, as far as the persons who purchase or will be living in the unit, one of them must be at least 55 years old. If there are children moving in with them they must be at least 19 years old. Any homeowner moving in with a home health aide is restricted to only one individual who is the licensed caregiver. THE BOARD OF MANAGERS, ON BEHALF OF ALL UNIT OWNERS ELECTION TO THE BOARD Elections to the Board of Managers are held every year late in May. Any home owner has the right to run for the Board of Managers this includes any present Board Member whose term is expiring. The term is for a period of 3 years, we presently have 7 Board Members whose terms of office expires at different times during the 3 year period. Every year upon the end of the voting the Board will convene to name one of the members to be President. Once the President is selected he or she will select the Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. If for any reason any Board member is unable to fulfill their 3 year obligation the President will have the right to pick someone to fulfill the balance of that term. The President also has the right to remove that person with the Board’s approval. In addition the President also has the right to create a new position on the Board if he feels that it would be beneficial to our community. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD 1. Maintaining all common ground by providing landscaping as noted by signed contract with supplier. 2. Maintaining, cleaning and repairing the clubhouse and swimming pool as well as all systems, appliances and fixtures contained therein. 3. Maintaining and repairing all exterior pipes, wires, conduits and public utility lines servicing all common structures the underground sprinkler system. THE BOARD OF MANAGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, AND/OR REPLACEMENT OF ALL ELEMENTS NOT INCLUDED IN THE UNIT OWNER’S RESPONSIBILTY. THE ELEMENTS FOR WHICH THE BOARD OF MANAGERS IS RESPONSIBLE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: A- All roofs and skylights B- The space between the upper surface of the ceiling sheetrock and the roof of the building. C- Concrete foundations and concrete floors. D- Structural columns, girders, beams and supports E- All outside water and sewer pipes and electrical cables. F- All parts of the exterior walls beyond the exterior surface of the sheetrock. G- All portions of the wall and partitions separating a unit from units or common elements located beyond the exterior surface of the sheetrock enclosing a unit. H- All lawns, trees, shrubs, etc. including green belt areas located within boundaries of common properties. I- All assigned and unassigned paved, open parking spaces. J- All streets, including signs, street and area lighting fixtures, and pavement maintenance. K- All fire alarm systems other than smoke detectors. The fire alarm inner home wiring is a Board responsibility. L- All sidewalks. M- All garage exteriors and garage doors not including garage locks or hardware for springs and handles. CONDOMINIUM INSURANCE SUBJECT: Fire and Liability Insurance for individual homes Your Board has purchased outside exterior insurance on a FULLY GUARANTEED REPLACEMENT COST BASIS. General liability coverage on an occurrence basis. A certificate of insurance is available at the office depicting this coverage. The By-Laws state “The Board of Managers shall obtain and maintain fire insurance with extended coverage, vandalism and malicious mischief endorsements all risk insuring each building, including all of the units and bathrooms, kitchen fixtures, and equipment installed therein on the date of recordation of the Declaration, as well as partitions, floors, and ceilings WITHIN the units. Included in the fire insurance coverage (NOT MAINTENANCE) only are service machinery such as refrigerator, stove, and washing machine of same quality as provided by original builder, NOT INCLUDED are wall, ceiling, floor decorations, coverings, furniture, furnishings, jewelry, art, furs and other types of person properties. OFFICE POLICIES 1. Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:30am-1:00pm. Maintenance Hours: 9am-4pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 2. Board Members shall perform their assignments and report to the President when contacted. 3. All other matters will be addressed by the President through appointments. 4. All public matter and inquiries to be addressed also through appointments. 5. In the absence of the President and/or Vice-President, an assignment for coverage will be made by the President. 6. The Club Lounge provides seating, as always, for all residents as well as Board Members should the need arise. 7. Seats will be provided outside the office door for the convenience of those persons with appointments. 8. Kindly adhere to these simple rules in order to keep an efficient and smooth flow to the Knolls Office Operation SNOW REMOVAL After the storm if the snow is more than 2 inches, the company contracted for snow removal will remove snow from our property, mailboxes, and common buildings. (Salt) will be available in the clubhouse. All parked cars must be removed from the street to allow the plows to do their jobs. COMMON GROUNDS A- No signs shall be posted i.e. “For Sale”, “For Rent”, Advertisements, etc. B- No Fences C- During winter months patio furniture must be removed, stored or firmly secured on your patio. D- No vegetable gardens allowed anywhere except in designed garden area. E- Statuaries or ornaments of 24 inches or less may be placed in the front shrub sites. Statues or ornaments up to 4 ft. at rear fence site only. F- Permission to change or add trees, shrubs and bushes must be in a form of a written request to the Board of Managers. G- Garbage pails with covers must be used. No plastic bags allowed. Garbage pails must be kept in the garage. H- Barbecuing and picnicking must be confined to backyards. I- No outside lighting may be installed, except that of builders’ origin. PARKING A- Common parking areas: clubhouse and south end of road are for guests and clubhouse use only. B- All parking must be flush to the curb. Space must be made for traffic flow and more importantly emergency vehicles (ie) Fire Trucks particularly at “islands”. Absolutely no parking on the sidewalks. C- No car repairs in driveways, roadways, or parking sites. D- All curbs are common ground. There is no reserved resident parking in streets. E- To facilitate snow removal and street cleaning, parking and repair parking at curb site is discouraged. In case of snow forecast—remove cars from street. F- No commercial vehicles parked overnight. G- No overnight parking is allowed in the street. GARBAGE COLLECTION Regular garbage every Tuesday and Friday, Recycle items every Wednesday. All garbage is to be placed in a garbage pail with the house number on the pail and lid. No plastic bags are allowed to be placed by the curb. No garbage should be left at the curb before 4pm the day prior to collection. Please note, the above instructions also pertain to large items such as rolled up rugs and furniture. Pails are not to be left out all day. If you work ask your neighbor to place your pail by the garage. POOL 1. The pool and its facilities are available for all unit owners and renters AT THEIR OWN RISK. The management is not responsible for injuries or loss of property. 2. The pool will normally be available for use from a date in June to be announced each season thru Labor Day inclusive. 3. Operating hours for May thru Labor Day will be 10:00am thru 7:00pm, weather permitting. 4. Guests are permitted to use the pool ONLY when accompanied at ALL times by a resident owner or renter. 5. Children under 16 years of age may use the pool from 11:00am to 3:00pm daily. They must be accompanied at all times by a resident owner/renter but are prohibited on July 4th and Labor Day. All children shall be out of the pool area at 3:00pm daily. 6. No diapered or untrained babies are permitted in the pool at any time, they must be diapered before entering the pool area. 7. Mattresses, tires, large toys or other large floating devices may not be used in the pool. 8. Ball playing, running, pushing, shoving or other sports or games involving physical activity is prohibited in the pool or surrounding areas. 9. Neither foods, nor liquids in breakable containers are permitted within the enclosed pool area. Eating food should be restricted to the rear entrance to the clubhouse. 10. It is strictly prohibited to enter the enclosed pool area after closing hours. 11. Lounges or chairs cannot be reserved. 12. Any infraction of these pool regulations or complaints pertaining to guests, pool attendants or other employed workers should report same to the Manager or Board Member. WINTER MONTHS As you know an unforeseen situation could arise within your unit while away. Most of you have neighbors, friends or family watch your unit during this time. While most of you have given keys to the induvial/s watching your unit, the Board thought that in addition you could give the office secretary, at the office, cell phone numbers of these individual/s watching your unit or you may also have another suggestion. There is another way you could possibly avoid a serious problem for you and your neighbors to the right and left of your unit. There are plumbing companies (listed below with phone numbers) that will winterize your home before you leave and turn everything back on upon your return. It may be possible for the Board to bring in a representative from a willing company to speak with you, and perhaps give you a discounted rate. Please let the office secretary know if you are interested in attending such a meeting. HOMEOWNERS RESPONSIBILITIES The following is presented in order to prevent misunderstandings between unit owners and the board of managers. The purpose of this depiction is to determine who has responsibility for maintenance and repair of the many elements of the condominium. Each Unit Owner is responsible for: A- Window boxes are prohibited. B- No clotheslines outside, garage doors must be closed if hanging clothes inside garage. C- Shrubs adjacent to patios cannot exceed 4 feet, and must be maintained at the height by unit owners. 1. The maintenance, repair and decoration of the interior of their unit. 2. Maintenance, repairing and when necessary, replacing the air conditioning and heating system, all appliances and all plumbing and lighting fixtures as well as interior pipes, wires, utility lines and conduits serving their unit. Exception: Appliances destroyed by fire. 3. Maintaining and repairing door hardware, locks and bells. All window glass is the responsibility of unit owner as well as garage hardware. 4. Maintaining and repairing any patio installed at the rear of their unit with authorization of the Board of Managers as well as any authorized landscaping installed by the unit owner around the perimeter of such patio or common ground adjacent to their unit. 5. The unit owner is responsible for door frames, entrance doors, exterior glass sliding doors, their frames and casings, and windows and frames. 6. The unit owner is responsible for all locking devices on doors and windows or buildings and garages. 7. Each unit owner is responsible for repairing, maintaining, and replacing, when required, air conditioning, heating system, all appliances, and all lighting fixtures serving their unit 8. All Board authorized patios are the responsibility of the unit owner. HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE The type of coverage required by owners is the SINGLE ENTITY CONCEPT, and as such the Board is responsible for the insuring of your unit as it was BUILT minus any additions made by the new or previous owners. The SINGLE ENTITY CONCEPT essentially leaves homeowners responsible only for insuring their personal property, as well as any authorized and approved alteration to the original structure. Owners can obtain inside insurance coverage for their personal clothing, furniture, carpeting, etc. as well as liability coverage up to a specific amount. Generally these policies provide building loss as per policy limit on additions and alterations (repainting as an example). This coverage is called HO-6 condo insurance and provides for a wide range of perils such as fire, lighting, windstorm, smoke, explosion, vandalism, theft, and water damage from freezing or broken pipes. Valuables such as furs, jewelry, art etc. should be insured by special riders. HOMEOWNERS LANDSCAPING The Board of Managers does not wish to discourage homeowners from minor gardening. However, it will not allow major bush replacement of builders plants with that of non-lasting plant types without authorization from the Board of Managers. Builder’s bushes will not be removed by homeowners under any circumstances. If the builder’s bushes are not doing well, please inform the office. The homeowners will be held responsible if they remove any of the builder’s bushes. It has been noted that a number of homeowners have taken the liberty of placing statues, lights and other items outside their home without permission of the Board of Managers. If you don’t have written permission for these objects, they should not be displayed as it is against the prevailing rules and regulations. PETS One (1) pet per household, either dog or cat (not to exceed 30 lbs.) A- Pets must be leashed at all times and accompanied by homeowner. B- Feeding of birds, squirrels or other wild life is prohibited. C- No nuisances shall be allowed upon the properties nor shall any use or practice be allowed which is a source of annoyance to residents of which interferes with the peaceful and proper use of the property by the residents. The following specific acts are prohibited and punishable by fine. Allowing a dog to run loose anywhere on the condominium grounds regardless of whether or not the owner is observing the animal. 1. Leaving a dog unattended while tied to a leash, rope or stake either at the front or rear of any condominium unit or structure. 2. Walking a leashed dog anywhere on the condominium grounds without picking up after the animal. 3. Feeding any stray animal anywhere on the condominium grounds unless said animal has been restrained within a unit and its presence immediately reported to appropriate authorities for its removal. INSIDE RENOVATIONS Permission must be granted from the Board for major renovations (taking down walls, plumbing, bathrooms, kitchen cabinets etc.) Plans must be submitted and approved by the Board for approval. Once plans are approved all work must be performed by licensed and insured contractors. Prior to work being performed homeowner must supply the office the contractors name, contact information, contractor’s license number, as well as a Certificate of Insurance from the contractor naming the Knolls as an additional insured. GARAGE DOORS Garage doors should not be left open for long periods of time In the event of an electrical power failure, the automatic garage door opener will not operate. To open or close the garage door in this instance, it is necessary to disconnect the automatic door opener from the garage door. This is done by pulling the rope or chain which dangles from the garage door openers track. This action releases a metal arm which connects the door to the garage door openers chain. The garage door can now be opened by lifting the garage door up by the use of metal door handles. (Be sure to bend your legs and keep the back straight when lifting in order to prevent injury to the back.) Conversely, the door may be closed by pulling it down using these handles. After closing the door manually, it should be locked by turning the middle movable door handle which engages the long metal bars attached to it into holes provided in the side tracks. When electrical power returns UNLOCK THE GARAGE DOOR to reconnect the hanging metal bar to the track. Place the bar against the locking device on the chain. The hanging bar has an opening which fits into a slot (or bar) on the locking device. The rope (or chain) must then be pulled to remove the sliding cover over the slot. If the bar does not lock into the locking device, it may be necessary to move the chain slightly by operating (push the button) the automatic door opener for a second or two. Do not despair, several attempts may be required, it is more difficult to connect the hanging bar than it is to disconnect it. Ask or call for help if required. FEES/ASSESSMENTS (effective October 1, 2017) The monthly maintenance fee for all homeowners is $355. per month. At the present time all new homeowners to the Knolls will be required to pay a onetime $5,000 fee. This will also apply to siblings who inherit such property upon the death of owners with the intention of living in such unit or using it as rental property. The $5,000. fee will be waived if the siblings who inherit the unit are selling it. That being the case the new owners are responsible to pay the fee. SELLING, MORTGAGING AND OR LEASING Section 1. Notice to Board of Managers. Before any Unit Owner, other than the Sponsor or a mortgagee who acquired title by foreclosure or by deed in lieu of foreclosure, sells or leases his Unit, he shall first notify the Board of Managers in writing at least thirty days prior to the proposed sale or lease and shall give the Board, on behalf of all other Unit owners, an opportunity to purchase or lease the Unit at the same price or rental and on the same terms and conditions as offered by the proposed purchaser or lessee. Such notice shall identify the Unit and Unit owner, the proposed purchaser(s) or lessee(s), the proposed price or rental, and the terms and conditions of the proposed sale or lease. The Board of Managers shall be deemed to have waived its right to purchase or lease the Unit unless the Board notifies the Unit Owner in writing of the Board’s desire to purchase or lease the Unit within thirty days after receipt of the Unit Owner’s notice. If the Board elects to exercise its right to purchase or lease the Unit, it shall exercise such right within 180 days after receipt of the notice from the Unit Owner. Section 2. Terms of Leases. Any lease of a Unit shall be substantially in the form recommended by the Real Estate Board of New York, Inc. for apartments, unless the Board of Managers approves in writing other terms upon specific written request of a Unit Owner in the Unit Owner’s notices of the proposed lease required under Section 1 of this Article. Section 3. Selling and Leasing Units. Except as above provided any unit may be conveyed or leased by its Unit Owner free of any restrictions except that no Unit Owner shall convey, mortgage, the pledging of assets as collateral for the debt, sell or lease his Unit unless and until all unpaid common charges assessed against his Unit shall have been paid to the Board of Managers. However, such unpaid common charges can be paid out of the proceeds from the sale of a Unit, or by the Grantee. Further a Unit Owner may convey his Unit and his common interest appurtenant thereto, to the Board of Managers on behalf of all Unit Owners free of any cost to the Board or the Unit Owners and upon such conveyance such Unit Owner shall not be liable for any common charges thereafter accruing against such a Unit. Any sale or lease of any Unit in violation of this section shall be voidable at the election of the Board of Managers. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the acquisition or sale of a Unit by a mortgagee who shall acquire title to such Unit by foreclosure or by deed in lieu of foreclosure. Such provisions shall, however, apply to any purchaser from such mortgagee. ——— For more in-depth information, regarding any of the above please refer to the printed version of the offering circular or CD-ROM.