What Does a Condo Board Do? How a NYC Board of Managers Works
A condo board sets the budget, hires the managing agent, keeps up the building and enforces the rules, but it can't approve or reject buyers the way a co-op board does. Here's what the board does, how it's elected, and why in a new building the developer often runs it for years.
Every NYC condo is run by a board of managers, a small group of owners elected by the other owners. The board doesn't own the building, and it doesn't own your apartment. Its job is to run the parts everyone shares, the roof, lobby, elevators, boilers, staff and budget, under the rules in the building's declaration and bylaws.
If you're used to hearing about co-op boards, a condo board has less say over who buys and more say over what it costs you to live there.
The Short Version
- The board sets the budget and the common charges, and can levy assessments for big costs.
- It hires and oversees the managing agent, the staff and the building's contractors.
- It maintains and repairs the common elements and buys the building's insurance.
- It writes and enforces house rules: renovations, move-ins, pets, smoking, sublets.
- It usually has a right of first refusal on sales and leases, but it can't interview or reject buyers the way a co-op board can.
- In a new building, the developer often controls the board for years, and sometimes indefinitely.
What the Board Is Responsible For
Money: the budget, common charges and assessments
Each year the board adopts a budget for running the building: staff, utilities, insurance, repairs, the management fee and a reserve. That budget is split among the owners by their common interest, the percentage of the building each apartment is assigned in the offering plan, and becomes your monthly common charges. When the reserve can't cover a big project, like a facade repair or a new roof, the board can levy a special assessment.
The first year's numbers come from the developer: the Schedule B budget in the offering plan. After that, the board owns them. See Schedule A and Schedule B and where condo common charges go.
The building: repairs, staff and insurance
The board is responsible for the common elements: the structure, roof, facade, hallways, elevators, mechanical systems and shared amenities. It hires a managing agent to run the day-to-day, employs (or contracts) the super, doormen and porters, and buys the building's property and liability insurance. What counts as common and what's yours to fix is spelled out in the declaration; see condo maintenance: who fixes what.
Rules: the bylaws and house rules
The board enforces the bylaws and adopts house rules, which can cover renovation hours and approvals, move-in fees, pets, smoking, short-term rentals and use of the amenities. It can fine owners who break them. At Front and York in Dumbo, for example, the condo section is smoke-free inside homes and on terraces, with a $250 first fine.
Sales and leases: the right of first refusal
Most NYC condo bylaws give the board a right of first refusal: when you sell or lease, the board can take the deal on the same terms instead of letting it go to your buyer or tenant. In practice, boards rarely use it, and it's usually waived. But you'll still submit a package with the contract or lease, and the board will want any rules on minimum lease terms met. Front and York and One Manhattan Square both require leases of at least a year and give the board a right of first refusal.
Condo Board vs. Co-op Board
| Condo board | Co-op board | |
|---|---|---|
| What it governs | The common elements; you own your apartment by deed | The whole building, which the co-op corporation owns |
| Approving buyers | Usually a right of first refusal, rarely used | Full application, financial review and interview, with broad power to say no |
| Subletting | Generally allowed, subject to the bylaws | Often restricted or limited to a few years |
| Monthly charges | Common charges; you pay your own property taxes | Maintenance, which includes the building's taxes and mortgage |
| Assessments | Yes | Yes |
For a building that mixes the two, see what is a condop.
Who Sits on the Board?
Owners elect the board at the annual meeting, with votes usually weighted by common interest, so a larger apartment carries more votes. Bylaws set the number of seats and the terms, and members are typically unpaid volunteers. The board elects officers, usually a president, treasurer and secretary.
In a big or mixed-use building there can be more than one board. At Front and York, each of the two towers elects three of the six members of the condo board, and a separate building-wide board, which grows to 11 seats, runs the spaces shared with the rental apartments, the stores and the garage. See sharing a condo with a rental building.
New Buildings: When the Developer Runs the Board
When a new condo opens, the sponsor appoints the first board, and it keeps control until enough apartments have sold. Offering plans usually tie the hand-off to a share of homes closed or a number of years after the first closing, whichever comes later. Until then, the developer's appointees adopt the budget, sign the contracts and decide the rules.
That matters because a sponsor that can rent unsold apartments instead of selling them may never reach the sales threshold. Several big plans say so outright:
- One Manhattan Square: the sponsor controls the tower board until the later of five years after the first closing or 90% of homes closed, and can rent rather than sell, so owners may never control the board. The sponsor also keeps a board seat as long as it owns one particular unit.
- One West End Avenue: the plan warns, in capital letters, that the closing thresholds that end sponsor control might never be reached.
- Front and York: the sponsor can rent unsold condos, so its control period may never end.
Tip: before you buy in a new building, ask how many homes have closed and how many the sponsor still owns. Even after it gives up control, a sponsor holding many units votes them like any owner. The sales progress page shows closings for buildings with a price list on file.
What to Check Before You Buy
- The bylaws: board size, terms, voting, the right of first refusal and any limits on leasing.
- The house rules: pets, renovations, move-in fees, smoking and short-term rentals.
- Sponsor control: in the offering plan, when control passes to owners and whether the sponsor can rent instead of sell.
- Recent board minutes (for an established building): planned projects, assessments, lawsuits and disputes.
- The budget and reserve: how the actual numbers compare with the plan's Schedule B. See NYC condo reserve funds.
Search "board of managers" on The Condo Book Project to read the governance sections of any plan.
Common Questions
What does a condo board do?
It runs the building's shared parts for the owners: it sets the budget and common charges, hires the managing agent and staff, keeps up the common elements, buys insurance and enforces the bylaws and house rules.
Can a condo board reject a buyer in NYC?
Not the way a co-op board can. A condo board usually has only a right of first refusal: it can buy or lease the apartment on the same terms, but it can't simply turn a buyer down. Boards rarely use it.
Who controls the board in a new condo?
The developer, at first. It appoints the board until enough homes have sold or enough time has passed, per the offering plan. If it can rent unsold homes instead of selling them, owners may not get control for a long time.
Can the condo board raise common charges?
Yes. The board adopts the budget each year, and common charges follow it. It can also levy special assessments for large repairs.
Are condo board members paid?
Usually not. They're owners volunteering their time, though the board hires a paid managing agent to run the building day to day.
Where this comes from: the governance, sponsor control and bylaw sections of NYC condo offering plans, including those for Front and York (CD180223), One Manhattan Square (CD150185) and One West End Avenue (CD140259). This is general information, not legal advice; a building's own declaration and bylaws control. Updated October 2026.