January 30, 2018 By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio review the authority given to boards of condominiums and cooperative corporations to impost and enforce respectively on condo unit owners and cooperative shareholder-tenants who violate building house rules. This article will review the authority given to boards Full Article…
Court Clarifies Condo Owners’ Right to Inspect
December 20, 2016 By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio In their Condominium Law column, Adam Leitman Bailey and John Desiderio discuss the recent First Department case ‘Pomerance v. McGrath,’ in which the court has clarified the rights of condominium owners to inspect management books and records. In its 2013 decision in Pomerance v. Full Article…
A Burning Issue: Smoking Bans in Private Apartments?
By Hillary Pember The late 1990s saw a surge of nationwide smoking restrictions put into effect. State by state, legislation banning smoking in various settings was proposed and passed into law. With varying amounts of resistance and controversy, workplaces, shops, theaters, restaurants and bars in a growing number of cities—including New York City—all went smoke-free. More Full Article…
Q&A No Pets, No Parties–No Smoking?
Barbara Langdon and her boyfriend saw a loft for sale on West 15th Street right before Christmas and knew they’d found a winner. It was in great shape and sprawled over 2,300 square feet, just what they wanted, so they made an offer for $1.75 million that was quickly accepted. “We were excited because we’d only been looking three weeks,” Langdon remembers. Soon after, though, their broker called to convey a fussy bit of news: The coop was entirely nonsmoking, not just in common areas but also in the apartments. “That was the dealbreaker,” says Langdon—never mind that she doesn’t smoke. “How dare they tell me what to do in my own apartment.” Apparently, they Full Article…
Money (That’s What I Want),Habitat
The 16-unit East Village co-op has come a long way. Many shareholders have been there from its days as a down-and-out rental building, through its conversion to a Housing Development Fund Corporation property to the present. Now, as a strong, self-managed co-op in a hot neighborhood, the prices of apartments have skyrocketed. The shareholders are Full Article…
Q & A: A New Board Member Asks to See Old Minutes, The New York Times
By Adam Leitman Bailey Q. I was elected to the board of my self-managed co-op. After several meetings, I asked to see the minutes of the last five years so that I could better understand the building and its management. I was told that I did not have the right to see these minutes. It Full Article…
Q & A: When a Co-op Files for Bankruptcy, The New York Times
By Leonard Ritz Q. The finances of our co-op building are in poor shape, and we are worried the co-op corporation may end up in bankruptcy. If this occurs, what happens to the shareholders, most of whom still have outstanding mortgages?
Q & A: How Long To Approve? The Cooperator
By Adam Leitman Bailey Q. I have a one-bedroom co-op in a six –story, 78-unit building in the Bronx on the market for $53,000 and have a prospective buyer who filled out the board application and provided the financial information required by the board. After reviewing his information, the board interviewed the interested buyer in Full Article…