Cooperative and Condominium Archives

Mar 11, 2020

To Be or Not To Be an Additional Insured?

Additional-Insured-Coop-Condo-Blog-1.24.2020-

It is the question many in the industry have asked in light of the 2018 New York Court of Appeals decision in the Gilbane case. (Gilbane Bldg. Co./TDX Constr. Corp., et al. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., et al., 31 N.Y. 3d 131 (2018)). In Gilbane the court held that a party was not entitled to coverage as an additional insured when such party did not have a written contract with the policy holder requiring such status. Additional insured status may be very important in that, in addition to affording an additional insured a legal defense, it… Read more

Jan 31, 2020

Local Law 11 – Update

In 1980, Grace Gold, a Barnard College freshman, was killed when a piece of terra cotta masonry fell on the Upper West Side. Her death resulted in the adoption of Local Law 10, the first New York City law that required periodic inspections of street-side façades of all buildings in New York City that are taller than six stories. Then, in 1998, the partial collapse of a building on Madison Avenue resulted in an expansion of the requirements of Local Law 10 – and its recodification as Local Law 11 – to encompass all building façades (other than those within… Read more

Nov 21, 2019

Buyer Beware: More Disclosure Requirements for LLCs

It has become increasingly difficult for homebuyers to play hide-and-seek in New York. For decades, the wealthy, celebrities, and other people concerned about their privacy have enjoyed the privilege of anonymity by buying and selling real estate through limited liability companies (“LLCs”). Not only have LLCs, when properly structured, offered privacy, but, as their names imply, they have had the advantage of shielding their owners from a variety of personal claims. The use of LLCs for anonymity was curtailed by the New York State Legislature on September 13, 2019, with the enactment of expanded disclosure requirements for LLCs buying or… Read more

Oct 22, 2019

About Noise Complaints

Woman with Pillow over Ears to Cover Noise

Complaints about noise are among the most common issues faced by boards of cooperatives and condominiums in New York City. Apartments are virtually never noise-free. A decision to live in an apartment building includes tacit acknowledgment that, at times, neighbors will be heard. The question is: when does the level and nature of noise rise to the level of an impermissible nuisance? Determining the answer can be especially difficult. It is not uncommon for noise that one person believes to be unreasonable and life disruptive to be considered by another person to be customary and reasonable. The basic rule applied… Read more

Sep 19, 2019

Statutory Changes Affecting Cooperatives and Condominium Unit Owners — Update

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Last month, we distributed a bulletin describing recent New York State legislation affecting cooperatives and condominium unit owners. One of the items we noted was a change to the New York Real Property Law imposing a $20 limitation on the fees that may be charged to applicants for leases. In light of this change, we suggested that cooperatives charge such fees to the sellers of apartments rather than the applicant/purchasers. (The bulletin we issued is available here.) On September 13, 2019, the New York State Department of State issued official Guidance stating that the $20 limitation does not apply to… Read more

Sep 11, 2019

Common Charges in Mixed-Use Condominiums

Condominium boards that operate buildings with both commercial and residential units frequently ask us for assistance in disputes involving the calculation of common charges. Determining common charges in buildings that are completely residential is typically straightforward — the board develops a budget and then divides the projected common expenses among the units based on each unit’s respective percentage of the common interest. However, in a mixed-use building where there are both commercial and residential units, the New York Condominium Act permits them to be allocated common charges differently where authorized by the condominium’s declaration and bylaws. Unfortunately, in our experience,… Read more

Aug 9, 2019

Statutory Changes Affecting Cooperatives and Condominium Unit Owners

The sweeping changes in New York’s rent laws that were passed by the Legislature and signed into law on June 14, 2019, have been widely reported. While these changes will have a substantial, if not drastic, effect on conventional rental housing, they are largely irrelevant as far as the operations of cooperatives and condominiums are concerned. The legislation that made changes to the rent laws also made a number of changes to other laws that do affect cooperatives and condominium unit owners. Among these changes are the following: Under a change in the NY General Obligations Law, security deposits and rent… Read more

Oct 15, 2017

New 2018 Requirements for Cooperatives and Condominiums

The New York City Council and the New York State Legislature have recently passed legislation subjecting new compliance and reporting requirements for cooperatives and condominiums. Although these requirements do not go into effect until 2018, cooperative and condominium boards and their managing agents should be aware of them. Smoking On August 28th Mayor De Blasio signed into law a number of bills passed by the City Council amending the New York City Administrative Code to further regulate and discourage smoking. The use of electronic cigarettes, which many had assumed was already subject to the same “smoking” restrictions as tobacco products, is… Read more

Aug 23, 2017

Collecting Arrears – When Owners Fail to Pay

Mortgage Payment on Calendar: Collecting Arrears

Most cooperative and condominium apartment owners pay their monthly fees and assessments in full and on time. However, some of our clients have recently reported an uptick in arrearages. There are both similarities and differences that address collecting arrears for cooperatives and condominiums. First, the similarities. Allowing habitual or significant arrearages to accrue poses at least three potential problems for all buildings. Arrearages impose cash-flow difficulties that, if not addressed promptly, place a financial burden on both regularly paying owners, who must shoulder the deficit, and on building managers who must juggle it. They can create a downward spiral, acrimony… Read more

May 10, 2017

More on Second-Hand Smoke

Cooperative and Condominium Directors and Managers: There was a collective sigh of relief last week when the Appellate Division, First Department – the New York appellate court whose jurisdiction includes Manhattan and the Bronx – unanimously reversed the lower court’s decision in Reinhard v. Connaught Tower Corp. and vacated an award of substantial damages to a cooperative’s shareholder who claimed that the use of her apartment had been impeded by the infiltration of second-hand cigarette smoke. The Appellate Division did not eliminate the liability of a cooperative or a condominium for second-hand smoke; however, it did indicate that such liability… Read more