Case Notes in
2007
Category
- Access
- Alterations
- Appeals
- Arbitration
- Assessment
- Attorney Fees
- Attorney-Client
- Authority to Sue
- Balcony/Terrace Rights
- Bike Lane
- Board of Directors
- Books and Records
- Breach of Lease
- Business Judgment Rule
- Bylaws
- Bylaws/House Rules
- Certificate of Occupancy
- Charges/Fees
- Commercial Unit
- Common Element
- Common Elements
- Companion Animal
- Constitutionality
- Construction Defects
- Contracts
- Conversion
- Defamation
- Discovery
- Discrimination
- Due Diligence
- Easement
- Elections
- Estate
- Eviction
- Eviction/Termination
- Fiduciary Duty
- Fines
- Foreclosure
- Fraud
- Governance
- Gym
- House Rules
- Indemnification
- Indemnification/Subrogation
- Injunction
- Insurance
- Labor Law
- Liability of Directors
- Licenses
- Liens
- Maintenance
- Malpractice
- Management
- Mechanic's Lien
- Misrepresentations
- Motion Practice
- Motion Practive
- Negligence
- Notice of Pendency
- Nuisance
- Occupancy Agreement
- Ownership
- Parking
- Partnership
- Personal Injury
- Pets
- Property Damage
- Proprietary Lease
- Reasonableness
- Receivership
- Release
- Repairs
- Representations
- Sales
- Sponsor
- Statute of Limitations
- Stock/Shares
- Stocks/Shares
- Sublets
- Succession Rights
- Tax
- Third-Party Liability
- Transfers
- Trespassing
- Trial Practice
- Violations
- Warranty of Habitability
- Yellowstone Injunction
- Zoning
First published: Jun 2007
Estate of Angela SchillerIf the amounts sought in this case were not disputed, or at the least easily calculable under some specific provision of the co-op’s bylaws or proprietary lease which give the co-op the right to impose a specific item, for example, a late fee, a sublet fee, or a transfer fee, the court would have upheld such payment as a precondition to the transfer. However, in this case, where the amounts were unliquidated, speculative, and disputed, the court refused to give the co-op an advantage by requiring the requested payment. This will require further legal action. The issue might be changed in the future by a proprietary lease amendment giving the board specific authority to charge amounts in certain disputes with shareholders.
Read full articleFirst published: Apr 2007
Lisenenkov v. KaszirerThis is another example of a board seeking to exceed its authority. Here, a condominium board was trying to impose requirements on a prospective apartment purchaser because it was uncertain about the ability of such purchaser to pay his shares of the common charges for the building. The only problem was that the board’s solution – an advance payout of two years of common charges – was beyond the board’s powers. So, when challenged, the court determined that the requirement was invalid and this condo board was forced to realize that it was not a co-op board, which usually has the power to require a purchaser to provide a security deposit.
Read full articleFirst published: Mar 2007
Poyck v. BryantThis is a case of first impression and may signal the first of many cases that could lead to severe restraints on the ability of co-op owners to smoke in their apartments, especially when neighbors complain of tobacco odors. While secondhand tobacco odors have long been viewed as a nuisance, they are now being treated as a health hazard that may be regulated. Boards must be vigilant to this hazard and act to remedy what may now be viewed as a breach of the warranty of habitability. That switch carries real consequences for a board.
Read full articleFirst published: Jan 2007
Colin Fraser v. 301-52 Township Corp.This decision is helpful for owners of residential property in New York, including cooperative and condominium boards. It firmly establishes the view that mold concerns in apartment buildings – the latest environmental issue of the past 30 years – are unlikely to have the same impact as have such prior environmental issues as asbestos and lead-based paint. Mold is not as serious a health hazard as has been suggested elsewhere. Of course, the presence of mold in water-damaged environments still must be remediated expeditiously to mitigate property-damage claims. Nonetheless, until there is an appellate decision on personal injury from mold, it would be wise to view this decision cautiously. It is not the last word.
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