Case Notes
Case Notes provides insight on one particularly relevant co-op or condo case—clearly explaining what happened, why it’s important, and what lessons can be learned within.
Category
- Access
- Alterations
- Appeals
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- Attorney Fees
- Attorney-Client
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- Balcony/Terrace Rights
- Bike Lane
- Board of Directors
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- Business Judgment Rule
- Bylaws
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- Proprietary Lease
- Reasonableness
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- Third-Party Liability
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- Trial Practice
- Violations
- Warranty of Habitability
- Yellowstone Injunction
- Zoning
First published: May 2006
Matter of Schapira vs. GrunbergWith the spring annual meeting season for most co-op and condominium entities to elect board members now in full bloom, this case provides helpful guidelines where such elections are disputed and sometimes quite contentious. The Whitehall has a long history of political infighting. Among the lessons of the case are: qualifications of directors are determined by the language of the bylaws; the role of the inspectors of election is limited and does not extend to interpreting the bylaws on board qualifications, and courts are reluctant to upset shareholder votes for fear of destabilizing the entity’s proper functioning, especially where it suspects the motives of the party seeking a new election.
Read full articleFirst published: Mar 2006
Realty Enterprise LLC vs. Hyde Park Owners Corp.This case reaffirms several established guidelines for co-op governance dealing with qualifications for the service of directors, holding annual meetings of shareholders and enabling shareholders to communicate with other shareholders to solicit proxies in advance of a shareholder meeting. Significantly, in this case, the board was able to restrict board service to shareholders and residents of the co-op. This is not always the best policy and in many co-ops a board would be unable to amend the bylaws to accomplish this policy without shareholder approval.
Read full articleFirst published: Mar 2006
Miller vs. 965 Fifth Avenue Owners Inc.The failure of the co-op in this case to promptly abate a mold condition of which it was aware and responsible to repair for several months ended up costing the co-op more than it would have if it had acted promptly. As a result, it was forced to incur not only its own legal expenses to deal with the abatement, but also those of its tenant-shareholder and the subtenant-occupant of the damaged apartment. The lesson here for co-op and condo boards and their managers is to promptly remediate mold conditions once they are disclosed. Delay only increases the cost of solving the problem and increases the legal expenses.
Read full articleFirst published: Jan 2006
315-321 Eastern Parkway Development Fund Corp. vs. Wint-HowellThe statutory warranty of habitability was enacted by the state legislature in 1975 to insure that all tenants, including co-op owners, could enjoy safe and comfortable housing and has been a potent weapon for tenants ever since by providing rent abatements when the statutory standard was not provided by landlord. Here, the co-op embarked on needed renovations to its property for the benefit of all unit owners. Since the work was necessary, under the Business Judgment Rule applied by the court, great deference was given to the decision of the board to undertake the repairs without requiring some sort of rent abatement for the inconvenience of a few unit-owners caused by the renovations.
Read full articleFirst published: Jan 2006
Inwood Park Apartments Inc. vs. Coinmach Industries Co.The trial court decision discussed above was recently upheld by an appellate court which reasoned that the right of first refusal did not save the right upon which Coinmach relied, since that right under the subject lease, if not exercised by Coinmach before the lease’s expiration, could be exercised indefinitely thereafter and without limitation as to the time within which the exercise was accomplished. Permitting Coinmach a temporally unrestricted right would constitute an unreasonable restraint upon the alienation of property. The appellate court perceived no beneficial purpose to be served by effectively requiring the residential co-op to retain Coinmach’s laundry room services indefinitely, regardless of their quality.
Read full articleFirst published: Dec 2005
Duran v. Essex House CondominiumThe issue here concerned who was in control of the space in a condominium building between the ceiling and floor of two units. Either it was part of the lower unit or it was within the common elements. The facts were in dispute. It is usually difficult to obtain a preliminary injunction because of the requisite burden of proof. In this case, the relief sought was denied leaving the plaintiff to establish at a trial on the merits his entitlement to such relief, requiring a more expensive effort.
Read full articleFirst published: Dec 2005
Latoni vs. Sherman Square Realty Corp.The case is not the last word on this matter and the results may change after discovery is permitted. However, it illustrates the plight of individual board members in considering apartment transfer applications. Without good legal advice, it is not difficult to run afoul of statutory prohibitions on discrimination against protected classes of individuals.
Read full articleFirst published: Nov 2005
Board of Managers of Holiday Villas Condominium I v. BautistaWhile the federal government may be seeking to facilitate the transmission of TV signals, the legislation to achieve this result limits the right of a subscriber to install a satellite dish to areas under the exclusive control of the subscriber. The law seeks to balance the right of the subscriber to receive the signal with the right of the condominium to control the use of common areas for the benefit of all unit-owners.
Read full articleFirst published: Nov 2005
DeSoignies v. Cornasesk House Tenants’ Corp.This case illustrates the ongoing conflict between a board’s power to enact house rules and shareholders’ rights to control fundamental changes that amount to a proprietary lease amendment requiring shareholder approval. It suggests that rule-making may be counterproductive when subletting requests can be reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis without a lease amendment.
Read full articleFirst published: Oct 2005
Cohen v. Seward Park Housing Corp.To win a case on a motion to dismiss the complaint is not easy. The motion looks solely to the complaint and assumes that all of the statements therein are true. In such instance, trial judges are reluctant to grant the relief sought – preferring to view additional evidence to be developed in the case by both sides. A party making a motion to dismiss the complaint – not to be confused with a motion for summary judgment which addresses the complaint, the answer, and other evidence – usually must be highly confident of its legal position.
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