Case Notes by
Stewart E. Wurtzel, Tane Waterman & Wurtzel
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
- Mediation
- 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
- Service of Process
- 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: Oct 2024
Good FaithTAKEWAY Once again, boards should take comfort in the fact that as long as they act in good faith within the scope of authority, lawsuits against them will fail. The business judgment rule provides broad protection and it is a high hurdle for plaintiffs to get past in order to try to impose liability. Managing agents and attorneys should also take comfort in the fact that the court recognized that their fiduciary responsibility is to the whole entity and not any individual unit owner (or shareholder). Attempts to expand liability in lawsuits beyond the basic breach of contract claim against the co-op or condo entity are often expensive and unsuccessful.
Read full articleFirst published: Jun 2024
We Look Married, But Aren’tHarold Brunwasser and Roni Scharf bought an apartment at Murray Hill Mews in 2017, but the recording of the shares, stock certificate and proprietary lease was as Tenants by the Entirety, leading to a lawsuit over who owns the apartment.
Read full articleFirst published: Sep 2023
Neighbor Against NeighborTAKEAWAY Noise disputes are such a common occurrence, but in this case the cooperative should consider itself lucky that it was not named in the suit. It issued a notice of termination against a shareholder who was subject to abuse, while apparently taking no action against the neighbor who the court found was engaging in uncivilized behavior and who might have held sway because of a personal relationship with an officer of the cooperative. Laying that aside, shareholders should be aware that they could be subject to nuisance and emotional distress claims when they engage in uncivil and inappropriate conduct against a neighbor. A month doesn’t go by in our practice without hearing a complaint that shareholders are being abusive to each other; the court may well have laid a pathway for an affected shareholder to properly deal with it.
Read full articleFirst published: Jul 2022
Who Pays the PiperThis case is a stark reminder to condominiums that many of their bylaws do not provide the right for the condominium to recover attorney’s fees when a unit owner defaults on a non-monetary obligation. Boards should look to amend these provisions to allow for legal fee recovery since there are many common situations where a condominium board is forced to bring action to enjoin a non-monetary default (unauthorized alterations, illegal use, unreasonable noise, and short-term rentals are just a few).
Read full articleFirst published: Jul 2022
Bd. Of Mgrs. Of 207-209 E. 120th St. Condo. V. DouganTAKEAWAY This case is a stark reminder to condominiums that many of their bylaws do not provide the right for the condominium to recover attorney’s fees when a unit owner defaults on a non-monetary obligation. Boards should look to amend these provisions to allow for legal fee recovery since there are many common situations where a condominium board is forced to bring action to enjoin a non-monetary default (unauthorized alterations, illegal use, unreasonable noise, and short-term rentals are just a few).
Read full articleFirst published: Jul 2022
Bd. Of Mgrs. Of 207-209 E. 120th St. Condo. V. DouganThis case is a stark reminder to condominiums that many of their bylaws do not provide the right for the condominium to recover attorney’s fees when a unit owner defaults on a non-monetary obligation. Boards should look to amend these provisions to allow for legal fee recovery since there are many common situations where a condominium board is forced to bring action to enjoin a non-monetary default (unauthorized alterations, illegal use, unreasonable noise, and short-term rentals are just a few).
Read full articleFirst published: May 2022
When Termination Turns UglyDiscrimination of any type against any group can be a costly claim. Here, the co-op is facing claims from the management company and the individual agent, both of whom alleged discriminatory treatment. The individual director is also facing a separate claim for tortious interference for terminating the management contract, and the cooperative may be subject to almost four years’ worth of contract damages ($201,780) if the contract is found to be wrongfully terminated. Boards must be ever vigilant to ensure that their decisions are not biased against any protected class and made in compliance with the terms of the contracts to which they are parties. The fact that a board changes composition does not give it carte blanche to ignore the terms of agreements signed by an earlier board.
Read full article