Case Notes by

William J. Geller, Braverman Greenspun

First published: Feb 2024
You Don’t Have The Votes!

TAKEAWAY This case is a reminder that co-ops and condominiums are ultimately political organizations controlled by the majority interest of their owners. Particularly in small buildings, where just a few owners can constitute a majority, the majority owners have a substantial ability to control the building’s leadership and operations. Unless there are protections for minority interests in the bylaws or other governing documents, minority owners may be frozen out by a coalition holding a majority. Additionally, lawyers can be focused on bringing claims based on procedural issues in providing notice of and conducting meetings. However, this case points out that if the procedural issues can be shown not to make a difference in the ultimate result, courts can properly ignore them.

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