Case Notes in

Authority to Sue

First published: Jan 2023
The Condo Checkmate Maneuver

The takeaway. This case is a reminder that statute and case law require that a condominium be sued in the name of its president or treasurer, and that those individuals be served on behalf of the entity. Many times, condominiums are not properly named or served, and often do not move to dismiss on that basis; one theory being that, particularly if there are no statute of limitation issues, the plaintiff will just do it correctly at a later date, wasting time and money for everyone. What is interesting here is that without any indication as to why, the court ordered that costs and disbursements be awarded to the condominium. While that is likely not a large sum, it makes one wonder if the court was disturbed by the failure of the plaintiff to comply with well-settled law.

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First published: Nov 2004
Northeast Restoration Corp. v. K&J Construction Co. L.P.

In this case, the contractor was engaged by a developer for roofing work in the construction of a condominium development. Because of a dispute with the developer, the contractor was not paid. It failed to file a mechanics lien before the property was converted to condominium ownership. When the contractor filed under the Condominium Act to recover from the common charges paid to the association by unit-owners, the court disallowed the lien on the ground that the unit-owners bought their units expecting that the developer had already paid for the improvements. The contractor was stuck.

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