By Adam Leitman Bailey How can a condo collect common charges from defaulting unit-owners without spending a lot of time and money in court? Backstory with the recent economic downturn, condominium boards have been plagued by unit-owner common charge defaults. With fewer unit-owners paying their common charges, boards are faced with the prospect of increasing Full Article…
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N.Y. Courts’ Reading of ILSA Is Within Statutory Bounds, New York Law Journal
By Adam Leitman Bailey As counsel to numerous condominium unit buyers seeking relief under the federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSA), including the prevailing plaintiffs in the Bacolitsas and Indomenico cases cited in the article, “Applying ILSA to Sales of Condominium Units,” by Todd E. Soloway and Luisa K. Hagemeier, (Jan. 11), I Full Article…
Q&A: Lender Says No to Co-op Sublet, The New York Times
By Jay Ramano Q. I want to sublet my co-op apartment in Chelsea, and I know that paperwork must be submitted to the management company to get approval of my subtenant. The co-op board also requires a letter from the bank stating that it approves. But the bank said it would allow a sublet only Full Article…
The Martin Act ‘Shield’ and Private Fraud Actions, New York Law Journal
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio On Dec. 20, 2011, the New York Court of Appeals, in Assured Guaranty (UK) LTD v. J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc.1 finally put to rest a see-saw controversy that, for nearly a quarter century, had engendered much litigation in both the lower state courts and in the Full Article…
Q & A: When a Subtenant Brings in a Roommate, The New York Times
By Jay Ramano Q. A shareholder in our co-op has moved out and now has a subtenant living in his unit. This subtenant went through all the proper co-op application channels, including signing an appropriate subtenant lease. Now this subtenant wants to bring in a nonrelated roommate. Does this require board approval, or does the Full Article…
Avoid Getting Sued: Check Out Rental Application, New York Housing Journal
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman A recent spot check of our clients’ rental applications led to some shocking results. Every rental application we checked included features that were an expensive lawsuit waiting to happen. There are about 20 grounds for forbidden discrimination in rental housing in New York City. Every rental application examined Full Article…
Q & A: Who Pays for Water Leak?
Q. I own a cooperative apartment in Brooklyn and I’m hoping you could offer an opinion on a plumbing issue. In my bathroom I have two water valves protruding from the wall that control the hot and cold water flow to the sink and the tub. The problem is when I close the hot water Full Article…
Collecting Common Charges in Co-ops and Condos, The Cooperator
By Adam Leitman Bailey While for many lay people, cooperatives and condominiums are essentially interchangeable, from the legal point of view they are radically different institutions. Much of this difference can be attributed to history. Co-ops have existed in one form or another for a thousand years; condos have only been around for 50. As Full Article…