PROTECTING A COOPERATIVE’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE

Cooperative home ownership has been an extremely successful part of the New York City residential scene for more than a century. Cooperatives are congenial communities whose residents share ownership of their buildings and take their turns on the Board or on committees having direct responsibility for operating those buildings.

From their inception, cooperatives have had procedures for vetting prospective buyers. The cooperative has a responsibility to ensure to the best of its ability that every shareholder has the financial capability to pay their share of maintenance fees and any assessments that may become necessary. It must also try to determine whether the a prospective purchaser understands the cooperative way of living, intends to live in the building, and is willing to contribute to the hard work of running the cooperative.

Decades of case law acknowledge the rights of cooperatives to decide with whom they will “share elevators, their common halls and facilities … and their homes.” In so doing, the cooperative must, of course, comply with all federal, city and state human rights laws. Very few complaints of illegal discrimination are lodged in the courts or with the governmental agencies that enforce those laws. Nevertheless, in recent years, there has been a rash of legislation proposed in Albany and in the City Council aimed at destroying the right of Boards to make admissions decision under the guise of preventing discrimination.

CNYC has systematically opposed any such legislation. We contend that existing laws are more than adequate to deal with improper discrimination, which we abhor. With the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) we have developed a set of admissions guidelines, which can be found on the websites of both our organizations. The goal of these guidelines is to educate boards to their responsibilities and to help candidates understand the admissions process. On page 3 of this Newsletter is an Action Alert about City Council Intro 119. Please follow its suggestions.