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New York Condominium Boards Lack Authority to Mandate Replacement of In-Unit Windows

Board of Meadow Court Condominium instituted a policy requiring all unit owners to replace their in-unit windows, even though the condo declaration deemed the window part of the individual unit. The Supreme Court awarded summary judgment to the unit owner, declaring the contract between the condominium and the window contractor void. On appeal, the Appellate Division held that the business judgment rule did not shield the board’s policy from judicial review.1 A condominium board may not amen...

Tags: board, business judgment rule, bylaws, condo declaration, condominium, New York, summary judgment, windows

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Co-Op’s Refusal to Transfer Shares to Romantic Partner is NOT Housing Discrimination

Maryanne McCabe lived with her long-time romantic partner, David Burrows, in a New York City cooperative building. Upon Burrows’ death, he bequeathed his unit to McCabe. She sought to acquire his lease and shares under a lease provision allowing automatic transfer to a shareholder's “spouse.” McCabe did not provide a marriage license or evidence demonstrating that she was a family member, the Board of the Co-Op invited her to apply in the same manner as a prospective purchaser. When Mc...

Tags: Article 78 Proceeding, co-ops, cooperative building, discrimination, marriage, New York City Human Rights Law, romantic partner

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Changes to Real Estate Commission Structure

Traditionally, it was a common practice for sellers to pay commissions for both their agents and their buyers’ agents. The traditional was a shared commission model, up until the changes resulting from an antitrust litigation, commissions payable to real estate agents in the purchase and sale of property (generally between 5% and 6%) were paid by the seller and split between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent, and that amount came from the sales proceeds paid to the seller.1 Under t...

Tags: advertise, agents, antitrust litigation, brokerages, Buyers, options, Real estate commission, Sellers, split

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