Condominiums and Cooperatives
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NYC Living: Coops and Condos HEIBERGER SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW OFFERED BY: RE CREDITS, LLC PRESENTED BY: JAMIE HEIBERGER, ESQ SDK HEIBERGER, LLP 205 East 42nd St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017 475 Port Washington Blvd Port Washington, NY 11050 Direct: 212.532.2067 Mobile: 917.697.5853 1 Overview • Cooperative Apartment • Ownership • Due diligence • Board approval • Subletting • Loan documents in a co-op lendingHEIBERGER transaction • Condominium SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW • Ownership of a condo unit • Condo waiver of Right of First Refusal • New Development Projects • Townhouses • Characteristics • Engineers Inspection • Legal Aspects • Due Diligence 2 HEIBERGER SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW Co-Operatives 3 Form of Ownership • A cooperative corporation owns the real estate (land, buildings, and property rights and all interests). • title to the property, as shown on the deed, is in the name of the corporation • The ownership interest in a co-op is evidenced by shares of stock. • Ownership of cooperative stockHEIBERGER is essentially the same as stock in corporationsSDK such as Microsoft,ATTORNEYS Facebook, Yahoo, AT etc. LAW • However, accompanying the shares of stock in a cooperative is a proprietary lease granting the right of the shareholders to reside in a particular apartment. • Leasehold Coops (a Co-Op with a ground lease) 4 Proprietary lease- what does it mean to owners? • Rights and obligations included in proprietary lease and corporation bylaws • Receive proprietary lease • long-term lease or estate for years • Receive stock certificates HEIBERGER SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW 5 Due Diligence • Financial Statements: • Each shareholder of the corporation is obligated to pay monthly maintenance charges which are aggregated and used to pay all costs and expenses in operating and maintaining the building. A portion of the maintenance payment is allocated to paying the debt service of any underlying building mortgage • Each prospective purchaser of a cooperative apartment should have the financial statements of the corporation reviewed to determine if the corporation is being run in a fiscally sound matter. HEIBERGER • Generally, the amountSDK of revenue generatedATTORNEYS by the building AT (ie., LAW common charges or maintenance) should be at least equal or greater than building operating expenses • Annual increases in common charges/maintenance should be in the range of 3%-5% per annum. • The building should have a reserve fund of at least 10% of the annual common charges/maintenance. • Determine if there is an underlying building mortgage and the existing terms of any such mortgage (ie., mortgage amount, interest rate and maturity date). • All notes should be thoroughly read as they may contain substantive information such as the status of any pending litigation involving the building. Sample financial statement in hand out. 6 Due Diligence • Board Minutes • Generally, building will conduct regular meetings on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. The coop or condo secretary will take “minutes” at the meetings which are a summary of the topics discussed. • Board “minutes” are traditionally stored at the office of the managing agent. Although managing agents areHEIBERGER reluctant to send copies of board minutes to attorney representingSDK the prospectiveATTORNEYS purchaser, AT the LAWminutes are available for review at the offices of the managing agent. • Minutes can provide critical information relating to • Past or current financial concerns • Building maintenance and repair issues • Issues with disruptive owners/occupants • Contemplated repairs or capital improvements projects • Changes in building operating policies • Questionnaire 7 Due Diligence • Key Issues to Review in a Co-op Board’s Minutes Maintenance and • Many cooperative reserve Assessment HEIBERGERfunds receive income from the SDKHistory flip tax, a charge levied when ATTORNEYSunits AT change LAW hands Reserve Underlying Fund Mortgage 8 House Rules - why are they important to Agent? • Cover issues – garbage disposal, maintenance, noise and conflict resolution • Shared with purchaser HEIBERGER SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW 9 Cooperative Policy Statement 1 Phase: • Sets out New York Attorney • The CPS1 period General’s rules • lasts 120 days from acceptance of • how a developer may test market the CPS1 statement by the for a new development before Attorney General filing the offering plan and before • can be extended by request from construction is completed HEIBERGERthe developer for an additional 60 SDK ATTORNEYSdays AT LAW 10 Offering Plan • If the seller is not the sponsor, only certain portions of the offering plan need to be reviewed (such as Special Risks) since many of the offering plan sections are inapplicable to the transaction. • Special Risks section will highlight issues such as • Lot line windows HEIBERGER • Real estate taxesSDK exemptions suchATTORNEYS as J-51 or 421 -ATa LAW • Amenity features such as parking, storage bins, etc. • Potential sale or reservation of development rights • Older offering plans tend to have “stale” or less relevant information such as projected budgets, composition of initial condo board, unit finishes and fixtures, etc. 11 Board Packages • Financial documents like tax returns, verification of employment; etc. • Managing agent of cooperative review package • Board wants full financial picture of purchaser HEIBERGER SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW 12 Cooperative Board Application and interview preparation • Cooperative board application • Attorney for seller draws co-op contract of sale • Interview scheduling- package submitted to managing agent for review and submit for next scheduled interview meeting • Familiarize purchaserSDK packageHEIBERGER for discussion purposes • Need for total disclosure by purchaserATTORNEYS during AT interview LAW 13 Board approval • Controlling contract provision; • This sale is subject to the unconditional consent of the Corporation. • Purchaser shall in good faith: • Submit to the Corporation or Managing Agent an application with respect to this sale on the form required by the Corporation, containing such data and together with such documents as the Corporation requires, and pay the application fees and charges that the Corporation imposes upon Purchaser.HEIBERGER All of the foregoing shall be submitted within 10 days afterSDK the Delivery Date, or, if ¶ 1.20.1 or 1.20.2 applies and the Loan Commitment Letter is required byATTORNEYS the Corporation, within AT 3 LAW business days after the earlier of (i) the Loan Commitment Date (defined in ¶ 1.21) or (ii) the date of receipt of the Loan Commitment Letter (defined in ¶ 18.1.2); attend (and cause any Proposed Occupant to attend) one or more personal interviews, as requested by the Corporation; and promptly submit to the Corporation such further references, data and documents reasonably requested by the Corporation. • Either Party, after learning of the Corporation’s decision, shall promptly advise the other Party thereof. If the Corporation has not made a decision on or before the Scheduled Closing Date, the Closing shall be adjourned for 30 business days for the purpose of obtaining such consent. If such consent is not given by such adjourned date, either Party may cancel this Contract by Notice. In the event of cancellation pursuant to this ¶ 6.3, the Escrowee shall refused, or not given, due to Purchaser’s bad faith conduct, Purchaser shall be in default and ¶ 13.1 shall govern. 14 Board approval • Pursuant to current NY law, a coop board is NOT required to provide reasons for a rejection of an application for approval. Unless a purchaser can prove that the basis of a denial was due to discriminatory reason (such as religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, etc.), a purchaser should not seek legal recourse against a coop board for issuing a denial. • Generally, decisions made by corporations are governed by the “business judgment rule” which is broadly interpreted by courts and gives great discretion to boards in decision- making areas. • Board applications vary from building HEIBERGERto building. Customarily, a board application will require the submissionSDK of the following: • Copy of the Contract of Sale ATTORNEYS AT LAW • Personal and professional reference letters • Financial statements • Tax returns • Credit reports • Liens search • Commitment letter, if any • Recognition Agreement, if bank financing is involved. • Typically, board applications are reviewed and approved by the real estate agents involved in the transaction before they are submitted to the board. 15 Board Approval Cooperative Board Application and Interview Preparation Before Scheduling Interview Consider SDK HEIBERGER Co-op ATTORNEYS AT LAW Interview The Role Board Prep Of Time Application Familiarize Need for total Purchaser disclosure Package for By purchaser Discussion During purposes Interview • Situation Analysis: Mr. Jones an investment banker is a single man who is paying cash for a cooperative. He has sizable and safe investments and no debt. The cooperative board refuses him. No reason is given. 16 Documents Needed for the Sale/Purchase of Cooperatives Proprietary Lease HEIBERGER Stock SDKAlteration ATTORNEYSCertificate AT LAW Agreements Offering House Plan Rules 17 Documents needed for the Sale/Purchase of Cooperatives • Include articles of incorporation, bylaws, proprietary lease or occupancy agreement, subscription agreement and house rules • Cooperative sponsor prepares subscription agreement when he sells each cooperative unit HEIBERGER SDK ATTORNEYS AT LAW 18