A Simple Lesson to Avoid an Endless Renovation

In February 2019, Stefan Brodie and Irina Denisova, unit-owners at the Aldyn Condominium at 60 Riverside Drive, signed an alteration agreement and submitted the required $10,000 security deposit to renovate their apartment. The agreement specified that there would be a $500-per-day charge if renovations extended beyond the completion date. The date was not included in the alteration agreement but the unit-owners submitted a project timeline indicating that renovations would be completed by September 2020. However, by spring 2022, the work was still ongoing. 

The project’s timeline exceeded the board’s expectations, and it issued a stop-work notice, issued fines and seized the $10,000 security deposit. Brodie and Denisova wanted to stop the board from enforcing the stop-work order and filed a legal action to do so; they also filed for breach of contract based on the assessment of unauthorized and excessive fines. 

The matter went to court, and the judge ruled that the owners could complete the alterations. The court emphasized the fact that the alteration agreement failed to fix a date for the completion of the project — the “Required Completion Date.” As it was solely in the board’s interest to have done that, the board and the condominium had to bear the consequences of its omission. 

Lesson to learn. If the duration of an alteration project is of concern to your board, care should be taken to ensure that all material information, including the specific deadline and consequences for failure to meet it, are clearly spelled out in the agreement. Even a seemingly minor mistake or unintentional oversight can have major consequences and a potentially significant impact on building operations.

Michelle P. Quinn is a partner at the law firm Gallet Dreyer & Berkey.