I'm surprised you don't see the information on ACRIS. If the shareholder refinanced in 2004, you should see one document of type "INITIAL COOP UCC1" (new mortgage) and another of type "UCC3 TERMINATION" (payoff of the old mortgage at closing). This is true even if the new mortgage has since been paid off.

Don't try to look this up by shareholder name, which can be tricky. Instead, go to the DOB website -- http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp -- look up your building by address, and note the Tax Block and Tax Lot. (I'm assuming you know your borough!) Then go back to ACRIS and do a search by Parcel Identifier. This will show you all the transactions for your building. Choose Max Rows of 99 from the dropdown, then keep clicking "next" until you get back to 2004. The refinance documents should be right there.

Have you already tried to work out a payment plan with the shareholder? If the shareholder is three months or more in arrears, and friendly methods have failed, your attorney should immediately deliver a formal default notice and start legal proceedings to cancel the lease and shares for nonpayment of maintenance.

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Thanks for your input. I did find paperwork on ACRIS that dated back to the beginning of the co-op. All of the information found regarding this shareholder were dead ends. Washington Mutual is the last bank he had a mortgage with. Our attorneys have said that the paperwork filed was not done properly and certain numbers were missing. I saw what he was meant when i referenced older mortgages by those who have long since moved.

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Not having a copy of the recognition agreement should not be part of the equation. It does not convey any special privileges on the Co-op. It's purpose is to recognize special rights that the mortgage lender has in situations such as this.

I would suggest that you find out who the current mortgage holder is and contact them immediately. They will want to maintain the value of the apartment, which a foreclosure will decrease. One clause in most recognition agreements is that the Co-op will accept maintenance payments from the lending institution as if they were from the mortgagee. If you can inform the delinquent shareholder's mortgage holder of the situation, they may decide to pay the back maintenance, at which point your issues are resolved.

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