HABITAT
Subscribe for Daily Updates!
I believe that you are entitled to receive the co-op tax abatement because it was your primary residence at the time in question. I think your management company is incorrect.
If the DOF listed you as the owner, then you are entitled to the money. Hang on to that letter from the DOF to the co-op that states you are the owner.
The co-op receives a lump sum for the abatement which is then distributed to the OWNERS who were living there during the time frame in question. Your DOF letter verifies this.
However, it seems that the problem here is with the management company. Even though you're no longer the owner, you were the owner during the abatement period in question.
You may need to consult with an attorney since the management company doesn't seem to be cooperative about the situation, but you were the owners during the abatement period. That's who gets the abatement. The owners during the abatement period.
Seems like the management company just needs to give you a check for the lump sum abatement owed you, and then recover the money from the new owners who incorrectly received YOUR abatement. But, that's their problem, not yours, and they created the problem in the first place.
I'm guessing that the management company doesn't want to be bothered with the extra work, so that's why they don't want to do it.
Good luck!
Stick to your guns. The abatement belongs to you.
OG, thanks for sharing your story. I found it very informative and know it will help others. I wanted to ask you about the January 5th date. In the end the few extra$$$ are not worth the aggravation...
Happy that you found the the link helpful. I had an answer in 48 hrs. Also, when all else fails
Marcel Dixon
NYC Department of Finance│External Affairs
2120602-7004-212-602-7050
DixonM@finance.nyc.gov
Regards,
Queens
BTW, I am not making light of the "Principal". Had you been aware, you could have sold your unit for $5,000 more. I have gone to battle for much less $$$ so keep on Truckin!!!
I'm a little late to the party, but I respectfully disagree with Marty and want to post my reasons.
Even though the seller was the owner during the abatement period and is listed as the owner of record on the abatement list from the DOF, it is the purchaser who will be responsible to pay any offsetting assessment imposed by the co-op board. In order for this to remain a zero-sum transaction, the purchaser needs to receive the abatement to offset the assessment.
--- Steve
Steven,
Thank you for the correction. You learn something new everyday on this site.
Introduce yourself to other members of Board Talk! Log in below or register here.
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.
Habitat u
visit habitat uHabitat U: learn about how to manage a building, and what you should know as a co-op or condo board member.
Archives
search
Search, by word or phrase, all magazine articles from January 2002 to present. You may print or email your results. Print subscribers receive free access to the Habitat Article Archive.
Ask the Experts
learn moreLearn all the basics of NYC co-op and condo management, with straight talk from heavy hitters in the field of co-op or condo apartments
Professionals in some of the key fields of co-op and condo board governance and building management answer common questions in their areas of expertise
Subscribe
join nowGot elected? Are you on your co-op/condo board?
Then don’t miss a beat! Stories you can use to make your building better, keep it out of trouble, save money, enhance market value, and make your board life a whole lot easier!
@queen
Thank you for the link. I sent an inquiry yesterday. Hope to hear from them soon.
@Marty
Thank you for your input!
What you said is exactly how I feel and thank you for your encouragement.
I purchased and sold a coop in the same month, January 2019, but both were after 1/5.
I realized that I lost my abatement when I received the maintenance bill in April from the new coop. Since the previous owner of the new coop was an investor, there was no abatement left for me, but of course there was the assessment. I had to pay it out of pocket.
Closing was after 1/5 & I missed the status date, so there was no abatement for the current tax year, so I will have to pay another assessment out of pocket again in April.
In the meantime, the Purchaser of the old coop received last year's and will receive the current tax year's abatement, because I was the qualified owner on 1/5, 2019.
We didn't discuss about the abatements at closing, but our sales contract has the following rider.
In the event that there is any refund on any real estate taxes which is attributed to the time period in which Seller owned the unit, such refund shall belong to Seller.
Purchaser agrees to cooperate with Seller in connection with obtaining such refund. If such refund is delivered to Purchaser, Purchaser agrees to hold same in trust and to promptly remit
such refund to Seller. This provision shall survive Closing for one (1) year.
So, I contacted the Purchaser but their lawyer answered that the Purchaser didn't receive a check, only a credit and that was offset by assessment so they gained nothing.
I think this is an irrelevant argument, but what the Purchaser's lawyer is saying it that because they didn't take the money but the management company gave it to them, they owe me nothing and receiving the credit was not their fault.
I found the following letter in the closing package of my current management company, Douglas Elliman.
https://www.ellimanpm.com/package_templates/927d9b71ad6fcac483c7a461204e7967057a9901/preview?resource_id=319
I wish my old management company had this kind of letter at closing so that my lawyer or I wouldn't have forgotten about the abatement.
There must be a reason why Douglas Elliman has this letter for both seller and purchaser to sign.
They don't want to have an issue like I am having.
I will contact the old management company again requesting legal resources if they believe the abatement should stay with the unit and the new owner is entitled to receive it.
I know that's what's happening everywhere, but until I see the legal precedent, I don't want to give up my abatements. It's almost 5K.
My point is simple.
The Purchaser would not have been able to benefit from the Abatement, had we not been eligible residents last year and this year.
I am sharing my story for someone who encounters the same problem as I have.
I will keep you updated.
Thanks again for your support.
Thank you for rating!
You have already rated this page, you can only rate it once!
Your rating has been changed, thanks for rating!
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.