Hi, Danny,

I don't know why they can't charge back fees for the illegal sublet. My guess is that if it was illegal then you can't charge for it. I mean, if it truly was illegal -- violating the law, not just the house rules -- then they could be sued or something, but that's tremendously expensive and is no guarantee of victory.

If the sublet was just a violation of house rules/proprietary lease, then maybe there was a way to collect money. Thing is, the co-op would have to be able to prove it was a sublet (not a "roommate" who was the shareholder's "brother" or some such dodge) and that the person lived there the entire time (instead of "visiting" or "house-sitting"). There's lots of grey areas out there in subletting because shareholders would rather take advantage of their neighbors (and fellow business owners) than agree to follow the terms of the lease they signed.

Let's hope your board will watch more closely for improper sublets in the future. It's not easy to run a building as a volunteer!