Unfortunately, it sounds like your only real option is to hire your own attorney. If you to fight this alone you'll get squashed. The Co-op corporation has certain obligations and you have certain obligations. An attorney is the only real way you have any chance of fairness.

Good luck!
--- Steve

OK firstly, you don't yet need an attorney. 311 is your route. Send a certified letter to the board pres telling him you are giving the lessor ten days until you call 311 to tell them to the condition persists and that the condition is in violation of the lease and the warrant of habitability and you will also file for a rent reduction in housing court and enclose photos of the condition. Do this now. A lawyer will anyhow basically take this route. YOu may need one down the line because coop boards can be really awful and very arrogant and misuse their positions.

DM and Steve, you guys rock ! Thanks very much for your help. I took the advice about the PL described by Steve above, and the board prez did agree to at least put a sheet rock there to cover up the hole in my ceiling. I've agreed to repaint the bathroom so it will pass the city inspection (and yes DM, I didn't use a lawyer; I just called 311). Thank you both to help me through this very stressful situation.

You're welcome! :-)

I agree with Steve: Hire a lawyer, send the co-operative board a legal letter and make it clear, that the co-operative will be responsible for all legal costs pertaining to the situation. Sounds like an infrastructure issue - which should be their problem, not yours and therefore their responsibility to fix, not yours.

Have you reported to ins. co?

I didn't buy insurance for my co-op. But the building does have insurance. How do I find out which insurance company the building uses ? Co-op prez wouldn't give me that info.

1) Get insurance for yourself. It is irresponsible not to do this.
2) Don't call in claims that are small (they can increase your rates) or otherwise coop responsibility.
3) The coop's ins. has no bearing in your case unless your ceiling caved in.

Hi,

While I understand your frustration, you are not thinking like an owner but a renter. You own a part of that co-op and yet you reported it to a city agency? I can see why the President is mad. I would be too.

Here is what I would do:
• Apologize for reporting the situation to the City.
• Ask the Managing Agent to investigate whether the leak is coming from inside the walls (the Co-op’s responsibility) or from a fixture or a tile grout issue (likely the owner’s responsibility).
• If inside the wall, then ask the Co-op to fix it. Give them a reasonable amount of time and ask a Lawyer to assist if no action is taken.
• Is from a fixture or tile grout issue, then ask your upstairs neighbor to fix it. Give them a reasonable amount of time and ask a Lawyer to assist if no action is taken.
• Alert your insurance company that a potential claim is pending and ask what they think you need to do to protect your and your insurance company’s rights.

I believe that this course of action would do much to restore your reputation within the co-op and accomplish what you seek – a completed repair.

Good luck!

I mostly agree with Steve BUT, keep in mind coop owners ARE essentially renters - they have a lease.
if the source of the leak is coop responsibility and you reported it (in writing) to the mng agent and Super and they denied / neglected to repair, then you should NOT apologize for calling the city. This depends on the situation. If it was 100% a case of neglect on the part of the cooperative then, in fact, you had no recourse but to call the city.
If it from faulty grout from the neighbors above - were they notified it was leaking? If not, why not? Did you contact them - did the mng agent/Super contact them? Again, if you properly notified the coop and they did not take action with the neighbor upstairs, they are negligent. If the neighbor was notified, he/she is negligent. (In my building the coop grouts small areas if brought to their attention as soon as there are signs of a leak but in many bldg this is apt owners prevue.)
Why are you defaulting on your lease? Did you deny access for repairs - if so then that is your fault. You must allow access.
We do not have all the information.

Precisely what was the source of the leak -was it from internal pipes or toilet bend above?
If it was from internal piping then the coop is responsible and they are behaving terribly.
1) You must allow access to repair it if it has a voilation within the city's time frame. 2) Before you do this , given that the source of the leak is coop responsibility, write them a letter stating all work is coop responsibility , cite the relevant paragraph in the lease plus prior instances in the building here the coop has paid for similar repairs and state you are not liable/responsible for any repair costs and will pursue your rights concerning this if they persist. Mail this certified to both the board president and the managing agent. Do this now.
Then, if they place charges on your bill, pay it but write 'under protest' on the check, let then know you are protesting it via certified mail, that they immediately need to remove the charges and then take them to small claims court if they do not. You will prevail in small claims or the coop will settle as they have no basis to fight (given the repair is their prevue) . The cost is $20-25.

Oh and I never ever refused access. On the contrary, they never bothered to show up and inspect the damage. And how do I find 'prior instances in the building here the coop has paid for similar repairs' ? The super and the managing agent have all the records, and he refuses to show them to me

Check your proprietary lease. Most PL's delineate which repairs are the responsibility of the Co-op and which are the responsibility of the shareholder.

After I read what Steve and DM wrote I thought I might have been too hasty in recommending you contact an attorney. But reading the additional posts I'm feeling more and more that needing an attorney will be inevitable. You also have to remember that besides the physical damage the water is doing, you have a real potential for mold which is a health hazard. This should not drag on for too much longer.

Initially the board prez doesn't have to know you've talked to an attorney. The attorney can advise you about what steps to take to get the problem fixed before having to go to court. Just as important the attorney can advise you what not to do that could weaken your position.

A couple quick questions. How many units are there in your co-op? How many other board members and have you approached any of them about this problem? They may not be aware of your situation and my be sympathetic.

Thanks guys. These ideas are very helpful. In my co-op, the president is also the managing agent. I suppose this is not unusual in NYC, but it just seemed that he is in a position of absolute power. I have reported the leak over a month ago in writing, and he ignored all my requests for a repair. So finally I had enough and reported to the city. And now he turned around and made it into my problem. Adding insult to the injury, he said that I'm in default of my lease because I failed to repair the water damage. I mean, come on ! The leak is still happening. Every time the guy upstairs take a shower, I start to hear dripping from the ceiling and stuff falls off from my ceiling piece by piece. It's really become an inhabitability issue. I'm thinking about filing a HP pertition the HPD Housing court. Did anyone every try this route ? Did it ever work in terms of forcing the co-op to comply ? It just seems that there are no oversight to any of these co-op boards, and the president/managing agent think that they are untouchable.

Have you allowed access for repair? Has the coop requested access?
If there is a 311 hazard violation, then the landlord is required to repair the condition. Let the coop have access but protest your obligation to pay via a certified letter. Then go to housing court for a rent abatement. (But make sure to pay your rent or they will have a legit default case.)

Maybe it is the responsibility of the upstairs neighbor - or is it internal pipes?
You have not specified this. If it is from plumbing above (in the neighbors apt) then the upstairs neighbor has to repair it. Is it pipes under his floor? Is it his shower body in the wall or outside the wall? What is it?

No, the leak was from the pipes between my unit and the unit upstairs. The super did fix the water leak (although I don't think it's fully fixed) to appease HPD, he refused to fix the damage in my apartment. To me, they are splitting hairs: how could u admit to the responsibility of leaky pipe, but refuse to clean up their mess ?

Also, I found a good Q&A on this website that talked about co-op's responsibility to ensure the habitability of the apartment:

http://www.habitatmag.com/Publication-Content/Habitat-s-Purchasing-Primer-News-for-New-Buyers/Your-Right-to-a-Habitable-Co-op-Apartment#.VU_x-vlVhBc

Looks like I have no choice but to go to court. There is no use arguing with a corrupt co-op prez. BTW, if the co-op prez and the managing company are one the same, isn't that an obvious conflict of interest ?

Hi Queens,

There are a lot of issues in play with your original question and subsequent discussion, but I'm going talk about just one aspect - board vs. shareholder responsibility for repairs.

As you stated, it *seems* logical that if the cause of the leak was in a common area (the pipe between your apartment and the one above you), that the board, who has responsibility for common areas, should be responsible for repairing your apartment. The answer is, they are, but only up to a point. If you have a standard Proprietary Lease from the early 1980's it will contain a paragraph titled "Repairs by the Lessee". We have such a PL, and that paragraph (#18) states, in part,

"Subject to the provisions of Paragraph 4 hereof, the Lessee shall keep the interior of the apartment (including interior walls, floors and ceilings, but excluding windows, window panes, window frames, sashes, sills, entrance and terrace doors, frames and saddles) in good repair..."

The way our building interprets this is that the co-op is responsible for the envelope of each apartment; the four walls, floor, and ceiling that encompass the apartment. In the event of damage caused by a common element of the building (in your case, a leaky pipe), the co-op is responsible for fixing the problem, obviously. The co-op is also responsible for repairing the envelope, which includes replacing the sheetrock, spackling, and skim-coating the repair. Anything further inside the apartment on the walls, floor, or ceiling (wallpaper, fixtures, parquet floor, etc) are the responsibility of the shareholder. We require shareholders to have casualty insurance so that expensive interior elements are covered.

It sounds like the discrepancy between you and the board president lies in the level of repair done to your ceiling. If you still have a hole in your ceiling, then from my perspective the board still has work to do. But if you have a bare sheetrock patch on your ceiling, then you have to call in the painters on your dime. At this point you have to consider if it is worth the time, cost, and aggravation to pursue any other remedies.

Read your Proprietary Lease to see what it says. Consult with an attorney if you need help in deciding how the terms in the PL relate to your specific situation. I hope if you show you are willing to meet the board half-way, they will also be willing to meet you.

Good luck!
--- Steve

Sounds like your bldg is self-managed if the board pres is the "mng agent." He should not be receiving compensation in any form if this is the case. But that is another issue.
Do this:
1) Write a certified letter to him NOW (address it to the corporation's full legal name) saying you demand restoration of the damaged area to it's original condition - skim coat and prime paint coat or as per precedent in the building (no wallpaper etc - the coop just has to restore it to basic condition), and that you otherwise deny any default of the lease - however the condition remains hazardous and in violation of the Warrant of Habitability. Just do this. FYI the city will demand it be restored, no holes or crumbling anything, to pass inspection.
Then get your own insurance. There is no excuse not to except that you are begin cheap. What if you flood your tub and trash the neighbors below?