LAW LESSONS, PART 1, P.2

After an appellate court upheld the eviction, Lapidus and his wife, Iris, finally vacated the building in early 2008. In April of that year, just before the real estate market started to cool, the co-op sold the shares to Lapidus's three-bedroom apartment for $4 million. Under provisions in the proprietary lease and bylaws, proceeds from the sale covered Lapidus' unpaid maintenance and the co-op's $1.4 million in legal expenses and interest. Under a separate judgment, the money was also used to reimburse Handler for his $144,000 in legal fees fighting over Lapidus' air-conditioner. The remaining money went to Lapidus. (Reached at a telephone listing in the eastern Long Island town of Wainscott, Lapidus declined to comment.)

War may indeed be hell, but peace has proven sweet for the victors.

"It created some tensions and some added costs, which we had to finance through maintenance increases," says Tanenbaum. "But at the end of the day we wound up with a nice reserve fund because of the sale. The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they turn in the right direction."

Illustration by Marcellus Hall

Adapted from Habitat February 2009. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>