It May Be Your House, But It's the Co-op Board's House Rules

Dec. 10, 2014 — Your home may well be your castle, but when it comes to co-op life, everyone has to abide by the house rules. And those rules vary from co-op to co-op, including the 80% carpet rule. Many buildings, including co-ops, are sticklers about carpets because they dampen noise and keep noise complaints down. But what about rugs? That's the question a retired nurse (with a chronic illness) asked Brickunderground.com in its latest Ask the Expert column. Her co-op board requires wall-to-wall carpeting — which it can do thanks to the business judgment rule. She's restored her wood floors, hence the rugs, and says that her downstairs neighbor has never complained about noise. But the board — which discovered she was in violation of the carpet rule while conducting a building-wide inspection on another matter — is saying she's got to install it, and she's saying she can't afford it. While one Brickunderground.com expert doubts the board will take her to court over the matter, another points out that a court, thanks to the business judgment rule, "could easily defer to [the] board on [the] issue." The bottom line: the cost of fighting in court would probably be greater than just getting the wall-to-wall carpet. Then again, the business judgment rule allows boards to rescind rules. Maybe with a bit of smooth talking she can convince her board to sweep the rule under the rug.