A Condo Owners’ Bill of Rights Is on the Table

Two state legislators from the Bronx have introduced a Bill of Rights for condominium unit-owners in the state legislature that’s designed to heighten the transparency of condo board operations. The proposed legislation was inspired by a nasty legal battle over a 15 percent increase in common charges at the Parkchester South Condominium in the Bronx.

"There are certain issues that could not be addressed properly in the lawsuit, and so we decided that the best approach for both not-for-profit condominium owners and private condominium owners would be to draft a Bill of Rights for condo unit-owners," says state Senator Ruben Diaz, who is sponsoring the bill with Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda.

The Bill of Rights would, among other things, give unit-owners the right to inspect or copy approved meeting minutes, IRS tax form 900 (if available), receipts for expenditures, bank and financial statements, bid proposals, accountant and consultant reports, and governmental health, building-code, and safety inspection reports. Boards would be required to propose spending limits every five years, and the board would vote on any “extraordinary” non-emergency expenditures after notice to the unit owners.

Many of these rights were conferred on unit-owners in the recent Pomerance v. McGrath ruling by the First Department of the Appellate Division, which stipulated that requests to review and copy documents must be made in good faith. “The holding in the Pomerance case will be discussed with my senate colleagues,” Diaz tells Habitat. The Bronx Times quoted him as saying, “Transparency remains a key factor. We all need to be able to review those documents to see where and how the money was spent and will be spent.”

The condo owners’ Bill of Rights will almost certainly get some pushback in Albany. Last year, legislation was proposed that would have required co-op boards to reach a decision on buyer applications within 45 days. Though hardly draconian, the proposal was shot down after vigorous lobbying by co-op board supporters. Among them was Mary Ann Rothman, executive director of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, who slammed the proposal as “the start of a slippery slope towards total oversight of the admissions process…including mandatory disclosure of the reasons for a co-op board’s decision on an application.”