Condo Institutes Special Assessment to Pay for Lawsuit to Keep Restaurant Out

May 4, 2015 — Show us a New Yorker and we'll show you someone who depends on takeout. Living near a few good places that deliver is arguably as important as scoring some nice digs relatively near a subway. But as Ronda Kaysen points out in this week's "Ask Real Estate" column in The New York Times, living near one is one thing. Living above one, quite another. A condo in the Financial District has instituted a special assessment to cover the costs of a lawsuit brought by the building to prevent a restaurant tenant from occupying the commercial space on the ground floor. One unit-owners asks Kaysen whether a board can use an assessment forcing everyone to pay for a lawsuit that not all residents actually support. Kaysen explains that condo boards are allowed to sue on behalf of the building, "even if some owners disagreed with its merits." And condo bylaws allow boards to collect common charges and special assessments. In fact, adds Marc Luxemburg, a Manhattan lawyer who represents condos and co-ops, the Business Judgment Rule makes it particularly tricky for unit-owners to challenge the board's decision in this case.