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Hello. My co-op recently entered into a bluk agreement with Cablevision. A resident has requested a copy of the agreement. Question: Can the resident be legally denied a copy of the requested contract?
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Ned, I do not believe that shareholders have a right to view individual contracts. Shareholders are entitled to a copy of the annual audit and financial report, which must be prepared using GAAP guidelines. The report only contains dollar amounts. It does not go into individual contractual details unless they deviate from standard terms and conditions and materially affect the finances of the co-op.
Also, many contracts contain competitive information that is proprietary to the vendor. It may contain specific terms regarding non-disclosure. When my building had a contract with a DTV service provider it contained a non-disclosure clause.
I'd like to point out something to be very wary about with cable contracts. Many require a certain number or percentage of building apartments subscribe. If the minimum number is not met, the co-op corporation is responsible for making up the difference in monthly fee income to the cable company.
This is the reason we never renewed our contract. We had a second DTV service provider wire our building so we had competition. I also knew that there were more and more ways individual viewers could obtain all the channels and services they wanted over the internet. Fewer and fewer each year were signing up with the cable companies for DTV service. It seems ludicrous to me to put the building at risk for multiple years to subsidize natural changes in technology.
I would ask your board if the contract contains any performance or minimum subscriber guarantees. If it does, you building may end up subsidizing the dwindling number of apartments who remain with Cablevision.
Hi Stephen; thanks for your thoughtful response however I do believe that shareholders can in fact view, if requested, (versus get a copy) any financial information and that includes contracts. A board is signing on behalf of all shareholders and if someone is signing on your behalf, you are entitled to view what has been signed.
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According to the New York Cooperative Corporations Law item 75, Audit and annual report, this type of information should be available for inspection by any member. In other words, they may request that you come to the office to inspect the agreement versus giving you a copy of the agreement. I would put in a request to view the contract at a date and location of their choice as per article 75 of the New York Cooperative Corporations Law. You could add "or alternatively, provide me with a copy of the contract".
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