In the News

Q: Obviously, co-op boards are not allowed to discriminate against families with children. But can a co-op board reasonably reject an applicant because the number of people in the family is larger than the number of bedrooms?

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Recently, the board of my co-op instituted new rules on the use of the building’s roof garden. One rule prohibits pets from the area. Previously, I was allowed to bathe my dog on the roof garden, and this amenity factored into my decision to buy there (as it costs bout $85 to get my dog professionally bathed in Manhattan).

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It is long been an established principal under general contract law that plaintiffs have a duty to reduce or prevent its injury or damages. However, in New York, a commercial landlord has no duty to mitigate damages when a tenant abandons its leased premises prior to the expiration of its lease term.

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Most people know that a contract to buy a house or apartment usually contains a clause that allows the buyer to get out of the deal if he or she does not qualify for a mortgage.

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Borrowers are often told that going to a mortgage broker is a no-lose proposition. The broker’s fee, the reasoning goes, is more than justified by the broker’s ability to get a loan at a lower interest rate than the customer could get on his own.

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As recently as 2000, rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage hovered around 8 percent—good but not great. But in the past month, they’ve dipped below 6 1/2 percent, and the 2001 rate average is projected to be the lowest since Nixon was in office.

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Whether a co-op building has six apartments or 600, one thing is fairly certain, there will rarely be a time when there isn’t at least one shareholder who believes that the building could be run better by someone else.

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If you’ve been apartment shopping, you may think you know everything there is to know about the unit you’ve got your eye on. The price is right, the space is in excellent shape and there’s room to spare.

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Q: My family lives in a beautiful three-bedroom apartment on the first floor of an Upper West Side apartment building in Manhattan. Twelve months ago the co-op elected to begin a re-pointing project on the exterior of our building that we were told would last 3 months.

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For co-op boards in the market for a managing agent, making the right choice is a bit like buying new shoes— you can’t be sure of the fit until you’ve worn them.

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