Q: I imagine I’m going through retaliation from the board of my Manhattan co-op. In 2018, the constructing supervisor was alleged to right an error with my account, however she by no means eliminated the baseless late costs, and has since added extra. Administration has used a few of my upkeep funds to pay these late costs, moderately than making use of them to my month-to-month prices. I ran for a co-op board seat, however inside days acquired “notices to treatment” all the best way to “eviction,” based mostly on these inaccurate costs. The board didn’t file their papers accurately the primary time, however they’ve filed them once more in housing courtroom. What do I do subsequent?
A: You need to reply to the notices to treatment in a well timed trend, and contest the debt, following the process outlined in your co-op’s governing paperwork. Embrace proof of the account error in addition to any related communications you’ve had with the board or your constructing’s managing agent.
For those who can’t show that you simply advised the co-op to use your month-to-month funds to your common upkeep charges moderately than these different costs, it’s possible you’ll not be capable to problem how the co-op’s billing employees allotted the funds, stated Leni Morrison Cummins, chair of the condominiums and cooperatives observe at Cozen O’Connor. For those who do have documentation exhibiting that you simply wished your funds to be utilized to your month-to-month costs, embody that proof if you reply to the board.
If the monetary dispute will get to courtroom, the burden of proof might be on the co-op to indicate that it’s correctly charging you, Ms. Cummins stated. You’ll have a chance to answer the co-op’s claims and supply proof of the errors. In case you are victorious, the co-op could possibly be required to pay your authorized charges. If not, you’ll have to pay constructing’s authorized charges.
“Earlier than this escalates to litigation, each you and the co-op might want to totally evaluation your data to substantiate the energy of every place,” Ms. Cummins stated.
You could be right that the board is retaliating towards you, however proving it could possibly be tough. What sort of proof do you’ve got? Are you conscious that different shareholders in an identical state of affairs have been handled in a different way?
“It’s attainable that the timing of the cooperative’s authorized motion, coinciding with the shareholder’s candidacy for the board, is coincidental,” stated Joseph Colbert, an actual property lawyer at Colbert Legislation, LLC.
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