Q: I consider I’m dealing with retaliation from the board of my Manhattan co-op. In 2018, the constructing supervisor was imagined to right an error with my account, however she by no means eliminated the baseless late fees, and has since added extra. Administration has used a few of my upkeep funds to pay these late fees, moderately than making use of them to my month-to-month prices. I ran for a co-op board seat, however inside days received “notices to treatment” all the best way to “eviction,” based mostly on these misguided fees. The board didn’t file their papers appropriately the primary time, however they’ve filed them once more in housing court docket. What do I do subsequent?
A: You need to reply to the notices to treatment in a well timed style, and contest the debt, following the process outlined in your co-op’s governing paperwork. Embody proof of the account error in addition to any related communications you’ve had with the board or your constructing’s managing agent.
Should you 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 fees, you could not be capable to problem how the co-op’s billing workers allotted the funds, mentioned Leni Morrison Cummins, chair of the condominiums and cooperatives apply at Cozen O’Connor. Should you do have documentation displaying that you simply needed your funds to be utilized to your month-to-month fees, embrace that proof while you reply to the board.
If the monetary dispute will get to court docket, the burden of proof will likely be on the co-op to indicate that it’s correctly charging you, Ms. Cummins mentioned. You’ll have a chance to answer the co-op’s claims and supply proof of the errors. If you’re victorious, the co-op may very well be required to pay your authorized charges. If not, you could have to pay constructing’s authorized charges.
“Earlier than this escalates to litigation, each you and the co-op might want to totally evaluate your information to verify the energy of every place,” Ms. Cummins mentioned.
You could be right that the board is retaliating in opposition to you, however proving it may very well be tough. What sort of proof do you may have? Are you conscious that different shareholders in an identical scenario have been handled in a different way?
“It’s doable that the timing of the cooperative’s authorized motion, coinciding with the shareholder’s candidacy for the board, is coincidental,” mentioned Joseph Colbert, an actual property lawyer at Colbert Legislation, LLC.
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