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April 1, 2008
eviction and ownership
If a shareholder owns their coop (no mortgage) but does not pay their maintenance and the board begins eviction proceedings who then, gets the apartment if the shareholder is evicted?
I know the board can recoup the lost money once the place is sold but who can sell it (owner, bank or coop?). thanks
Comments
The bank is not in the picture. The cooperative corporation takes possesion and can sell.
Posted by: guest at April 1, 2008 9:35 AM
From my experience, when a co-op I belonged to brought eviction proceedings against a neighbor, her bank stepped in and paid her maintenance, etc.
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at April 1, 2008 9:50 AM
But Putnam, she doesn't have a bank. Read the post. She has no mortgage.
OP, it's a coop so the other shareholders get the apartment because they have always had it. She only leased it from the coop and by refusing to pay her maintenance, she broke her lease and was evicted as in any landlord/tenant relationship. We all forget that that's what a coop is. Every shareholder is the landlord of themself and all other shareholders.
Posted by: guest at April 1, 2008 11:01 AM
OP here: so, if the coop is successful in evicting this person then the coop assumes ownership of the apartment and then when they sell it the proceeds go to the reserve?
Posted by: justme at April 1, 2008 1:19 PM
The coop has no right to the apt. The coop can evict and sell, but all it gets to keep is the back maintenance and legal fees etc.
Posted by: denton at April 1, 2008 1:41 PM
If that is true (and my bad not have read the OP correctly) then who determines what fair market price is? What is to stop Co-op from selling low?
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at April 1, 2008 2:15 PM
It would be unwise for the coop to sell low - thereby potentially lowering the value of their own individual apartments due to "comps." In fact some coops have the power to insist on a seller meeting a minimum price when they are selling or they can kill the sale.
Owning a co-op means owning shares in a corporation that has been set up for the benefit of a collective community of owners. It also means following the rules and laws that have been set up for the building. If an owner doesn't do this, the co-op has powers to remove that owner by taking away the owner's shares and forcing a sale. Condos are a different ballgame because the owner actually holds title to the physical apartment. It can be tougher with condos to remove an owner, although steps can be taken to force one out. Liens can also be placed on condos.
It's possible that the co-op may legally be able to either force the owner to sell if the maintenance is not being paid, and subtract the maintenance owed and maybe even attorney's fees from the seller's proceeds at closing, or buy the apt. from the owner and evict the owner, again subtracting maintenance and legal fees owed to the coop after a sale.
Get a lawyer.
Posted by: guest at April 1, 2008 2:33 PM
The coop would not sell low -- it would devalue all the other units! The shareholder gets what's left after the maintennce, legal and all other fees. That's why, once you start to evict, they pay!
Posted by: guest at April 1, 2008 2:33 PM
ok so: the shareholder gets evicted, coop puts apt up for sale (hopefully at current market value), they sell it. owed money goes back to coop (plus fees, interest and whatever is owed), the remaining amount goes to shareholder who was evicted? correct?
Posted by: justme at April 1, 2008 4:27 PM
You really need to speak to a lawyer (and possibly an accountant), to make sure there aren't other implications to doing this. There are loads of examples of just plain wrong information populating this forum, don't roll the dice on something of this magnitude.
Posted by: guest at April 1, 2008 5:14 PM
youre gonna need an atty for this.
Theres not even any choice.
Posted by: slick at April 2, 2008 4:03 AM
Coop doesn't sell the apartment - it sells the shares. (The apartment is leased to the owner of the shares, and is not, in itself, sold.) And yes, the coop needs an attorney, because it doesn't right now own the shares, so it can't just transfer them without following correct legal process. And there's the matter of the lease to the existing owner, as well as the shares, to be dealt with. The coop is provided for in the proprietary lease and in the law. And yes, an owner who isn't in a state of complete paralysis will sell before the coop takes over. (Though paralysis happens - look at how many forclosed owners who aren't in a position to get it together to sell and pay off the bank, even when the house would sell for more the mortgage owed the bank.)
Posted by: guest at April 2, 2008 1:42 PM
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