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

  1. 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.)

  2. 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.

  3. 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?

  4. 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!

  5. 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.

  6. 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?

  7. 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?