Rockland Lawmakers Push Co-Op Boards To Timely Decisions

From the Rockland County Legislature

Rockland County Legislators have voted in favor of a new county law that would require housing cooperatives to make a timely decision on applications by prospective buyers. Legislator Alden H. Wolfe is the main sponsor.

“When it comes to co-ops, there is no shortage of horror stories,” Legislator Wolfe said. “Many revolve around a common theme: a drawn-out process that often ends without a decision ever being made. In the meantime, the applicant has lost out on a potential new home.”

Co-ops are among the options for housing in Rockland, with 2,644 such units of housing on 20 parcels in Suffern, Spring Valley, Hillcrest, Nyack and Garnerville. They vary in size from one to three bedrooms.

But the co-op approval process can be a daunting one, as applicants can often find themselves in a state of limbo as they await a decision by the co-op association.

Wolfe, an attorney, said there is currently no time limit as to when a co-op association must make a decision on an application.

Co-ops are usually owned by a corporation. When you buy an apartment in a co-op building, you don’t technically own the apartment. Instead you own shares in the corporation, which entitle you to a proprietary lease.

Co-op corporations, usually referred to as associations, require that prospective buyers be approved by a membership committee of current co-op owners. Applicants can be rejected if they don’t meet financial criteria or they are unwilling to comply with the association’s rules.

“But time and again, prospective buyers are left to wonder when – and if – their application is going to be approved,” Wolfe said. “If an association wants to reject it, then reject it. But don’t leave would-be buyers and their sellers in limbo.”

The proposed “Timely Co-op Application Decision Law” requires a housing cooperative to do the following:

• Provide an applicant with written acknowledgement of receipt of a completed purchase application within 10 days. If the application is deemed incomplete, the co-op has 10 days to notify the applicant in writing and explain what is required to render the application complete.

• Reject or approve the application and provide written notice to the applicant within 45 days of receipt of a fully-completed purchase application. During the same 45-day period, the co-op may reasonably request additional information.

• The application will be deemed approved if the co-op fails to act on a fully-completed purchase application within 45 days. Delays due solely to an applicant’s unavailability to appear for an interview shall not be counted in the 45-day period.

Wolfe worked on the proposed law after several real estate agents brought the issue of delayed-decisions to his attention. Such delays can mean a prospective buyer, as well as a prospective seller seeking to relocate, lose out on an opportunity to complete a transaction.

“This can really affect anyone – from young professionals and single-mothers to empty-nesters and retirees,” Wolfe said. “People approach the application process in good faith but face the very real prospect that they may be left in limbo when it comes to their housing situation simply because a co-op association isn’t responding in a timely way.”

Legislators voted 16-0 Tuesday to approve the new law.

PHOTO: Alden H. Wolfe/ Rockland County Legislature