Westchester’s Building & Realty Institute (BRI) and its Cooperative & Condominium Advisory Council (CCAC) managed to halt a bill in its tracks that would have coerced cooperative boards into granting automatic acceptance of applicants.

Prior to the close of the legislative session in Albany, Senate bill S5644, the “Fairness in Cooperative Home Ownership Act,” sponsored by Sens. Kemp Hampton (R-6) and William J. Larkin, Jr., (R-39), passed in a 59-2 vote, where its companion legislation in the Assembly (A1120) awaited action. S5644 would have required applications to purchase cooperatives to be acted upon within 45 days. Failure to do so would have resulted in automatic approval of the application.

Lobbying Effort Successful

In stepped the BRI and CCAC, which lobbied vociferously against the bill in a full-scale attack, claiming that it “would have created unreasonable restrictions on a cooperative board’s ability to properly, prudently and thoroughly process applications and make admissions decisions in that same manner, legally and without discrimination or bias. The draconian penalty for a board failing to comply with the mandatory 45-day period to process applications and make a decision would be the automatic acceptance of the applicant in question as the new unit owner.”

By way of background, the BRI is one the largest construction, development and real estate-related industry trade associations in New York State. Founded in 1946, the organization has more than 1,500 members, primarily in the Westchester/Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York. It is composed of six major component realty industry councils, including the large and active Cooperative & Condominium Advisory Council of Westchester (CCAC).

Diana Virill, chair of the CCAC, spoke on behalf of the approximately 400 boards and 20,000 unit owners in member co-ops throughout Westchester, “We are unalterably opposed to these unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions. The excessively stringent time-line proscribed in the legislation is intrusive, impractical, unnecessary and unfair.”

Albert Annunziata, executive director of the CCAC, noted that the Republican-controlled Senate moved unusually fast, passing the bill out of committee and then moving it to the floor for a vote. “Only two Senators out of the entire state,” said Annunziata, “Jeff Klein from the Bronx and Tony Avella from Queens & Nassau counties, had the wisdom and courage to vote against it. For that, we commend them.”

Mary Ann Rothman, the executive director of the New York Council of Cooperatives & Condominiums (CNYC), also came to the forefront and united with the Westchester groups to oppose the legislation. Rothman, the BRI said, directed her ire squarely against the legislators who sponsored and supported these bills. “This bill would be detrimental to the vast majority of cooperatives who behave well and respect applicants…It also is the start of a slippery slope towards total oversight of the admissions process…including mandatory disclosure of the reasons for a co-op board’s decision on an application.”

It’s Law in Suffolk County

Numerous attempts by the New York City Council to pass similar legislation has failed over many, many years (the last attempt being in 2013).

Since 2010, though, there has been a law on the books (Chapter 391 of the Laws of Suffolk County) requiring a co-op board to acknowledge within 10 days receipt of any application to purchase; and within 45 days after receipt of the application, requiring the board to make a decision, provide the purchaser with written notice of that decision, and in the case of a denial, provide grounds for rejection.

However, according to Marc Schneider, founding partner of the Long Island and New York City-based law firm of Schneider Mitola, LLP, “there are no specific penalties or consequences, should a board fail to comply.” And, he notes, the purchaser retains the right to use the denial as evidence if they wish to file an anti-discrimination complaint within the county. Automatic approval is also not a component in the Suffolk County legislation, as well.

Not in My Backyard

Daniel Finger, Esq., associate counsel to the BRI and CCAC, said that the proposed bill had no bearing on discriminating towards anyone. “The timing associated with the processing of applications has nothing whatsoever to do with illegal discrimination…further, the suggestion in the bill’s findings that cooperative purchasers are subject to terms and conditions that do not also apply to purchasers of other single family residences is irrelevant.”

“The whole thrust of this 45-day legislation is extremely dangerous…It is highly punitive and prejudicial to cooperatives, in the unreasonable and unnecessary time-frames and the penalty for non-compliance, which is mandatory acceptance of the applicant. This is a clear-cut example of the state legislature attempting to usurp the authority of cooperatives, and it is an outrage,” said Finger.

According to a press release, both the Westchester CCAC and the Council of New York Cooperatives vowed to remain vigilant and continue the fight against these bills. For more information about the Building & Realty Institute, contact them at 914-273-0730 or visit the BRI website.

Debra A. Estock is managing editor of The Cooperator.