troublesome coop landlord

[greatdismalswamp]

I rent my apartment from an absentee landlord in a coop building. I recently discovered that my landlord has been delinquent on her coop fees, delinquent enough for her board to hire an attorney and send her letters. Now they're sending me letters demanding that I pay my rent to them in lieu of her fees until further notice, or they will start eviction proceedings. My landlord's also demanding her rent, and if I don't pay her, I'm in violation of my lease, which, of course, puts me in a position to be evicted. Section 352-1(3) of NYS general business law SEEMS to protect me, but this is also the section quoted to me by the board's attorney in a letter. Needless to say, I don't trust that I should go by this alone and am looking for other sources of information.

Either way, I'm in a position to be evicted, and the best part is... I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!!! I pay my rent on time. I have an irresponsible landlord, and now I'm getting punished. I'm concerned about this predicament as well as my future ability to rent apartments in New York City if eviction proceedings appear on my record. An attorney friend has advised me to put my rent in escrow and let the two parties work it out. How effective is this? Any advice would be appreciated.

[consigliere]

In this case, I don't think putting the rent in escrow is a good idea.
 
General Business Law (GBL) §352-l protects you in a non-payment proceeding by your landlord, if you pay your rent to the co-op. If you don't pay your rent to either the co-op or to your landlord, both may attempt to evict you.
 
The only thing you might do to discourage your landlord from attempting to evict you is to have your attorney friend write to your landlord, enclosing a copy of the notices from the co-op, citing GBL §352-l(5), and informing your landlord that she may be liable for your attorneys' fees if she attempts to evict you.
 
  
General Business Law §352-l provides:
 
Cooperative corporations
 
1. For the purposes of this section, "non-occupying owner" shall mean the owner of shares in a cooperative corporation who does not occupy the dwelling units to which his or her shares are allocated.
 
2. If a non-occupying owner rents any dwelling unit to a tenant and then fails to make payments due for maintenance, assessments or late fees for such unit within sixty days of the expiration of any grace period after they are due, upon notice in accordance with subdivision three of this section, all rental payments from the tenant shall be directly payable to the cooperative corporation.
 
3. If the maintenance, assessments or late fees due for any unit have not been paid in full within sixty days after the expiration of any grace period of the earliest due date, the board of directors shall provide written notice to the rental tenant and the non-occupying owner providing that, commencing immediately and until such time as all payments for maintenance, assessments or late fees are made current, all rental payments due subsequent to the issuance of such notice are to be made payable to the cooperative corporation at the address listed on the notice. Where a majority of the board of directors has been elected by and from among the owners who are in occupancy, the board may elect not to require that rental payments be made payable to the cooperative corporation. At such time as payments for maintenance, assessments and late fees from the non-occupying owner are once again current, notice of such fact shall be given within three business days to the rental tenant and non-occupying owner. Thereafter all rental payments for such unit shall be made payable to the non-occupying owner or to a designated agent. A non-occupying owner who disputes the cooperative corporation`s claim to rental payments pursuant to this section shall be entitled to present facts supporting such owner`s position at the next scheduled meeting of the board of directors, which must be held within thirty days of the date that such board receives notice that such owner seeks to dispute such claim.
 
4. Nothing in this section shall limit any rights of shareholders or of the board of directors existing under any other law or agreement.
 
5. Payment by a rental tenant to the cooperative corporation made in connection with this section shall relieve that rental tenant from the obligation to pay such rent to the non-occupying owner and shall be an absolute defense in any non-payment proceeding commenced by such non-occupying owner against such tenant for such rent.
 

[mjr203]

assuming that's the law and the she hasn't been paying her fees, it seems pretty cut and dry that you should pay them. I'd try to get your LL to pay her fees rather than pay to the corporation but ultimately it is her problem if she doesn't pay.

Either way, get everything in writing, send everything certified and protect yo self!

-pointer

[consigliere]

pointerout wrote, in part:
 
I'd try to get your LL to pay her fees rather than pay to the corporation but ultimately it is her problem if she doesn't pay.
 
 
If the tenant-shareholder doesn't pay her maintenance to the co-op, and if the subtenant doesn't pay rent to the co-op, pursuant to GBL §352-l, the co-op will go to court to evict or eject both the tenant-shareholder and the subtenant.
 
Therefore, it's not just the tenant-shareholder's problem; it's also the subtenant's problem.
 
The one thing the subtenant shouldn't do is pay any more rent to the tenant-shareholder, unless advised to do so by a court or by the co-op.
 

[mjr203]

Originally posted by consigliere:
pointerout wrote, in part:
 
I'd try to get your LL to pay her fees rather than pay to the corporation but ultimately it is her problem if she doesn't pay.
 
 
If the tenant-shareholder doesn't pay her maintenance to the co-op, and if the subtenant doesn't pay rent to the co-op, pursuant to GBL §352-l, the co-op will go to court to evict or eject both the tenant-shareholder and the subtenant.
 
Therefore, it's not just the tenant-shareholder's problem; it's also the subtenant's problem.
 
The one thing the subtenant shouldn't do is pay any more rent to the tenant-shareholder, unless advised to do so by a court or by the co-op.
 

true. better tell your LL to smarten up!

[consigliere]

If your landlord isn't paying her maintenance to the co-op, she probably isn't making her mortgage payments to the bank, assuming she has a mortgage. If so, you and she could also face a foreclosure-type action by the bank.
 
Your rent probably covers most of her maintenance and mortgage payments. If you pay your rent to the co-op, as demanded, the co-op will apply your rent to the current and past maintenance, until the full amount of the arrears is paid off.
 
There won't be anything left over to pay the mortgage, until the arrears in maintenance is paid off. Therefore, the bank won't be seeing any money for quite a while.