Action in Albany Bills of Interest to Co-ops and Condos

Action in Albany

A03813--Automatic Application Approval--Requires applications to purchase condominiums or cooperatives to be acted upon within sixty days. Failure to do so would result in an automatic approval. 02/04/2005 referred to Housing 04/06/2005 amended and recommitted to Housing 04/06/2005 print number 3813a

A00259--Providing Written Consent or Denial--Requires applicants seeking to purchase condominiums or cooperatives to be given a written statement of reasons when their purchase is denied by a co-op or condo board. 01/10/2005 referred to Governmental Operations

A00580--Ownership of Pets By Senior Homeowners--Allows persons 62 years or older to keep and care for common household pets in municipal housing; prevents eviction of such persons based on the ownership of pets; provides that any pet who poses a nuisance to the community may be removed; does not remove any pet owner from liability for the reasonable costs directly attributable to any damage caused by the pet. 01/18/2005 referred to Housing

A01108--Remediation and Prevention of Mold--Relates to the remediation and prevention of indoor mold and requires the disclosure of indoor mold history upon the sale of certain real property; also requires the disclosure of indoor mold history upon the sale of residential real property. 01/18/2005 referred to Housing

A02996--Stock Transfer Exemption--Amends the tax law in relation to co-ops. The measure places a five-cent tax on each share for all sales of co-op shares. The law currently allows for the rebate of the tax if the seller requests it. All sales of cooperative shares must be accompanied by special stamps that must be affixed to the certificates of each sale. Failure to purchase them can result in a fine of $500-$1,000 or imprisonment for up to six months. 01/31/2005 referred to Ways and Means Committee

A04420--Conversion to Co-ops and Condos--amends the general business law relating to conversion of residential property to cooperative or condominium ownership; defines security obligations, resident shareholders control, and direct payment of rent. Also raises percentages needed to declare non-eviction plans effective; delineates tenant`s exclusive right to purchase; regulates the physical condition of a building being converted, among other things. Once this bill is approved, only non-eviction co-opting would be permitted. 02/10/2005 referred to Housing

A05024--Non-Eviction Upon Conversion--Prohibits landlords of condominium and cooperative residential conversions from evicting tenants refusing to purchase such cooperatives or condominiums. 02/15/2005 referred to Housing 04/12/2005 reported out 04/14/2005 advanced to third reading

A01379--Licensing Procedures for Managers--Requires the licensing of building managers of multiple dwellings; prohibits owner from operating a multiple dwelling without a licensed manager; requires managers to take building management course and provides for determining competency to receive licenses. 01/19/2005 referred to Housing

A01432--Establishing New Section in Housing Court--Creates a subpart of the housing court to handle cases involving condominiums and cooperative buildings. 01/19/2005 referred to Housing

A05656--Reclassifying Co-ops and Condos--Classifies owner-occupied cooperatives and condominiums in special assessing units as Class 1 for real property tax purposes. Currently all other property that is primarily residential, such as cooperatives and condominiums, are assessed as rental properties and classified as Class 2. 02/25/2005 referred to Real Property Taxation

A04325--Tort Action Against Condos--Relates to liability for tort claims arising from common elements in condominiums, and provides that individual condominium owners may not be held jointly and severally liable for such torts, nor may board members be held personally liable in such cases. 02/09/2005 referred to Judiciary

A05797--Regarding Nassau County Assessments--Provides that Class 1 property in Nassau County will be subject to a five-year phase-in of assessment increases; provides that Class 1 property include one, two and three family homes and townhouse condominiums; and requires that all Nassau County assessments be stated in terms of full value instead of various fractional levels. 03/01/2005 referred to Real Property Taxation

A06361--Property Condition Disclosure Relative to Sales of Co-ops and Condos--Extends the requirements for property condition disclosure statements to sales of condominiums and cooperative apartments. 03/10/2005 referred to Judiciary

A06897--Hearing Prior to Lien Notice--Requires boards of managers of condominiums to provide a unit owner with an opportunity to be heard prior to placing a lien on a person`s condominium unit. 03/30/2005 referred to Judiciary

A07928--Low Income Restrictions--Amends the real property law, in relation to common expenses of restricted-income condominium units. This would allow a board's declaration and bylaws to limit the amount of common expenses charged to low-income unit owners so that the units stay affordable. 05/03/2005 referred to Judiciary

A00232--Increases SCRIE Income Limitations--Increases the allowable maximum income of persons occupying rental units and the combined household income limit for eligibility for a senior citizen rent increase exemption (SCRIE), to $30,000 for a municipal property tax abatement for rent-controlled and rent regulated property occupied by senior citizens on the basis of the consumer price index. Currently, senior citizens can only participate in the SCRIE program if they earn $24,000 or less annually. 01/10/2005 referred to Aging

Editor's Note: These are bills which are under consideration but which may or may not be acted upon this year as the session moves towards adjournment in June.

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