CONDO BOARDS GONE WILD

June 27, 2012 — A condominium conundrum: what do you do with a condo board that is breaking all the rules – including the one that lets the unit-owners boot the bums out? On today’s episode, our attorney panel takes a question from a Queens unit-owner who is at her wit’s end with a board apparently running amok. She complains that the members are violating the rules left and right, and that when the unit-owners came together to file a petition calling for a recall election, the board simply rejected the petition. What rights do the aggrieved owners have? 

As with co-op shareholders, dissatisfied condo unit-owners have the right to petition their board for a special meeting to conduct a recall election. If the petition is valid – correct wording, sufficient number of signatories, etc. – the board is legally bound to honor it. Our attorney panel shows you where to find the proper petitioning procedure, delves into what is required to recall board members, and explains what to do when the board ignores a recall petition. On the panel this week: Pierre Debbas of Romer Debbas and Ari Weiss of Fensterstock Law.