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SHAREHOLDERS

Are the Collective Co-Owners of Concourse Village Incorporated we A Cooperator’s ownership is established by a combination of two things:

a.The Stock Certificate names the shareholder(s) and states the number of shares that is owned in the cooperation.

b. The Occupancy Agreement gives the shareholder(s)the legal right to occupy an apartment in the building(s) owned by the corporation.

Maintenance Fees on time. Yearly Affidavit must be submitted every APRIL

Participate ON COMMITTEES and in any wayis required  for democratic GOVERNING of CVI,

Attending MEETINGS is required for democratic

VOTING for Board Members, as a Mitchell Lama Shareholder isNeeds to be

* Be Great NEIGHBORS, Protect Concourse Village, OUR HOME 

* Collectively the make Significant CHANGES with a percentage of Shareholders signatures, they can remove Board members, Management, Maintenance, make changes to By-Laws, become Board members and participate on committees

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NOW more than ever we need to all have the same information and start to rebuild a new and better ORGANIZED  

The rights of Mitchell-Lama co-op shareholders arise from a complex set of laws, regulations and the individual co-op’s corporate documents.

Mitchell-Lama co-ops are formed under Article 2 of the Private Housing Finance Law (“PHFL”).The PHFL, the Business Corporation Law (“BCL”), the Real Property Law (“RPL”), and NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (“DHCR”) and NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (“HPD”) regulations and the court’s interpretations of these statutes and rules, together with the Co-ops

Certificate of Incorporation, Proprietary Lease, By-Laws and House Rules are the primary sources of shareholder rights and obligations. The Multiple Dwelling Law and the New York City Housing Maintenance Code additionally require cooperative corporations to maintain the premises in good repair.

The rights of shareholders under state and city laws include, among others:

The right to occupy the apartment in accordance with the terms of the proprietary lease;

The right to a habitable apartment (warranty of habitability under RPL Section 235B);

The right to “quiet enjoyment” of the apartment and all public areas and facilities;

The right to expect common areas to be maintained in appropriate condition; clean, well maintened,

The right to receive an annual financial statement (BCL Section 624);

The right to a list of all shareholders (BCL Sections 607 and 624);

The right to inspect minutes of all shareholder meetings (BCL Section 624);

The right to receive notice of the annual shareholder meeting and to participate and vote in it (BCL Section602);

The right to receive services within 1-2 days and use facilities available to all other shareholders in a non-discriminatory manner and time.

RIGHTS UNDER THE DHCR AND HPD REGULATIONS

The HPD and DHCR regulations create rights in addition to a cooperator’s rights under the statutes and case law. Among these rights and/or benefits are the following:

Under both DHCR and HPD rules, you have the right to have a family member succeed to the apartment if you move or die, if your apartment has been their primary residence and they have appeared on your income affidavit for the two prior years (one year in the case of an elderly or disabled person).

The HPD rules provide the following rights and/or benefits:

1. Except in the case of a HUD refinanced project, you have the right to a public hearing before a carrying charge increase—Section 3-10(b)(1);

2. No application for a maintenance increase can be entertained less than two years after the last increase—Section 3-10(b)(2);This was changed which is why we need more transparency and detailed yearly budgets.

3. Board members are required to provide the most economical operation of the project without endangering its long-term interest—Section 3-14(d)(4);

4. Board members are required to “be aware of and responsive to tenant/cooperator grievances” —Section 3-14(d)(5);

5. There must be a shareholder vote to approve any proposed capital assessment—Section 3-14(f);

6. A “tenant/cooperator” is authorized to “audit the books of the housing company . . . .” —Section 3-17(b)(3);THESE documents must be kept onsite and they are kept OFF-SITE, we must ask for this to be changed.

7. The operating budget and financial statements must be “be supplied to shareholders” —Section 3-17(b)(4); OFF-SITE

8. “The housing company or its managing agent shall not withhold permission for use of the development’s community space from its residents” —Section 3-17(d);

9. There is a right to an administrative hearing, except in the case of non-payment of maintenance, before any eviction proceeding is brought—Section 3-18(a).

The DHCR rules provide the following rights and/or benefits:

1. Board members must insure that “the annual operating expenditures are spent effectively and economically”—Section 1725-2.1;

2. “Board members should . . . involve themselves in tenant activities . . . [and explain] the board’s position on matters of mutual interest”—1725-2.3;

3. “A copy of the minutes of each meeting” must be forwarded to DHCR within 10 days—1725-3.5.WEBSITE

Presumably, shareholders can make a FOIL request to review these minutes.

4. Tenant files must be maintained and include leases”—1725-5.2;

5. A new rule is “not effective as to such cooperator” until “it actually appears in a lease or occupancy agreement with said . . . cooperator”—Section 1727-3.6 and Leases cannot exceed three years in duration—Section 1727-3.2;

6. There is a rent determination procedure for maintenance increases which involves notice to cooperators, an opportunity to comment, and “access on the part of . . . cooperators or their representatives to the financial records of the company”

—Section 1728-1.2.

ASSEMBLE AND REVIEW YOUR GOVERNING DOCUMENTS

Although the PHFL and the DHCR and HPD rules, as well as the BCL, lay out a number of specific requirements, as well as the duties and responsibilities of directors and officers, the first place to look to see if a particular situation is covered is your building’s by-laws, your proprietary lease, and house rules. These are important documents that you should keep in a convenient location and refer to when questions arise.

BY-LAWS: The by-laws state when annual shareholder meetings and elections to the board of directors are held, how notice is given, how to call a special meeting, the procedures for amending the by-laws, how to recall

directors, and the quorum for voting and holding meetings.

PROPRIETARY LEASE (Occupancy Agreement, Agreement of Lease, etc.): The proprietary lease spells out

who may occupy the apartment, the co-op’s and shareholder’s repair obligations, maintenance charges and how

they are set, amending the Proprietary Lease, etc.

RESEARCHING THE LAW

If you think a question may be covered in the PHFL or BCL, look up the statutory language. You can review

these statutes as follows:

1. Do a Google search for NYS Assembly;

2. Click on “Bill Search and Legislative Information”;

3. Click on the right side of page “New York State Laws”;

4. Scroll down the page and click on “PVF” for the Private Housing Finance Law and on “BCL” for the Business Corporation Law;

5. In the Private Housing Finance Law, click on “Article 2” for Mitchell-Lama statutory provisions.

To review the DHCR or HPD rules, go to the CU4ML website (cu4ml.org) and click on the rules for the agency that supervises your development.

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