Braverman Greenspun managing partner and principal Robert Braverman has launched a new column in the New York Law Journal with the first edition publishing last week in a series that will appear quarterly. The column revives, in spirit, the New York Law Journal’s long-running “Cooperatives and Condos” column, previously written by Richard Siegler and Eva Talel.
The inaugural article takes on a question that has unsettled co-op boards across New York: can a cooperative corporation recover its attorneys’ fees from a defaulting shareholder under a proprietary lease? Rob walks through four recent Appellate Division decisions on the issue, Krodel v. Amalgamated Dwellings, Matter of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, Hubshman v. 1010 Tenants Corp., and Southgate Owners Corp. v. Esposito, tracing how the courts moved from striking down broadly worded fee provisions to enforcing others with nearly identical language just months later. He closes with practical guidance for boards on which older lease provisions remain enforceable, and which should be reviewed for amendment.
Read the full column here.