Glad to hear that NYS has done something nice for the City, now if we can only get Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno to do the same for Upstate....(tax caps come to mind).

Hi Scott, I just saw in the paper this morning Bruno is retiring. There is so much grid lock in Albany.

Now that's what I call progressive.  The secret to a viable real estate market is sending less and less to the governments and keeping more and more in the hands of property owners and investors.

I love that the city is backing the use of renewable energy through tax credits and that they can sell the excess back to the grid! More cities should do this!

 Lenn, Thank you now we need NYS to raise the 1% mansion tax to $3 million from $1 million.

Rich, Thanks for stopping by. Mayor Bloomberg is the green Mayor. He has a 30 year plan for the city PlaNYC. A comprehensive sustainability plan for the City's future.

The question is... How much of those tax rebates will actually end up in the hands of Coop shareholders? In many buildings the Sponsors of large Coops and their puppets on the board will institute an "assessment" equal to the tax rebate. The people paying the taxes (the shareholders) get nothing while, once again, the intrenched sponsors get another windfall. Shareholders are virtually defenseless against this tactic because in most cases the shareholders will not have the opportunity to vote on this decision. What sort of legislation is being proposed to protect shareholders from tactics like that? Thanks, A

Hi Andrea,

Thanks for visiting my blog. As you know, coop ownwership is a form of ownership that is different than owning real property (condo or house.) A coop is a corporation with shareholders. Corporations are not run as democracies and shareholders don't always have the opportunity to vote on all corporate decisions. I don't beleive there is legislation proposed to protect shareholders from coop board tactics. Coop ownership is not for everyone.

Coop boards have the right to reject any buyer who doesn't quite fit, however they define "fit." Coop boards also have the right within their proprietery lease to impose an assesment equal to the tax reduction if they see fit. However, coop boards also have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders.

The $400 rebate is sent directly to every home owner and not the coop board. Individual coop shareholders do not pay real estate taxes directly to the city the way real property owners do. Coop shareholders pay real estate taxes as a portion of their maintenance. The portion of the maintenance that pays real esate tax and interest on the building's underlying mortgage is tax deductible. 

As far as "sponsors of large buildings and puppets on their boards" most coops vote for their board of directors. A sponsor can only control the board if they own 50% or more of the unsold shares.

When purchasing a coop, during the "due diligence" process a buyer's attorney will ascertain if the sponsor controls the board and or if the building is more than 50% owner occupied. There are pros and cons of coop ownership. A sponsor controlled board or many unsold shares in a coop is a "red flag". 

While the majority of our housing stock in Manhattan is still coops, there are many condos available. Owning real property might be better for you than owning shares in a building corporation. If you are a coop shareholder and would like to sell your coop and buy a condo, please contact me as I can help you with both.