The Firm represents cooperative and affordable housing corporations as well as luxury cooperatives and condominiums, in all facets of their operations, assisting the Boards of Directors, officers, and managers in best practices, corporate governance and their legal responsibilities. Our counsel assist clients in the negotiation and execution of all forms of contract from multimillion dollar capital projects to simple service agreements, in the review and implementation of the cooperative’s or condominium’s documentation such as the By-laws, Articles of Incorporation and other governing documents. For nearly a century, the firm has represented Amalgamated Housing Co., a prominent limited equity cooperative in the Bronx, maintaining extensive archives that document the evolution of clients from their inception as paper filings to established entities. This historical continuity underscores the firm’s role as a trusted custodian of client legacies within the cooperative housing sector.

We also represent clients in all forms of dispute resolution, be it administrative, litigation or arbitration in courts from Small Claims to Federal Court. Our attorneys handle the varied and unique issues and disputes that arise in the condominium and cooperative housing environment, both the internal dispute between shareholders and unit owners as well as the wide range of external litigation affecting our clients. When these disputes arise, our attorneys have vast experience in representing clients in negotiations and, if necessary, litigation. We work to proactively to create policies, rules and other documents and procedures to prevent and limit potential problems and liabilities and to protect our condominium and cooperative clients should litigation arise.

We have a unique and special practice in the establishment and preservation of middle income and Mitchell-Lama government-assisted cooperative housing. Our firm was instrumental in the development of legislation and the ongoing regulation that governs Limited-Dividend cooperatives. We have represented one of the major developers of this type of housing, dealing with all relevant government agencies in the planning stage, with contractors in the construction stage, and drafting documentation governing the relationships between the cooperatives and shareholders.

The group’s methodology emphasizes quality control and preemptive legal strategies, aimed at mitigating risks and complexities before they escalate. This proactive stance not only ensures smoother transactions but also enhances client satisfaction by averting potential legal pitfalls. Their experience spans multi-million-dollar real estate redevelopment projects, where they adeptly negotiate complex transactions and navigate regulatory frameworks, ensuring optimal outcomes for clients.

The Co-op and Condo attorneys are regularly published in legal and real estate magazines such as Habitat Magazine and the National Law Review. Our attorneys maintain The Neighborhood blog featuring Co-op and Condo law topics.

The following are brief highlights of our experience representing cooperatives and condo communities.

• Day to day counsel and advice to Boards of Directors, officers, and managers in all legal and business aspects of operating a housing corporation.
• Preventive advice to Boards of Directors and their managing agents to anticipate potential problems and avoid litigation.
• In depth understanding of and advice concerning the tax implications and consequences of coop operations.
• Assistance in facilitating Boards of Directors meetings.
• Major litigation for co-ops and condominiums involving the government on tax matters, commercial tenants in eviction proceedings, contractors and bonding companies regarding construction issues, and tenant cooperators challenging applications for carrying charge increases or equity assessments.
• Writing of memos, manuals and brochures used by officers and managers to communicate with cooperators.
• Advice and negotiations concerning restructuring and financing of major construction work and other cooperative needs and refinancing of mortgages. Our lawyers are heavily involved in these major transactions, and our firm has long-term relationships with major lenders to co-ops.
• Counseling cooperatives about and preparing requests for proposals (RFP’s) for architects, engineers and construction contractors for all phases of multi-family housing renovation, including building facades, roofs, elevators, heating systems, co-generation, windows, plazas and other aspects of multi-family building maintenance.
• Representing the Coordinating Council of Cooperatives in attempts to obtain New York City and state legislation to deal with major issues.
• Advice to cooperative boards concerning preparation of forms for application for purchases of cooperative interests.
• Advice concerning, negotiations for, and preparation of commercial leases.
• Advice to cooperative boards concerning, and preparation of, documentation to protest cooperatives in connection with transfers of cooperative shareholders’ interests into trusts.
• Advice to cooperative boards concerning, and processing applications for, approval of sub-metering of electricity at cooperatives.
  In representing luxury cooperatives, we bring a reservoir of experience from the complexities of government-assisted cooperatives that lawyers who have represented only private co-ops lack

Selected Accolades of our Cooperative and Condominium Law Group

• Obtained one of the first decisions applying the Business Judgment Rule to a Board of Managers of a condominium or the Board of Directors of a cooperative.
• Reconstituted government assisted cooperatives into private cooperatives.
• Developed program and obtained supervisory government agency approvals for increasing equity of government-assisted cooperatives with increased payments by incoming shareholders.
• Obtained a federal court decision overturning an arbitrator’s award in a major labor dispute involving one of the largest government assisted cooperatives in the country.
• Developed program and obtained supervisory government agency approvals for loans for financing purchase of cooperative apartments secured by stock in government-assisted cooperatives.
• Defeated legal actions by shareholders of various cooperatives to overturn elections of directors at annual meetings of shareholders.
• Achieved removal from the building of a tenant shareholder whose conduct was substantially detrimental to the quality of life of neighbors (against the argument that the person in question was disabled).
• On behalf of a large cooperative housing corporation, successfully opposed an effort in Bankruptcy Court to enmesh the cooperative in involuntary proceedings.
• Restructured and refinanced mortgages of numerous cooperatives and obtained governmental financing and approvals for institutional lender financing of numerous construction and renovation projects.
• Acting as corporate counsel to governmentally supervised non-profit rental housing company housing development in Harlem, New York City, in physical rehabilitation of building and financial restructuring to be financed with low-income housing tax credits.

Representative Matters

• Rochdale Village – The 5,800-unit Mitchell-Lama co-op, regulated by the City of New York via the Mitchell-Lama law that provides affordable rental and cooperative housing to moderate- and middle-income families, sought legal counsel on a variety of corporate governance matters, management issues, and reviews on transactions conducted by previous boards. The engagement, led by Dean Roberts, also involves reviewing and cleaning up extensive documentation essential to the cooperative’s operations and compliance. The team members regularly attend board meetings, offer guidance on governance documents, act as counsel to the board of directors, and conduct contractor and engineering reviews, among other items. The legal representation also involves ongoing consultation with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), the regulatory agency overseeing Mitchell-Lama properties. Through the engagement, the Norris McLaughlin team leverages its deep relationships and extensive experience within the Mitchell-Lama program to regularly navigate complex regulatory frameworks and corporate structures for the client.