Creates a residential condominium owner's bill of rights that includes the right to transparency, the right to timely decisions, voting rights, the right to notice, and the right against extraordinary expenses.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3320
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 30, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. SEPULVEDA, LIU, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judici-
ary
AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to creating a resi-
dential condominium owner bill of rights
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The real property law is amended by adding a new section
2 339-mm to read as follows:
3 § 339-mm. Residential condominium owner's bill of rights. The organ-
4 izational and operating documents of a not-for-profit residential condo-
5 minium association established or operating pursuant to the laws of the
6 state and managing the common charges, elements, expenses, or profits of
7 thirty-five hundred or more units shall guarantee the following rights
8 to each unit owner.
9 1. The right to transparency. Complete and accurate financial state-
10 ments, reports of hired accountants and consultants on behalf of the
11 association, reports by municipal or county inspectors, and approved
12 minutes of the board of managers' meetings shall be available for review
13 within a timely fashion of a request to review, inspect, or copy. Any
14 financial statements, reports, or minutes ordinarily provided to unit
15 owners shall be provided in a timely fashion pursuant to established
16 timetables. In addition to any other notice required, the approved
17 minutes of all board and unit owner meetings shall be posted in a promi-
18 nent place accessible to all unit owners in each building comprising the
19 condominium within one day of their approval. For the purposes of this
20 subdivision, "financial statements" shall include a complete accounting
21 for all expenditures, capital improvements, or anything in excess of the
22 contingency fund including the budget, a comparison of any and all
23 bidding processes for work to be done on the condominium including work
24 that was conducted and the amounts of the contributions of each owner
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07972-01-3
S. 3320 2
1 whether individual or group sponsored, billings, estimates, overages,
2 and proof of the expenditures that comprise the total of the surcharge
3 and minutes of each meeting where the planning and voting on the
4 proposal was discussed with all the owners, for any and all expenditures
5 not made in the ordinary course of business, bank account and financial
6 investment statements, and the association's IRS form nine-hundred-nine-
7 ty, if applicable, for each of the three most current fiscal years.
8 2. The right to timely decisions. All applications by unit owners in
9 connection with matters which require approval of the board of managers
10 and all requests for determinations by the board of managers including,
11 but not limited to, requests for the resolution of disputes between or
12 among unit owners, disputes between unit owners and the condominium
13 association such as disputes concerning responsibility for repairs shall
14 be processed in a reasonably expeditious manner pursuant to uniform
15 procedures and timetables adopted in writing. The board's decision shall
16 be in writing and shall set forth the reasons therefor, except that no
17 reason shall be required when approval is granted.
18 3. Voting rights. (a) The board of managers shall call a meeting to
19 fill any vacancies which occur on such board within sixty days of the
20 occurrence of such vacancy if the vacancy occurs more than six months
21 prior to the annual meeting of unit owners.
22 (b) The final results of elections for the board of managers including
23 a tally of the votes received by each candidate shall be posted within
24 one business day following the availability of such information in a
25 prominent place accessible to all unit owners in each building compris-
26 ing the condominium.
27 (c) Any member of a board of managers who is elected while a unit
28 owner in the condominium, who sells his or her apartment, and who,
29 subsequent to such sale shall no longer be a unit owner in such condo-
30 minium, shall resign from such board no later than the closing date of
31 such sale.
32 4. The right to notice. In addition to any other notice required,
33 notice of all board and unit owner meetings shall be posted in a promi-
34 nent place accessible to all unit owners in each building comprising the
35 condominium.
36 5. The right against extraordinary expenses. No less than once in
37 every five years the board shall propose expense limits which shall be
38 included in the notice of the annual or any other meeting of the unit
39 owners. An opportunity for unit owners to comment on such proposal and
40 to offer lower expense limits shall be included in the agenda for such
41 meeting. At the conclusion of the comment period the board shall, by an
42 open vote, adopt expense limits not to exceed those proposed by the
43 board which shall be effective until changed. Once approved by vote, the
44 board shall not enter into contracts for extraordinary expenses without
45 approval of the unit owners, unless it is deemed to be an emergency or
46 is required for refinancing of the mortgage.
47 6. The attorney general is authorized to enforce the provisions of
48 this section and may, upon his or her own initiative, or in response to
49 a complaint by one or more unit owners, investigate allegations of any
50 failure to comply with the provisions hereof.
51 § 2. Within six months of the effective date of this act the attorney
52 general shall promulgate a handbook summarizing the rights of unit
53 owners vis-a-vis condominium associations and the procedures and proc-
54 esses available to unit owners to enforce such rights.
55 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
56 as to residential condominium associations existing and operating as
S. 3320 3
1 such on the effective date of this act the boards of managers of such
2 associations shall within one year of the effective date of this act
3 take all steps necessary to amend the appropriate organizational and
4 operating documents of such associations to implement the provisions of
5 this act.
