Page 4 - NY Cooperator September 2020

4 THE COOPERATOR — SEPTEMBER 2020 COOPERATOR.COM PULSE Industry Pulse Events The Cooperator Introduces FREE Webinars—a New Resource for Boards and Managers at cooperator.com/events The Cooperator, a Yale Robbins publi- cation, has been a resource for the boards, managers, and residents of co-ops, condos, and HOAs for nearly two decades, both in print and online—and we are pleased to an- nounce a new addition to our toolkit. Yale Robbins Productions has launched Coop- erator Events, a new series of FREE educa- tional ‘town-hall’ style webinars, sponsored by leaders in the multifamily industry and focusing on issues and challenges facing today’s boards. We have assembled expert panels on everything from legal questions around the COVID-19 pandemic to opti- mizing your insurance coverage to disin- fecting your community’s pool. Registration and attendance are FREE to all—just visit cooperator.com/events, choose the webinar you’d like to attend, and sign up. It’s that sim- ple. You’ll get an email link and reminders for the event, and will have the opportunity to submit questions for the panelists before AND during the webinar itself. Past events are archived and available on-demand on cooperator.com/events. Serving on your board is a big job and a big responsibility, but sound, timely advice from industry veterans can help lighten the load and make your building or association run more smoothly. We’re committed to helping you achieve that, and look forward to ‘seeing’ you at an upcoming webinar! Law and Legislation New York Extends Moratorium on Mortgage Foreclosures New York law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC reports that Governor An- drew Cuomo revised his March 20 blanket moratorium on foreclosure by lenders of any residential or commercial property to extend until August 20, 2020, with the ex- tension limited to residential or commercial mortgages owned by someone “who is eligi- ble for unemployment insurance or benefits under state or federal law or otherwise fac- ing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” On June 24, according to the firm’s re- lease, New York’s Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks procedurally extended the moratorium, which was originally set to ex- pire on June 20, by forbidding foreclosure proceedings until August 20, 2020 (other than entertaining motions to discontinue a pending case or issuing judgments of fore- closure on vacant or abandoned property). On July 24, 2020, Judge Marks revised the temporary protocol for residential and commercial foreclosure cases as follows: 1. A stay of commencement and en- forcement of commercial foreclosure mat- ters against certain mortgagors initiated by Executive Order 202.28 remains in effect until August 19, 2020. Further proceedings in particular matters may continue to be governed by the suspension of ‘any specific time limit for the commencement, filing, or service of any legal action, notice, motion, or other process or proceeding, as described by the procedural laws’ of New York State, set forth in Executive Orders 202.8, 202.14, 202.28, 202.38, and 202.48. The general stay of foreclosure proceedings directed by Ad- ministrative Order will no longer be in effect as of July 27, 2020. 2. Filing and serving documents in fore- closure cases will continue to be governed by New York Administrative Order 121/20, which requires that represented plaintiffs must file initiating documents through New York Courts Electronic Filing System or mail, but unrepresented parties may file such documents in person. 3. Commencement papers in commer- cial and residential foreclosure proceedings must include a form notice indicating that defendant-tenants may be eligible for an ex- tension of time to respond to the complaint. 4. Prior to any further proceedings in a foreclosure matter, the court must initiate a status or settlement conference (including a conference pursuant to CPLR Rule 3408) to address a range of subjects related to the case and COVID-19 concerns. 5. After holding such conference, the court may address and decide any pending or future motion in a foreclosure matter and may entertain other applications (including post-judgment applications). Motions may be considered in any foreclosure matter, in- cluding matters in which one or both parties are self-represented. 6. All foreclosure proceedings should be conducted remotely to the fullest extent pos- sible. 7. No auction or sale of property may be scheduled to occur prior to October 15, 2020. 8. By September 1, 2020, each adminis- trative judge responsible for civil matters must develop a plan for the conducting of auctions within their judicial district in a safe and healthy manner, as well as in a man- ner that addresses a number of outstanding procedural and administrative concerns in the auction process. These plans are subject to the review and approval of the appropri- ate deputy Chief Administrative Judge. Denial Disclosures on the Table for Westchester Co-ops Reporting from the Westchester/Rock- land Journal New s and associated website lohud.com indicates that recently enacted legislation in Westchester requires co-op boards there to disclose when they reject an applicant. A new amendment proposal seeks to include a reason for rejection in the disclosure. Intended to prevent rejection on the basis of discrimination, the county’s 2018 Co-op Disclosure Law requires co-ops to notify the county Human Rights Commission when it rejects an applicant, but not why , the outlets report. Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Os- sining), who is proposing the amendment to the legislation, asserts that “\[a\] buyer should have the right to know why they were denied so that they can either take further action, or make corrections when attempting to pur- chase another unit.” Meanwhile, advocates on both sides of the Co-op Disclosure Law and a similar law recently enacted in neighboring Rockland County are decrying the measure and its effects. According to the outlets, the Rock- land law, enacted in February 2018, requires boards to decide on an application within 45 days, but omits the disclosure requirements of Westchester’s law. Westchester’s law pro- vides 60 days for an application decision. Co-op and building organizations shot down a planned provision in the Westches- ter law that would have mandated disclosure of reasons for rejection, the Journal News / lohud indicates. With a different ownership structure than a condominium or single- family residence, the organizations argue, co-ops should maintain the statutory ability to reject applicants for any non-discrimi- natory reason, citing finances as the typical reason for their denials. But housing advocates and real estate agents representing sellers and buyers ar- gue that the lack of transparency hinders their transactional ability and denies them fees from rejected applications, while doing nothing to ensure that discrimination isn’t a factor in the rejections. For its part, the Westchester Human Rights Commission has suggested a form rejection letter for tracking and streamlining purposes. Members of the Commission also point out that the laws in both counties lack an enforcement mechanism if boards exceed the deadline for deciding on an application. A legislative committee will hear Borgia’s amendment proposal on August 3. If ap- proved by the committee, it will then need to pass a vote of the 17-member county leg- islature, notes the Journal News/lohud. Safety Murray Hill Endures Series of Facade Collapses; One Fatal NBC 4 New York reported that a scaf- fold on a residential building in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood collapsed onto a sidewalk shed below on July 16, killing one worker and seriously injuring three others. All four men were engaged in facade resto- ration at the building at the time of the in- cident. According to the report, the 12-story co-op building at 136 East 36th Street had been undergoing facade maintenance to its upper floors before the coronavirus-related shutdown. NBC 4 spoke to a resident of the building who said that removal of equip- ment from the roof was taking place when the collapse occurred. Reports and footage from the scene indi- cate that a chunk of masonry dislodged from the top of the building, crashing into the scaffolding that then destroyed the bridging and littered the sidewalk below with debris. (In response to an email request for follow- up, the DOB informs The Cooperator that the damaged sidewalk shed has since been fully repaired and is safe for pedestrians.) The incident happened just hours after another building collapse in the same neigh- borhood. According to the NBC 4 report, the other building—a vacant property at 211 East 34th Street, about two blocks from the deadly fa- cade collapse—had experienced not one, but two collapses earlier the same day. First, FDNY responded to a reported collapse on the top floor of the four-story building. Then, a few hours later, FDNY confirmed a secondary collapse. All surrounding build- ings were evacuated and there were no re- ported injuries, per NBC 4. Just a week prior, on July 8, a third Mur- ray Hill building partially collapsed. CBS2 News reported at the time that a 45-foot by 10-foot chunk of parapet fell from a vacant five-story parking garage at 205 East 38th Street, injuring a man who was inside his car parked in front of the building. A wit- ness described the incident as having started “with just a few bricks, before quickly be- coming an avalanche,” according CBS. Trends COVID Crisis Moves Buyers Both Away from—and into—Cities A lot has been said about wealthy New Yorkers and other metropolitan denizens fleeing their urban high-rises and town- homes this spring and summer to live per- manently in their second homes that offer more space, greenery, and social distancing. Sources like The New York Times have pro- filed former city die-hards making tempo- rary or permanent moves to less-dense lo- cales where daily life doesn’t involve shared elevators and crowded sidewalks. One Times piece cites FlatRate Moving company, which found that moves from New York to outly- ing areas in Connecticut, Long Island, and New Jersey increased 74%, 48%, and 38%, respectively, between March 15 and April 28 of this year versus the same period last year. But, according to a piece in Mansion Global, there is a trend moving in the other direction as well. Some of the sellers of those continued on page 14