Page 5 - NY Cooperator April 2020

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — APRIL 2020 5 ROSENWACH TANK THE FIRST NAME IN QUALITY CEDAR WOOD TANKS WE ARE CERTIFIED and IT MATTERS! 718.729.4900 43-02 Ditmars Boulevard, 2nd Fl., Astoria, NY 11105 www.rosenwachgroup.com Rosenwach is proud to announce that Rosenwach’s tanks are certified to NSF/ANSI 61 by NSF International, a leading global independent public health and safety organization. NSF/ANSI 61 addresses crucial aspects of drinking water system components such as whether contaminants that leach or migrate from the product/material into the drinking water are below acceptable levels in finished waters. To receive certification, Rosenwach Tank submitted product samples to NSF that underwent rigorous testing to recognized standards, and agreed to manufacturing facility audits and periodic retesting to verify continued conformance to the standards. The NSF mark is our customers’ assurance that our prod- uct has been tested by one of the most respected indepen- dent certification organizations. Only products bearing the NSF mark are certified. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Legal Q A& Privatizing a Mitchell-Lama Co-op Q I have lived in a Mitchell-Lama co-op in Brooklyn for 43 years. Th e company is taking a vote on whether to privatize or not. I am personally in favor of privatizing. I am currently on dis- ability, and am unemployed but looking for work. I can pay my maintenance and still af- ford food. Here is what I know: Th ere is no sense of community in our building, and there hasn’t been a sense of community for a long time. Th e complex is made up of a lot of seniors who are afraid of going private. I feel they just want to be safe for as long as they can. Th e maintenance may not go up. You get your equity back. I am paying for damages, re- modeling, and costs out of pocket. I can sell at market price if I move out or away from my current location. Th erefore, I am interested in privatizing. Do you recommend that someone in my situation privatize? Do I have to pay a mort- gage? Do I have to buy my apartment back? If the building does privatize, can I get a reverse mortgage? —What Are My Options? A Andrew Brucker, a partner at the New York City law of- fi ce of Armstrong Teasdale, says: “Obviously, we cannot tell your reader whether privatization is good for them. Go- ing private (sometimes referred to as recon- stitution) is very complicated, and since each shareholder’s personal fi nances and the plan to go private are always diff erent and unique, it would be impossible to answer the specifi c reader’s question. “What does reconstitution mean? It basi- cally changes the certifi cate of incorporation, the bylaws, and the occupancy agreement (sometimes called the ‘lease’) so that the co- op is no longer under the supervision of a governmental agency (which might be either a state or city agency). It also changes how a shareholder would sell—and how a purchaser would buy—an apartment. Th e fi rst vote the shareholders must consider is a vote to fund a feasibility study. Aft er a feasibility study is completed and reviewed by the shareholders, there is another vote to actually prepare an of- fering plan, which will outline everything the shareholders need to know. Th en there is one last vote: whether to actually go through with the reconstitution. “It certainly sounds like the building in this case is at the fi nal stage, since the reader states that the upcoming vote is to determine whether to reconstitute or not. Th e other two votes (to authorize the feasibility study and the stock and the lease for the apartment, and the off ering plan) do not approve a reconstitu- tion; they only move the process along to get the apartment again. And although there may cannot obtain a reverse mortgage. Th ese loans more information to the shareholders. “Every reconstitution is a little diff erent, penses, the value of the apartments, etc.), no ments due to rules promulgated by HUD. but typically there are certain things common one can predict if the maintenance will go up Such mortgages are permitted with condos to all: the shareholder does not have to pay for or down. Th ere can only be a guess and esti- their apartment. Aft er all, they currently own mates based upon certain assumptions. there is no reason you should have to purchase mortgages, at the present time a co-op owner be projections in the off ering plan (for ex- “As to the reader’s question about reverse are not yet permitted in cooperative apart- continued on page 18