Sellers lied about on-site storage. Recourse?

[funkspieler]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I just purchased a co-op that was supposed to have an on-site storage unit. It was listed in the real estate listing and in the deal sheet, and the agents as well as the co-op president told us there was a storage unit. The sellers claimed to have never used it and did not supply us with a unit number. Of course, the day after close, I we learn from the super that there is no storage unit for our apartment, and that the seller came and asked him about it the day before we closed and he had told the seller the same thing. I feel like a fool for not verifying the existence of the unit. Do I have any recourse? If so, how do I determine the value of an onsite storage unit?

 

[You Are Guilty]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I just purchased a co-op that was supposed to have an on-site storage unit. It was listed in the real estate listing and in the deal sheet, and the agents as well as the co-op president told us there was a storage unit. The sellers claimed to have never used it and did not supply us with a unit number. Of course, the day after close, I we learn from the super that there is no storage unit for our apartment, and that the seller came and asked him about it the day before we closed and he had told the seller the same thing. I feel like a fool for not verifying the existence of the unit. Do I have any recourse? If so, how do I determine the value of an onsite storage unit?

What does it say in your sale contract about the storage room? In the Proprietary Lease? The verbal statements are meaningless as the contract documents control the terms of the deal.

 

[funkspieler]

documentation about storage unit

It does not say in the contract, but it is a standard NYC co-op contract--it has nothing specific about the apartment other than the address. It IS specified in the deal sheet that we have storage, and it was specified in the original real estate listing (we have a copy.) I also have a recording of the superintendent telling me that the seller spoke to him the day before the closing asking "what are we going to do about the storage unit?" to which he replied that there is no storage unit. We also have an email from me to our attorney saying that the pre-close walkthrough was fine "except that the sellers agent has yet to supply us with the storage unit number." I don't know if these things, combined, might constitute enough proof that we were told there was a storage unit.

 

[You Are Guilty]

It does not say in the contract, but it is a standard NYC co-op contract--it has nothing specific about the apartment other than the address. It IS specified in the deal sheet that we have storage, and it was specified in the original real estate listing (we have a copy.) I also have a recording of the superintendent telling me that the seller spoke to him the day before the closing asking "what are we going to do about the storage unit?" to which he replied that there is no storage unit. We also have an email from me to our attorney saying that the pre-close walkthrough was fine "except that the sellers agent has yet to supply us with the storage unit number." I don't know if these things, combined, might constitute enough proof that we were told there was a storage unit.

I think you're missing the point. If you used the standard Blumberg co-op sale form, it has a merger clause, which means whatever people may have said to you is irrelevant as only what's listed in the contract is included. Did your attorney draft up a rider to list the storage unit? You need to find something in the contract docs that says the storage was included. (The listing is less than meaningless - it is an advertisement and not binding on anything unfortunately.)

 

[funkspieler]

Why is a storage unit different from, say, a bathroom?

Thank you so much for your response. I realize I was an idiot to not verify the storage unit prior to close, but I still don't understand what makes an on-site storage unit unique to any other room in the apartment? I didn't, for instance, have a rider to the contract stating that there was a bathroom, or a bedroom, or that the apartment had walls, windows, a ceiling and a floor. What is the legal difference?

 

[You Are Guilty]

Thank you so much for your response. I realize I was an idiot to not verify the storage unit prior to close, but I still don't understand what makes an on-site storage unit unique to any other room in the apartment? I didn't, for instance, have a rider to the contract stating that there was a bathroom, or a bedroom, or that the apartment had walls, windows, a ceiling and a floor. What is the legal difference?

That I can answer - the storage unit (presumably) is not attached you your apartment, right? As your attorney hopefully explained to you, you don't even own your unit, you merely own a right to reside in it once you purchased your shares. Shares are generally apportioned on two bases: size (square footage of the apartment and the floor its on. Which means that if the storage room was included, you'd have to purchase XX more shares in addition to those which belong to your apartment. In other words, if you only purchased enough shares for your apartment, you can't "annex" a storage room without buying more.

(I've been up since 4am today so I hope that made some sense.)