Co-op Grandfather Law

[evelyn o]

I own a co-op in NYC. I am grandfathered into renting my co-op; new owners can only rent their co-op for 2 years, then they must be full time residents. The new co-op board has instituted a bylaw stating there will be an additional fee charged, in addition to the maintenance, whenever an owner rents their co-op. My question is, since I am "grandfathered" in, can they do this? If so, then how is the "grandfather" clause enforced? Thank you.

[seniorjudge]

Evelyn, you need an NYC co-op attorney to answer your question.

But I will give you a very general answer: The grandfather clause does not prohibit new fees. What it prohibits is substantially changing your rights.

[You Are Guilty]

If I understand correctly, you want to know whether your being grandfathered into the "no 2-year rental limit" rule means you don't have to pay the sublease surcharge imposed after your first two years of renting? If that is your question, it is entirely legal for the board to impose the surcharge on you, and the "grandfathering" is effectuated by their not seeking to have your shares revoked after you subleased your unit for more than 2 years.

In other words, there are two different issues here - the time limit imposed on subleasing, and the fees that are charged when the unit is subleased. Your "grandfathering" appears to only apply to the first.