can co-op/condo maintenance fees be grieved? (New Rochelle, Vernon: apartments, coop)

[nyja]

Has anyone had any experience appealing (well, lowering) their co-op or condo maintenance fees?

I'm shopping for an apartment in the Bronx & Lower Westchester (Mt Vernon, New Rochelle) and I've seen a handful with obscenely high maintenance fees. By obscene I mean $1400 for a ground floor 1-bedroom.

I get that better amenities = higher maintenance in most cases... but I've also seen 2 apartments on the same floor of the same building, nothing special about the views in either, same # of bedrooms and bathrooms, very similar floorplan, only 45sf difference in size... but the smaller of the two had $150 more in maintenance fees.

Seems crazy to me.

[Viralmd]

No, the fee is based on a lot of factors: difference in size, views, proximity to the entrance or elevator, etc. It's not mere size or the floor on which the apartment is located. The fee is PER SHARE in coops.

[havoc315]

It is not like grieving your property taxes. Sure, it's possible to complain to the coop board. And the coop board would be empowered to adjust your maintenance fee --- But the chances of that actually happening are next to nil.

The building needs to pay its expenses. Nobody is making a profit on your maintenance fees. So they can't just cut them, because you feel they are too high.