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I was hope some NYC coop board veterans can weigh in for us.
I am "in the process" subletting/renting (so i am sublessee) in a 2 bedroom coop in the Lower East Side (school district 1, region 9 - if that helps narrow it if there are special considerations) and I have signed the Standard Form Cooperative Sublease (with my wife as co-signor and no guarantor) which was countersigned by the apartment owner, AND have paid into escrow first months rent, security, etc. Further, I have submitted all the required financial and recommendation documentation which has been requested by the broker. Time frame for gathering this information was 18 days or so (took some time letters from wife's friends who were out of town). We have put our entire life on hold, stopped searching for a place and expended costs in making this 'rental' happen.
Long story short, the coop owner/sublessee through her broker told us "sorry guys - we have reconsidered and are going with another applicant [to submit to the board]".
My question: How is this possible given that we have a *signed lease* by all sides, submitted bank checks and submitted a board package to their broker that our very experienced CPA friend said is "above and beyond good for this 2 bedroom's rental amount". I imagine they have signed [or will] another lease with this other applicant and are moving forward.
Any insights into this would be appreciated [my wife is so upset given we have a small child and have changed our whole plans and life around this apartment which we reasonably believed would go through given our dual income two full time working professional household, and good rental history, etc].
The only question is do you have a valid contract/lease with the co-operator. That is for a lawyer/judge to determine. If you do, you are owed damages for non-performance. It doesn't sound like you are out too much money and that's all the law will concern itself with.
What does your well versed CPA say about the lease?
I doubt there is really any chance you can force the sublease in your favor because the board has the final say in the matter and it has not yet ruled. I have no doubt that the co-operator was acting in bad faith and was playing two or more of you against one another to get top dollar, but hey, in real estate if you didn't have bad faith there wouldn't be much faith at all.
I think the best advice I could offer is Move On.
The way I have learned to look at it is Anticipate NOTHING and when the movers drag your stuff into the new place, only THEN assume you have moved. I have gotten my hopes up only once, BIG TIME, and been burned...lesson learned. That will never happen again.
Next time you are told to jump through hoops, put your life on hold, time is of the essence, you need use only two words: "Fucque You."
There will be another deal.
Last edited by Kefir King; 11-09-2013 at 06:52 AM..
My 73 your old CPA friend who has seen many things in his long career was actually totally dumbfounded at the facts of this situation [having reviewing our board packet given to the coop owner's broker, looking at the time frames involved, seeing the signed sublease, the annual cost of this 2 bedroom rental vs. 2 party income, etc], saying he has "never seen anything quite like this".
Although only a CPA, he agreed with your statement that given the signed lease and the 11th hour decision by owner to go with another person that it smacks of "bad faith" and a court would be looking at the broker and owner as the 'bad actors' in this. He seems to think there is a binding agreement at least to the point where the owner must put the package in front of the board and act in good faith to promote its approval [cannot exert any undue influence on the members or act as a poison pill to the application].
He wondered:
+ why we didn't just submit the packet directly to the coop board [not go via other side's broker who effectively blocked us, then dumped us in favor of another person];
+ why not send a copy of your signed lease directly to the operating company or coop board to let them know there is already a sublease signed - to effectively block or put the board on notice of an issue. How can you lease the same property twice;
+ do you want to live in a place where the landlord is not on your side and will most definitely not renew if you are able to get approval from cooperative board [if it is indeed the landlord who doesn't want you and not a greedy broker deep-sixing your application because he is getting a larger rental fee from the other deal]. Coops are chatty kathys and will the neighbors and your overall experience be affected if there is acrimony in the landlord/tenant/board relationships?
+ The other broker seemed like an egregiously "bad actor" here and filing a complaint with the NYS Dept of State should be considered to prevent others falling victim to this. He though that the owner was a "bad actor" too, but aside from an enforcement of contract action, a lawsuit for damages and fees would be the only "justice" or "vindication" related recourse [putting aside the apartment and wanting or being able to live there].
It was a lot to take in and, of course, he is not an attorney - so a grain of salt I guess applies.
I think your best bet is just to move on. Use your energy to find another place, God knows, it's hard enough, rather than seeking vindication with this one.
How awful. I think the reason why you didn't collect many answers here is that it's an unwinnable situation. They acted very badly. But you don't want to force yourself onto a landlord that doesn't want you.
Your meager consolation is that the time you spent gathering the information won't go to waste - you'll probably use it. Also, at least you found out fairly quickly, as opposed to their string you along for months. You could, of course, write a stinging letter to the owner/broker, just to vent. Unfortunately, almost everyone has some unpleasant story connecting to housing, and we can just hope that next time will be more reasonable.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and insights. All very much appreciated and taken to heart (and mind). We have re-initiated our search and are finally moving forward: Onward and upward.
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