Dennis Greenstein Quoted in The New York Times
“Correcting a Maintenance Error”

Dennis Greenstein was quoted in the real estate Q & A column of The New York Times on June 5, 2009 in the article, “Correcting a Maintenance Error.” The letter writer inquired about his co-op’s new auditor discovering a discrepancy where the managing agent had not been charging him the proper maintenance amount for many years. As a result, the board is now asking him to immediately pay the difference for the past three years. The letter writer explained that he is “shocked that the discrepancy could have been overlooked for so many years” and that he can now be required to pay it. Dennis noted, “Since the statute of limitations would allow the cooperative to assert claims under the proprietary lease which occurred within six years from the date of the commencement for a legal action, it is likely that the co-op would succeed in any court action which asserted a claim that arose three years ago.”

Dennis listed various steps the letter writer should consider taking in response to the board’s request, such as making a request to the board that he be allowed to pay the amount owed over an extended period of time because the error was made by the co-op and payment of the full amount at one time may be a financial hardship. Dennis concluded, “Such a letter is especially important if the lease contains a ‘no-waiver’ clause, which reserves a co-op’s authority to enforce all its rights. It is conceivable that after a shareholder made good on three years of underpayments, a co-op with a no-waiver clause could later seek payment for the other three years covered under the statute of limitation.”