Dennis Greenstein Quoted in The New York Times
“Seeking the Identity of Co-op Shareholders”

Dennis Greenstein was quoted in the real estate Q & A column of The New York Times on January 9, 2009 in the article, “Seeking the Identity of Co-op Shareholders.” The letter writer was told by their building’s managing agent that the co-op would not provide a list of shareholders unless they disclose the reason they are requesting the list. The letter writer wanted to know if that was true. Dennis noted that the state’s Business Corporation Law governs this issue. He continued, “While the law provides for a shareholder of record of a corporation — upon at least five days’ written notice — to have the right to examine the list of shareholders, the request may be denied upon the refusal of the shareholder to furnish an affidavit saying that the request is not being made for a business purpose and that the person making the request has not been in the business of selling such records for business purposes for the past five years.” Dennis added that upon being refused an inspection of the list of shareholders, the letter writer may apply to the court and the court can grant an order compelling the board to produce the list.