In the aftermath of a natural disaster or other casualty, apartment owners are faced with the cost of repairs, sorting out insurance, and tax issues – for both their own apartment and their building. Fortunately, one of the tax issues has now been resolved by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (which includes New York City) in a manner favorable to owners of cooperatives. In Alphonso v. Comm’r of Internal Revenue, ____ F.3d ____, 2013 WL 440162 (2d Cir. 2013), the court reversed the position of the Internal Revenue Service and held that owners of cooperatives… Read more
Tag: common area
Streamlined Sale of Common Space to Shareholders
On January 26, the New York State Attorney General’s Real Estate Finance Bureau announced new standards that will streamline the allocation of stock to, and the sale of, cooperative common areas, such as hallways, servants’ rooms and storage lockers, to existing shareholders. Previously, the Attorney General had taken the position that such sales required the issuance of “no action letters” by its office in order to comply with New York State’s securities laws. This position has now been abandoned. In the future, cooperatives may allocate stock to common areas and sell the stock to existing shareholders without involving the Attorney… Read more