A recent decision of the New York County Supreme Court[1] stressed that the statute governing the holding of security deposits[2] applies to cooperative apartments. Although, as a matter of practice, most cooperatives comply with the provisions of the statute, it is worth reviewing the statutory requirements. The statute requires all landlords (including cooperatives) that hold security deposits in connection with leases (including proprietary leases and subleases) to place such deposits into segregated bank accounts and not to commingle the deposits with any other funds. In addition, for buildings of six or more residential units, the segregated account must be interest-bearing,… Read more