Weiner v 27 Prospect Park West Tenant’s Corp.
(Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County 4/5/2012)
We represented a Park Slope Cooperative (the “Coop”) that was being sued by a resident for reformation of his Coop shares. The resident demanded that the Coop exchange the shares he owned for a smaller number of shares based on an alleged mistake by the Coop in allocating the shares. The resident believed that the number of shares allocated to him did not fit into the pattern of share allocation generally found for similarly situated apartments in the Coop. The resident also demanded the repayment of common charges and maintenance fees, as well as a permanent reduction in common charges going forward. The resident brought a summary judgment motion against the Coop, and we brought a cross-motion for summary judgment on behalf of the Coop against the resident alleging that (1) the case was time barred due to the expiration of the statute of limitations and (2) the allocation of the Coop shares was intentional and not a mistake. The court found that the Coop proved that the shares were properly allocated by submitting sufficient evidence to meet its burden of proof through the submission of documentary evidence including the affidavit of the board president as well as corporate records from the co-op board dating back more than 30 years. The court found that the resident failed to present any evidentiary facts in an admissible form to raise a genuine issue of fact. The Court also agreed that the case was time barred as a matter of law because the statute of limitations had expired. The court dismissed all the claims against the Coop and denied the resident’s summary judgment motion. Link to Full Text of Decision
