Co-op Board Can Set Subletting Rules

Proprietary lessee of three co-op apartments sued landlord cooperative corporation after landlord sent her a notice to cure a lease violation. Lessee had been subletting her three apartments for 25 years. In 2001, the co-op board amended its subletting rules. Lessees could sublet apartments only for two of every four years and had to pay a 10 percent surcharge. Lessee claimed that this violated her agreement with the co-op. In 1972, the co-op board sent her a letter stating that lessees could sublet unconditionally. The court ruled for lessee, and the co-op appealed. The appeals court ruled for the co-op. The proprietary lease allows the co-op board to withhold consent to any sublease for any reason or no reason at all. So the board was permitted to set subletting rules, and lessee had no grounds to challenge them. Lessee didn't apply for board approval of the sublease applications in question. This was a violation of her proprietary lease.

Desoignies v. Cornasesk House Tenants Corp.: NYLJ, 9/6/05, p. 24, col. 4 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Buckley, PJ, Mazzarelli, Ellerin, Williams, Sweeny, JJ)