New York Appellate Court Says Condo Board Members Can Be Sued Personally: What Impact Would That Have In Ct?
As it stands in Connecticut condo board members are largely immune from civil lawsuits for actions they take in their volunteer roles.
But a ruling next door in New York by the Appellate Court may give some Connecticut lawyers ideas of challenging that immunity here.
According to a storyin the Wall Street Journal by Josh Barbane and Steve Eder says the court “decision handed down last week makes it easier for individual board members to be personally sued for damages when co-op or condo boards are taken to court by spurned apartment applicants or unhappy residents.”
Dakota with its multimillion dollar condos
“Lawyers and board members say that decision could have a chilling effect on some of the thousands of New Yorkers who attend the seemingly endless monthly board meetings and field complaints from neighbors about everything from dogs in the elevators to lobby renovations. Most buildings carry insurance that typically pays for legal fees for board members, but doesn’t cover punitive damages or damages that may be awarded in discrimination cases, insurance experts say.”
“The unanimous court decision was handed down July 3 by a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division in Manhattan in a discrimination case brought by Alphonse Fletcher Jr., a black hedge-fund manager, against the Dakota, the gabled co-op building facing Central Park at West 72nd Street. Mr. Fletcher, a former president of the Dakota board, sued the building and a number of board members last year after he was turned down for the purchase of another co-op next to one he already owned in the Dakota.” . .
I hope Connecticut gets on board, this way this will make people take pride and think twice of the seriousness of the consequences when they try to steal and cheat their neighbors out of their hard earned cash that they pay for maintenance/common charges. If there is more information this I would love for someone to email this to me. I need this information asap.
I pray Connecticut follows suit so that arrogant board members cannot prey upon condo owners who have no recourse but to hire a lawyer in which case the entire association suffers.
CT, should cross on over and follow what is happening in New York. Board of Directors tend to be abuseive of the fact that they are covered by insuance. The members as a whole pay for the insuace coverage through the monthly fees. So they keep running the cooperative, condo, etc, with their own agenda in mind. They don’t care what they do wrong, because they know the insurance coveres them. I brough a suit against a Board and three members. The vice president got the attorney representing the insurance company to represent the three individual members who where not on the Board. The insurance attorney told me he can represent who ever he wants. I didn’t know out policy covered individual members. Sounds fishie and illegal as well. So I also pray CT follows new York law.