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Former judge proposes condo and co-op 'bill of rights'

BY JONATHAN STARKEY | bizeditor@newsday.com

4:46 PM EST, November 29, 2007

Samuel Levine was a single-family homeowner for more than four decades before moving into a cooperative building in Long Beach in 1999. Confronted by what he calls secrecy in the operation of condo and co-op buildings, the former judge decided to take action.

Late last month, he fired off a "Bill of Rights" for condo owners and shareholders in co-op buildings to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

"People aren't allowed into meetings," said Levine, former president of the Board of Judges for the District Court of Nassau County. "Management and sponsors control elections. It's a very undemocratic process."

Richard Hochman, a Syosset-based real estate attorney, said most co-op board meetings are not open to the shareholders but their opinions are "invited" through elected board members. "It's like Congress," Hochman said, adding that sponsors may control the majority of the shares in a co-op. "I can't go to Congress to give my opinion, but I've elected my representative to do that for me."

In his "Bill of Rights" Levine lays out 16 issues he said he hopes Cuomo will address, including secret meetings; the failure to protect the health of residents; improper contracts; and the lack of strong oversight.

A spokesman for Cuomo said the attorney general's office is reviewing the document.