Although many New Yorkers hear the term co-op or condominium conversion from time to time, they might understandably not command a solid grasp of what that entails or signifies legally.

That’s not surprising, right? As the saying goes, “Until it happens to you … .”

And even if a conversion suddenly becomes relevant concerning your dwelling in a rental-based building, chances are that you still reasonably harbor a number of questions and concerns.

And that’s for a simple reason. As we note on our NYC pro-tenants’ website at the long-practicing law firm of Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Moser, “The laws controlling cooperative and condominium conversions are complex.”

What do they mean for you as a tenant whose building is about to undergo a material transformation into a co-op or condo?

Foremost, they spell out your rights as an intimately affected party. As much as some landlords would like to think that they can convert rental dwellings, homes and other forms of property via condo or co-op conversion without regard to third-party rights, that is flatly not the case. We stress on our site that the rights of existing occupants “must always be observed in the case of conversions.”

As is implied above, conversion can take many forms, including these:

• Apartment conversions (an especially common form of conversion in which rented units are transformed into condos or co-ops)
• Home conversions
• Cooperative and condominium conversions (where tenants own property shares or individual units, respectively)
• Commercial conversions (e.g., an aged factory being converted for residential use)

We answer tenants’ questions about condo and co-op conversions, and diligently promote their legal rights and interests in what is a singular and complex area of law.

We welcome contacts to the firm to discuss how we can help you as a metro tenant facing any housing-linked challenge or dispute.