tax abatement certificate

This sounds like one of those key money scams!

absolutely goddamn not. I've occasionally had to deal with homebuilders (1-3 family houses in the boroughs) who try to slink away after the houses are sold but before the final approval of the abatement (exemption actually), leaving the purchasers to foot the bill. it's hella unscrupulous and they get sued for it. condo sponsors ALWAYS pay the fee. you're just lucky that somebody tripped up and admitted that the 421-a certificate fee hasn't been paid yet. run!

I remember there was a lawsuit brought way back in the 80's at ?32 Morton? Street because the sponsor sold the building out so quickly he didn't care about whether he filed all the paperwork for the J-51 and as a result the building didn't get it. the funny thing was that it was harder to sell in the building due to people not wanting to buy in a building where there was a lawsuit pending against the Sponsor (even though they had no idea what the suit was over) than due to the maintenance being higher as a result. the ironic part was that the result of the lawsuit could have only been neutral or positive, but when buyers heard 'lawsuit' they didn't stick around to hear the specifics. As a result, people who bought in there (at an artificially lower price as a result) ended up being double winners; first, because their maintenance didn't double like every similar building when the J-51 expired, because it was already at that level, and a second time because the lawsuit was over (I don't remember what the end result was, though).