Co-op sale CONTRACT provision for TIME to MOVE OUT

I am not an attorney, and my post is not legal advice ....

but I don't understand why -- even if atty does not want to set up a separate clock between board approval and closing -- you can't ask for purchaser to put in board application on a clock of "contract date plus X days or loan commitment plus Y days" and then set up closing as "on or about contract date plus Z days" where "Z" is at least 60 days out from the board application clock.

In that case, the purchaser probably would indeed have some loan commitment hassles (I'll let the mortgage pros speak to this), and would probably get a commitment to take her through Board Approval, which then would probably expire (and which she'd therefore have to renew, in a somewhat volatile rate environment) before closing.

That would be some paperwork for her, and maybe cost her some extra money, but it's the kind of thing that you guys ought to be able to work out.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

How confident are you in the buyer of your apartment and have you reviewed her finances?

Thanks, Ali. Interesting idea.

Selyanow, the buyer already owns in the bldg so was approved before. So, as a "person" nice enough to be approved, they are. I doubt that the Board will even want to interview again. However, finance-wise, I believe OK, but NO, I haven't reviewed the finances. Buyer has already spoken with a mortgage broker who said what Buyer needs to submit and who might have gotten prelim info from Buyer (or might be the one Buyer used to buy her current aptmt in the bldg and get a mtge.) Buyer knows about how much will have to be spent to combine mine with their (next door) and renovate. Buyer would not be doing this if they thought they would not qualify for Loan, but never know if the Board will think they're financially qualified to take on the reno and the added mthly maint and bigger/added mtge.
So because there is a chance the Board would not approve, I would not want to move stuff out until I knew they did.

NOTE: In a standard co-op sale contract, there is a boilerplate provision that if Board approval (called Corporation consent) is not received by the Sched Closing Date in the contract, that date gets automatically adjourned (reset forward) by up to 6 weeks. The pblm NOT covered is, what if Board approval IS received by the Sched Closing Date in the contract, but it is received just a few days or a week or 2 before the Sched Closing Date, and not enough time to actually/realistically schedule a move and do so.

Do you seriously need 30 days to move out? If you are hiring professional movers to tow your stuff to storage that is something that you ought to be able to organize much more quickly if need be.

Also, don't sign a "mover contract" that you cannot cancel if the deal falls through. I am not sure why you would.

Given that the buyer is already in the building, do you foresee any significant likelihood of a board turndown?

Your transaction sounds like a boring routine one, I would suggest relaxation.

I don't think it's that complicated. It's called a post-closing possession agreement. Will give you time after closing to do what you need to do, and you will pay the new owner during that time. Mortgage lenders and homeowners insurance can work with this (if 60 days or less) because it's so common. FYI it is not a tenant-landlord agreement with renter's rights etc. Typically if you go over your possession period (ex 61 days), you will have to pay a steep fee on the order of hundreds of $$ per day.

I am most concerned about the fact that apparently this buyer does not have a pre approval letter, and also you have not reviewed a financial disclosure statement? Is that right? I hope I am wrong about this.

Because this buyer is taking on a big obligation within that building, and the board may or may not be comfortable with that, depending.

Probably it's OK, because the buyer lives in the building. Still, I would certainly remedy that before signing. As an agent ("broker") I would not let my client-seller get this far without knowing more about the prospective buyer's finances. You have a right to know because of exactly what you're talking about here, you need confidence that the buyer will pass the board.

Also, remember that your contract, any contract, exists in the context of New York State case law decisions about such contracts. Your attorney is an expert on this aspect. From here it sounds to me like you have a good attorney. You can memorize the contract if you want, but you don't know how the court has interpreted some of that boilerplate unless you do the legal research (one way or another--law school is one way). Usually it's a completely natural language obvious interpretation, yes, but not always. The "on or about" part is a good example.

We recently moved out of a 5 bedroom 3 bathroom house, with basement, formal dining room, den, and huge living room, and two car garage, in two days. Oh, including a console piano. The movers offered to do it in one day but I said no. It was not a big deal. I don't know why you need 30 days to move unless you're doing it by U-Haul yourself. Even if you have pricy antiques, it's just not 30 days.

We used All Star Moving and Storage Inc. in Brooklyn, there were *awesome*. They packed, we unpacked. Took us 3 weeks to settle in to the new place. We signed a contract just a few days before we actually moved. You can change dates there without penalty. No big deal.

Selling and moving IS a big deal, however! Try to relax a little bit and trust the professionals who are there to help you.

And, don't believe anything you read on this board ;)